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Sensei Article Featured in Mass LOMAP Blog
December 13, 2021
“Shadow IT: A Serious Threat to Law Firms ” by Sensei’s Sharon Nelson, John Simek, and Michael Maschke was recently featured as a guest blog post in the Massachusetts Law Office Management Assistance Program’s (Mass LOMAP) blog. Mass LOMAP helps attorneys licensed, or soon to be, in Massachusetts to implement professional office practices and procedures. Microsoft Secure Score: Lawyers Need to Know (and Improve) Their Score [Guest Post]
Excerpt:
What Is Shadow IT?
The first problem with cautioning lawyers about the dangers of “shadow IT” is that most of them have no earthly idea what it is. So let’s start there.
Leading research company Gartner defines shadow IT as IT devices, software and services (including cloud services) outside the ownership or control of the IT department of a business.
Once lawyers understand the definition, they generally say that everything is within the control of their IT department. Most of the time, that answer would be wrong, though many don’t know it.
Just the Facts, Please
Studies by Gartner have revealed that shadow IT constitutes an amazing 30% to 40% of IT spending in big enterprises. Advisory firm CEB estimates that the percentage is 40%. Everest Group research states that it makes up 50% or more of the spending. No need to split hairs — all three numbers are big.
Small law firms are not immune to this trend. How many law firm services are in the cloud, especially today? And are they all under the control and direction of the IT department? The likely answer is no.
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