Return to Article: Shadow IT
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34700
IT managers should look carefully at the applications employees are using as freeware and determine whether there is business value to adopting them as standard or providing alternate means to accomplish the same ends. Services such as Google docs, newsgroups, online file storage, desktop search applications and bookmarking services can add real value to a business by collecting useful information from freely available sources and helping staff to communicate and collaborate.
While anything illegal or unsavory should absolutely be prohibited, the free market and free thinking of the internet often provides useful applications and services cheaper, faster and of better quality than in house IT departments can match.
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34699
Why am I not surprised? Give any employee access to the Internet and watch what happens. Most people may fool around, usually on their lunch break, some won't do anything not authorized by management, others will spend all day "surfing" if they can. Sounds like the IT techs have to put down their computer magazines and set up a simple program which would checks all terminals each day. Then management could counsel the offending employee/s. What are the chances of this happening soon? We'll see.
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34697
I agree with Don. The people operating my Air Force LAN are quite successful at locking out ANY changes or software downloads to my computer. Yahoo or Google email? Not allowed nor accessable. Does "bad stuff" still creep in? Only by exception. Is it frustrating to me, a "high tech" guy? Yes, but I agree it HAS to be this way. Notice that it hasn't stopped me from keeping up with GovExec!
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34690
Our agency has simply banned the installation of anything that is not specifically authorized by DIT. Our default user status does not permit installation of anything, and you can't get permission to download anything, even such items as an updated version of Macromedia Flash Player or a patch from Microsoft so that we can read Word 2007 files with Word 2003. They have also banned the use of wireless access and USB devices, except on a case by case approval. It makes me want to go private sector.
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34687
I respectfully disagree with this article. It is indeed feasible to secure government computers and networks from unauthorized software and I am surprised to read that Mr. Paller has made those statements. I do agree that what you cannot lock out, you should monitor internally, but to just give up on preventing unauthorized software is negligent.
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