Mendix has warned about the rise of “shadow IT” digital transformation initiatives.
For those who came in late, Shadow IT is when business teams pursue tech solutions on their own, independently of IT — to deal with the persistent shortage of software developers1 and inadequate budgeting to meaningfully advance a digital agenda.
The research, conducted by California-based Dimensional Research, surveyed more than a thousand business and IT stakeholders in medium and large companies in the United States and Europe.
It found There was near-unanimous agreement (95 percent) by all respondents that IT’s involvement in strategic initiatives is beneficial. Additionally, 70 percent of those surveyed give IT high marks as a value driver versus cost centre for the enterprise; for example, 66 per ent believe in IT’s potential to enable rapid, competitive responses to market changes and to increase employee productivity (65 percent). However, survey respondents identified significant hurdles to realising that potential.
The alignment between business and IT fades quickly when the topic turns to budget and operational priorities. In the survey, 50 percent of IT professionals believes IT budgets are insufficient to deliver solutions at scale. Conversely, 68 percent of business respondents does not see any challenges with the level of funding. Nearly two-thirds of IT (59 percent) cite the need to support legacy systems as a drain on resources and impediment to innovation. Almost half of IT (49 percent) reports difficulties in achieving stakeholder agreement on critical business initiatives.
This pause is reflected in the shared belief that a considerable pipeline exists of unmet requests for IT solutions (77 percent IT and 71 percent business), requiring many months or even years for completion. Nearly two-thirds of business stakeholders (61 pe cent) say that less than half of their requests rise to the surface for IT implementation. Not surprisingly, both sides strongly agree (78 per cent) that business efforts to “go it alone” or undertake projects in the realm of “shadow IT” — without official IT support or even knowledge — have significantly increased over the last five years.
Mendix manager, architecture and governance, Jon Scolamier said: “While the business and IT users agree on the urgent need to advance the enterprise’s digital agenda, they are worlds apart on how to eliminate the backlog and take proactive steps to develop critically important solutions at scale.
“For many years, IT has been budgeted and managed like a cost centre, leading to a tremendous increase in shadow IT. Business leaders say they want IT helps in achieving strategic goals and ROI, but only a small percentage (32 per cent) grasp that current IT budgets are insufficient and inflexible. This disconnect is difficult for enterprises to surface, yet resolving it is a necessary first step in changing the calculus. The research findings point out the barriers that are impeding successful, cross-functional collaboration.”
