The increasing decentralization of IT into the cloud has had major repercussions for security, as it has created a lack of clear ownership and responsibility for various mission-critical functions. And IT is struggling to keep up.
Business models are being disrupted and digital transformation is critical in enabling organizations to remain innovative, competitive and agile; cloud computing has been key to this transformation. A survey from VMware conducted by Vanson Bourne on IT management found that 69% of respondents agree that the management of IT has become increasingly decentralized in the past three years. But the findings also revealed that IT isn’t ready for this transition, and it may be causing more harm to businesses than good.
“These survey results reflect that cloud computing is continuing to move technology beyond IT, giving lines of business easy-to-use, flexible IT services to drive innovation within their domains,” said Raghu Raghuram, COO, Cloud Services and Products, VMware.
Security ramifications are significant: 57% of respondents agreeing that decentralization has resulted in the purchasing of non-secure solutions. Another 60% agree decentralization results in applications being developed outside of corporate or government regulations, while 56% agree decentralization results in lack of regulatory compliance of data protection.
The survey also found that 65% of IT respondents want IT to be more centralized, and that 74% believe that the IT department should be responsible for enabling other lines of business to drive innovation.
In EMEA, six in 10 (60%) of IT decision maker (ITDM) respondents agreed that the IT department has had an active role in the decentralization of IT to other business users’ lines of business. The majority of all respondents agree impact of decentralization is making the IT department’s job more challenging (57%), while around half (51%) agree that it will increase the stress on IT personnel and resources.
In Asia-Pacific, 78% of IT decision makers and line-of-business leaders agree that cloud computing has made it easier for lines of business to purchase their own IT. This has led to an average of six additional cloud services being purchased outside of the IT department per organization, according to respondents.
Nearly 75% of ITDMs in Asia-Pacific agree that decentralization makes IT’s job more challenging. And, 60% say decentralization of IT creates a lack of clear ownership and responsibility for IT.