How IT Can Monitor & Control Shadow IT in Cloud File Services
In order to protect your confidential business data and maintain complete app security governance, every IT team needs our SaaS & AI app management software, CloudFuze Manage, to actively monitor and control Shadow IT in cloud file services (Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box).
In this blog post, you’ll understand why Shadow IT is increasing, how it impacts your IT operations, and how IT teams can gain full visibility to detect Shadow IT using CloudFuze Manage.
Key Takeaways:
1. Shadow IT creates major challenges for IT teams, including data leakage risks, employees’ file sharing access management, and compliance penalties.
2. Shadow IT risks are increasing at a higher rate due to the use of unapproved SaaS & AI apps, especially in remote and hybrid workplaces.
3. Our platform, CloudFuze Manage, modernizes your IT governance with deep shadow IT discovery, intelligent user automation, and smart license-optimization insights.
Understanding Shadow IT and Its Impact on Your IT Team
Shadow IT refers to any cloud application, cloud storage platform, or cloud-based file-sharing tool that your employees use without your company’s IT approval. While most employees in an organization adopt these Shadow IT tools to get their work done faster, the consequences fall directly on your IT team.
When Shadow IT grows in your tech environment, your IT admins will:
However, with our advanced shadow IT monitoring tool, CloudFuze Manage, SMBs and large enterprises can easily discover shadow IT, automate user workflows, and optimize SaaS & AI app licenses in a single, intuitive dashboard.
Why Shadow IT Is Rising in Cloud File Services?
Shadow IT is increasing rapidly, especially in environments that rely heavily on cloud file-sharing apps such as OneDrive, Box, Google Drive, etc.
The reasons are:
1. Cloud apps are easily accessible, letting your employees quickly sign up using their personal IDs and bypassing IT-approved systems.
2. Remote and hybrid work environments push employees toward adopting virtual, unapproved file-sharing tools that help them share files instantly.
3. Slow IT approval processes make employees subscribe to unsanctioned free cloud data sharing apps to finish their work faster and smarter.
4. Limited app usage visibility prevents your IT administrators from detecting new Shadow IT accounts or risky file uploads.
5. Tool fatigue drives employees to choose simpler, unauthorized free file-sharing apps despite app security risks.
All these factors make it essential for IT Teams to use our advanced SaaS & AI app management tool, CloudFuze Manage, for continuous, real-time monitoring of Shadow IT activities across 100+ popular cloud apps (BambooHR, Salesforce, Tableau, Google Workspace, Notion, Slack, Cursor & more).
How IT Can Monitor and Control Shadow IT in Cloud File Services with CloudFuze Manage
Our SaaS & AI app management service, CloudFuze Manage, helps every IT team monitor and control shadow IT in cloud file services in a single dashboard without disrupting your employees.
Here’s how CloudFuze Manage supports IT administrators:
1. Discover Shadow IT Automatically
Our platform continuously scans your SaaS & AI app environment and identifies:
- Unsanctioned file-sharing tools (Google My Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Box & more).
- Unauthorized cloud storage user accounts
- High-risk cloud file service apps with poor security
- Hidden data movement across employee accounts using the CloudFuze Manage Chrome extension.
2. Achieve 360° SaaS & AI App Visibility in One Dashboard
You can see:
- Exactly which SaaS & AI apps employees use.
- Filesharing patterns across various departments.
- External file shares and risky user access permissions due to missed revocation of ex-employee’s user access permissions.
3. Detect User-Level Risks
With our Google Chrome extension (CloudFuze Manage Chrome Extension), IT administrators can monitor user-level browser activities and detect:
4. Enforce Policy-Based IT Governance
With CloudFuze Manage, organizations can define and automate SaaS & AI app governance rules that:
5. Enable Secure App Usage Instead of Blocking Every Access
Our automated onboarding and offboarding workflows help IT admins build a balanced model that gives employees the tools they actually need while aligning with your company’s IT governance policies.
Comparison of Traditional IT Governance with CloudFuze Manage IT Governance
| Traditional IT Governance | CloudFuze Manage IT Governance |
|---|---|
| Reactive Shadow IT monitoring | Deep, automated Shadow IT discovery with risk notification |
| Manual app tracking | Real-time app usage visibility and monitoring |
| Limited insight into user-level risks | Deep analytics on user-level file sharing and data movement |
| Slow IT approval cycles | Automated IT governance and employee lifecycle management |
| Higher app compliance risk | Streamlined app compliance and an advanced data-leak prevention feature |
From this table, it’s clear that our solution, CloudFuze Manage, modernizes your SaaS & AI app governance by providing intelligent user automation, 360-degree visibility, and complete SaaS & AI stack control from a single platform.
Take Charge of Shadow IT in Your Cloud File Services with CloudFuze Manage
Shadow IT is an invisible threat that can significantly increase your IT spend. So, it’s essential for every IT team to monitor and control shadow IT in cloud file services.
With our platform, CloudFuze Manage, you can easily eliminate shadow IT through automated browser activity monitoring, complete visibility, and stable IT governance.
Ready to turn Shadow IT from a threat into an opportunity to modernize and strengthen your company’s cloud file sharing ecosystem?
Contact us now and book your free demo!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What tools are best for controlling unauthorized cloud file services in enterprises?
One of the best tools for controlling unauthorized cloud file services is our feature-rich platform, CloudFuze Manage, which discovers unsanctioned file-sharing apps, monitors risky data-sharing activity, and enforces role-specific file access governance across your company’s entire cloud environment.
2. What are the ways to identify Shadow IT usage in corporate cloud storage environments?
Corporations can instantly identify Shadow IT usage with our platform, CloudFuze Manage, by scanning employees’ browser activity, detecting unauthorized storage of user accounts, tracking file-sharing activity at the user level, and revealing hidden security risks through real-time 360-degree SaaS & AI app visibility.
3. Best practices for educating employees on risks of Shadow IT in cloud file storage
SMBs and large enterprises can effectively educate their employees by combining CloudFuze Manage insights with other best practices, such as setting clear security policies, showing real-world examples of shadow IT risks, and providing continuous reminders about safe file sharing and responsible cloud app usage.
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