Organizations across the globe are searching for ways to encourage innovation while discouraging the use of unsanctioned devices, or “shadow IT”.

Technology and innovation have done wonders for the modern workforce. Employees are able to respond to business needs more quickly and more efficiently than ever before, and daily there’s a new application or service that makes it simpler and simpler. With hosted workspaces from SSI, business leaders are able to deliver a suite of applications for productivity, while maintaining strict security oversight over their organizational data.

As an executive or business I.T. leader, however, you have to balance employee innovation with technology security. If employees are using unsanctioned and potentially unsecured applications, it leaves your entire organization at risk. The use and proliferation of these unsanctioned applications in a business setting is called “shadow IT”.

From Citrix:

All too often, the most productive, ambitious people buy and use unsanctioned technology – Shadow IT – to speed up their work, boost productivity, or make work easier. But they might not be considering the serious risks that come with their unsanctioned technology that can threaten their career, their privacy, and their organization.

This Shadow IT trend can expose organizations to data exfiltration, malware, phishing; it can open the door for hackers to steal employee and customer identities, steal company secrets, and cause companies to fail compliance audits or violate laws. And since people go out of their way to avoid the IT department, shadow IT is tough to prevent, manage, or control.

Secure, sanctioned hosted workspaces to combat shadow IT

With secure hosted workstations from SSI, you deliver to your employees a unified productivity center for all of their apps, data, and services. By providing a secure marketplace for sanctioned applications and data, employees are less likely to download and utilize riskier applications.

Aside from delivering a suite of productivity apps, hosted workspaces make it easy for IT leaders and executives to manage applications and security.

“…IT admins can monitor, maintain and manage on-prem and cloud-based workloads, even services from multiple clouds in one location. This model makes it much easier to manage hybrid environments, plus it’s more cost-effective, and your organization can adapt cloud services capacity to meet the operational needs of the business.”

A technology partner to deliver innovation securely

At SSI, we tailor solutions to our clients’ exact needs. As a Citrix Diamond Validated Parter, we are uniquely positioned to provide hosted workspaces that fit the exact needs of our clients.

If you’re considering making a move to a cloud infrastructure, or just need some help with your business IT, we’re here to help.