Context — managing shadow cloud

By managing shadow cloud, the Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO) is talking about actively working to understand which public cloud services your people need to do their work.

Manage shadow cloud in your organisation

The GCDO is not referring to either of the extreme approaches to shadow cloud.

Problems with extreme approaches to shadow cloud

Benefits in brief

If you and your organisation manage shadow cloud, you can cut down risks while making use of its opportunities. Getting the balance right means your organisation will:

• get more participation and enthusiasm from people working there — often called employee engagement
• work more efficiently throughout multiple roles and levels
• accept risks within its tolerance level.

Benefits in more detail

When managing shadow cloud, the benefits typically include:

• better risk management through consistent security and assurance practices
• improving the user experience by giving people in your organisation access to public cloud services they are used to from outside the workplace
• more creative solutions to problems by encouraging experimentation in your organisation’s digital culture
• cutting down on the number of public cloud services used in your organisation that perform the same function — possibly reducing the costs if you get volume-pricing for the services you keep
• managing information better by using an enterprise-wide approach to storing, processing and sending data across multiple cloud services — compatibility between information systems.

Manage shadow cloud

Bring your organisation’s use of public cloud into line with its cloud plan and Cabinet’s requirement for risk assessments.

How to manage shadow cloud in your organisation