Shadow IT is not the problem
People do not go looking for unapproved tools because they want to create risk. They do it because they have a job to get done, and the approved path is too slow, too unclear, or does not exist.
HR wants a performance review module, but the request was rejected for lack of budget. A salesperson wants their customer calls summarised and there's no approved option, so they sign up for one themselves. A developer needs a single feature the company's standard toolset doesn't have. In each case, the person just gets on and solves the problem. To IT, what turns up is a piece of software nobody approved. To the person who installed it, it's the thing that got the job done. Same event, two very different points of view.
“We've blocked the obvious routes, but people still find ways to install what they want.”
Blocking the software doesn't remove the demand
Blocking apps has its place, and it does bring the risk down. What it can't do is remove the reason people wanted the software in the first place. Block ChatGPT and someone tries Claude. Block Claude and they move to Gemini. Stop browser installs altogether and they use the mobile app or a personal account. The name on the app keeps changing, but the demand behind it doesn't, and that's why the list of blocked apps never seems to get any shorter.
Every shadow IT app is asking the same question
When someone starts using an unapproved tool, ask what problem they were trying to solve. The answer usually puts you in one of two situations.
They already had a tool that could do it
This happens more often than most IT teams expect. The company already owns something that does the job. People either didn't know it was there, or getting access to it was painful enough that finding their own tool was quicker. That isn't really a software problem. It's about whether people know what they already have, and how easily they can get to it.
They found something your stack can't do
This is the one worth paying attention to. The person has found a real gap in what you provide. They weren't out to create risk; they found something that made them better at their job, and that is genuinely useful to know. Some of the best additions to a software stack don't come from a vendor demo. They come from noticing what your own people have already gone and found for themselves.
Don't just ask how to block it
So when a new app turns up, don't stop at how to block it. Ask why it appeared. Maybe approvals take too long, or people can't find the tool they already have, or what they've been given just isn't good enough. Sort out whichever it is, and the pull towards shadow IT eases off on its own, because what people were really after all along was a simple way to get their work done.
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