Out of the Darkness Cometh Light
How Mashup Applications are bringing Shadow IT into the open.
Download as PDFBusiness and IT often inhabit different worlds with neither entity quite
understanding what the other is doing. To the business, IT represents a myriad
of acronyms and expense while, in the eyes of IT, business does not express its
requirements clearly enough. The opaque nature of the relationship between business
and traditional IT has led to the explosion of “shadow IT”; IT that is developed
directly by the business, outside of the control of the IT department.
Mashup technologies are often promoted as the latest technology gizmo at conferences
and in IT journals, yet this omits the real point of any new technology; namely,
how can a business utilize the technology to deliver an advantage. Mashups represent
a way for shadow IT, and hence business operations, to be integrated into the
overall IT structure and provide the impetus and approach for the broader transformation
of the IT landscape from IT-centric cost towards the provision of business services
and business value.
