Refine
Document Type
- Article (8)
- Conference Proceeding (6)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Keywords
- Application Integration (1)
- Decision Framework (1)
- Digitalisierung (1)
- Digitalization (1)
- ERP systems (1)
- End-user computing (1)
- Enterprise architecture (1)
- Enterprise systems (1)
- Experteninterview (1)
- IT Architecture (1)
- IT Integration (1)
- IT Integration Drawbacks (1)
- IT governance (1)
- IT risk (1)
- IT service governance (1)
- IT task responsibility (1)
- IT-Integration (1)
- Integration (1)
- Path Dependency (1)
- Relation (1)
- Shadow IT (6)
- Shadow IT systems (1)
- Shadow systems (1)
- ShadowIT (1)
- Task allocation (1)
- Transaction cost economics (2)
- Workarounds (1)
Institute
The IT unit is not the only provider of information technology (IT) used in business processes. Aiming for increased performance, many business workgroups autonomously implement IT resources not covered by their organizational IT service management. This is called shadow IT. Risks and inefficiencies associated with this phenomenon challenge organizations. Organizations need to decide how to deal with identified shadow IT and if the business or the IT unit should be responsible for corresponding tasks and components. This study proposes design principles for a method to control identified shadow IT following action design research in four organizational settings. The procedure results in an allocation of IT task responsibilities between the business workgroups and the IT unit following risk considerations and transaction cost economics, leading to an IT service governance. This contributes to governance research regarding adaptive and efficient arrangements with reduced risks for business-located IT activities.
In several organizations, business workgroups autonomously implement information technology (IT) outside the purview of the IT department. Shadow IT, evolving as a type of workaround from nontransparent and unapproved end-user computing (EUC), is a term used to refer to this phenomenon, which challenges norms relative to IT controllability. This report describes shadow IT based on case studies of three companies and investigates its management. In 62% of cases, companies decided to reengineer detected instances or reallocate related subtasks to their IT department. Considerations of risks and transaction cost economics with regard to specificity, uncertainty, and scope explain these actions and the resulting coordination of IT responsibilities between the business workgroups and IT departments. This turns shadow IT into controlled business-managed IT activities and enhances EUC management. The results contribute to the governance of IT task responsibilities and provide a way to formalize the role of workarounds in business workgroups.
Das Thema Schatten-IT hat erst in den letzten Jahren in Wissenschaft und Praxis erheblich an Bedeutung gewonnen.1 Unter dem Begriff Schatten-IT werden dabei Systeme verstanden, welche die Fachbereiche in Eigenregie beschaffen oder erstellen und die nicht in das IT-Servicemanagement des Unternehmens eingebunden sind.2 Das Thema Schatten-IT ist dabei weder neu noch selten. Trotz dieser langen Geschichte war über die Verbreitung der Schatten-IT wenig Genaues bekannt. Im einem Beitrag in dieser Zeitschrift im Jahr 2011 haben wir die Risiken der Schatten-IT beschrieben und damit die Notwendigkeit für die Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema Schatten-IT hergeleitet.3 Im Forschungsprojekt Schatten-IT des Konstanzer Instituts für Prozesssteuerung wurde dann in den vergangenen Jahren eine Methode zum Management der Schatten-IT entwickelt und in verschiedenen Fallstudien evaluiert. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist es, die empirischen Ergebnisse aus den Fallstudien vorzustellen.4 Die Datenbasis bilden dabei die Fallstudien in vier Unternehmen, in denen insgesamt 386 Schatten-IT Systeme gefunden wurden. Zwei der Unternehmen stammen aus der Finanz- und Versicherungsbranche, die beiden anderen aus der Fertigungsindustrie. Je ein Abteilungsbereich wurde für die Untersuchung herangezogen. Aus diesen Fallstudien stellt der Beitrag im zweiten Kapitel die Ausprägungen der aufgedeckten Schatten-IT vor. Im dritten Kapitel folgt dann die Beschreibung der geschäftlichen Relevanz der Schatten-IT. Im vierten Abschnitt gehen wir auf die Qualität der Schatten-IT Systeme ein. In der Fortsetzung des Artikels werden in einem weiteren Beitrag die möglichen Prüfungsansätze beschrieben.
Schatten-IT (Teil 2)
(2017)
Der Begriff Schatten-IT beschreibt Systeme, die außerhalb des Verantwortungsbereiches der IT durch die Fachabteilung eigenständig entwickelt und betrieben werden. Obwohl dieses Phänomen weit verbreitet ist, blieb diese Schatten-IT in Wissenschaft und in Praxis lange unbeachtet. Seit einiger Zeit ist eine verstärkte Auseinandersetzung mit dem Phänomen erkennbar. Jedoch gibt es bisher nur wenige empirisch gestützte Erkenntnisse über die Schatten-IT. Diese Lücke wird in dem vorliegenden Beitrag angegangen. Auf Basis von vier Fallstudien werden die Verbreitung, Verwendung und die Qualität der Schatten-IT ermittelt. Dabei zeigt sich, dass die Schatten-IT mit durchaus erheblichen Risiken verbunden sein kann. Demgegenüber bleibt die Qualität jedoch merklich zurück. Erkennbar ist dabei auch, dass die Schatten-IT nicht im Blickfeld der Kontrollsysteme der Unternehmen erscheint. Durch Maßnahmen wie die Steigerung der Awareness der Schatten-IT im Unternehmen sowie eine Entwicklung der Schatten-IT hin zu einer gesteuerten Fachbereichs-IT lassen sich die Risiken wirksam reduzieren. Zudem sind die Kontrollsysteme der Unternehmen so anzupassen, dass auch die Schatten-IT in diesen sichtbar wird.
Schatten-IT
(2015)
Research on Shadow IT is facing a conceptual dilemma in cases where previously "covert" systems developed by business entities (individual users, business workgroups, or business units) are integrated in the organizational IT management. These systems become visible, are therefore not "in the shadows" anymore, and subsequently do not fit to existing definitions of Shadow IT. Practice shows that some information systems share characteristics of Shadow IT, but are created openly in alignment with the IT department. This paper therefore proposes the term "Business-managed IT" to describe "overt" information systems developed or managed by business entities. We distinguish Business-managed IT from Shadow IT by illustrating case vignettes. Accordingly, our contribution is to suggest a concept and its delineation against other concepts. In this way, IS researchers interested in IT originated from or maintained by business entities can construct theories with a wider scope of application that are at the same time more specific to practical problems. In addition, value-laden terminology is complemented by a vocabulary that values potentially innovative developments by business entities more adequately. From a practical point of view, the distinction can be used to discuss the distribution of task responsibilities for information systems.
Research on Shadow IT is facing a conceptual dilemma in cases where previously “covert” systems developed by business entities are integrated in the organizational IT management. These systems become visible, are thus not “in the shadows” anymore, and subsequently do not fit to existing definitions of Shadow IT. Practice shows that some information systems share characteristics of Shadow IT but are created openly in alignment with the IT organization. This paper proposes the term “Business-managed IT” to describe “overt” information systems developed or managed by business entities and distinguishes it from Shadow IT by illustrating case vignettes. Accordingly, our contribution is to suggest a concept and its delineation against other concepts. In this way, IS researchers interested in IT originated from or maintained by business entities can construct theories with a wider scope of application that are at the same time more specific to practical problems. In addition, the terminology allows to value potentially innovative developments by business entities more adequately.
Business units are increasingly able to fuel the transformation that digitalization demands of organizations. Thereby, they can implement Shadow IT (SIT) without involving a central IT department to create flexible and innovative solutions. Self-reinforcing effects lead to an intertwinement of SIT with the organization. As a result, high complexities, redundancies, and sometimes even lock-ins occur. IT Integration suggests itself to meet these challenges. However, it can also eliminate the benefits that SIT presents. To help organizations in this area of conflict, we are conducting a literature review including a systematic search and an analysis from a systemic viewpoint using path dependency and switching costs. Our resulting conceptual framework for SIT integration drawbacks classifies the drawbacks into three dimensions. The first dimension consists of switching costs that account for the financial, procedural, and emotional drawbacks and the drawbacks from a loss of SIT benefits. The second dimension includes organizational, technical, and level-spanning criteria. The third dimension classifies the drawbacks into the global level, the local level, and the interaction between them. We contribute to the scientific discussion by introducing a systemic viewpoint to the research on shadow IT. Practitioners can use the presented criteria to collect evidence to reach an IT integration decision.