Cisco Reports Rapid Rise of Unauthorized Cloud Usage

It's no secret that employees complete technology services internally to their employers information but external cloud computing, CIOs may not even realize how often. New data suggests that Cisco Systems Inc. employees around corporate to a surprising degree, that pose risks to the security and governance of data networks.

CIOs believe their organizations are using cloud services 91, on average, Cisco said. A more accurate average, however, is 1120, Silicon Valley company said Wednesday. This activity, known in the industry as a shadow, is almost 70% from six months ago, the company said.

Cisco compiled its report by surveying CIOs and subsequent software activity in network devices and security has been sold to customers running businesses. His announcement is part of an effort to promote a new service that helps companies monitor the use of the cloud.


Some analysts believe Cisco exam dumps figures are exaggerated. However, many analysts agree that some departments of technology companies have a precise cloud services used by their employees evaluation.

"Shadow IT has become a big problem for IT departments," said Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research market research firm.

A shadow of reason, that is omnipresent is the considerable range of cloud services available. Tools include online expense management, e-mail and word processing, web-based social networks such as Facebook Inc., music and entertainment sites like YouTube, data storage, such as Dropbox, Inc. and query tools such as those offered by SurveyMonkey. Many are free to individual users.

Another is the ease with which new users can take advantage of them. When a software developer may wait weeks for the employer to organize the use of a server on their premises, that person can use a credit card and within minutes begin work on Amazon Web Services or service Azure Microsoft Corp. Carrera said Bob DiMicco , senior director of advanced services at Cisco.

"People are attracted to the place that has less friction," said Moisey Uretsky, co-founder and product manager for Digital Ocean, a cloud service aimed primarily at developers. Cisco said numbers "sounds pretty realistic."

But Andras Cser, senior analyst at Forrester Research, said Cisco numbers seem exaggerated and probably mainly reflect the large US companies. An estimated 30% to 40% of cloud-based applications used on an unauthorized basis.

However, unauthorized activity is potentially risky, Mr. DiMicco supported. In some cases, the customer data can be stored in outdoor areas, in violation of government regulations and corporate IT policies that limited facilities managed by a corporation.

In other cases, the words Mr. DiMicco, employees can become dependent companies cloud computing dubious longevity can spend or by signing individual services that could be subject to discounts if purchased by a centralized department technology company.

Cisco's new offering, called Consumption cloud as a service, is designed to detect the use of cloud services and identify questionable financial strength, said Mr. DiMicco. It corresponds to a database of cloud services with data from log files generated by the "business networking and security equipment and services of data records Dun & Bradstreet Inc. to pay their bills. Cisco expenditure approximately $ 1 to $ 2 per employee per month, depending on the size of the company.

City®, emergency medical service in New York, uses the Cisco tool and found the use of about 520 cloud services compared to 15-20 as the company with official support, said Robert Florescu, vice president of technology of the information. Discovered examples include Facebook, e-commerce site Groupon Inc., the social networking site LinkedIn Corp., the cloud of Amazon Web Services and Rackspace Hosting Services Inc., advertising and brand tracking TubeMogul Inc. offers Urban Airship Inc. and Nielsen Holdings NV unit Vizu said.

Melanie Posey, an analyst at IDC, said other tools on the market can detect the computer activity of the shadow, but welcomed the analytical capabilities of Cisco.

These tools should not be used to block the use of the cloud of employees, he said, but to better manage it. "This is not to say" no "to children," she said. More departments to understand they need to adopt these technologies in a controlled manner, he said.