{"id":66220,"date":"2022-08-02T11:16:53","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?post_type=resource&p=66220"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:26:03","slug":"it-sprawl-reverse","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/resources\/it-sprawl-reverse","title":{"rendered":"How to Reverse Tech Sprawl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n How to Reverse Tech Sprawl <\/h1>\n \n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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IT sprawl rarely occurs due to neglect or poor planning. It\u2019s a natural byproduct of how we work and may seem functional on its surface. No single tool makes all your problems go away; an admin will instinctively install solutions that make life easier. That impulse makes it exceedingly easy to overbuy when challenges, such as thwarting modern cyberattackers or supporting remote\/hybrid employees, seem insurmountable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT sprawl then occurs because every solution necessitates that additional resources be allocated to it, while unsupported solutions won\u2019t ever perform as well as they\u2019re intended and can lead to the purchase of even more technology to fill supposed gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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How Sprawl Happens<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a few primary reasons why sprawl occurs, but the problems arise in the same way that grains of sand become a beach; individual tools and applications seem perfectly harmless, and small in scope\u2026 until enough of them come together to form a much larger, much more complicated mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

-IT departments inherit legacy and legacy accumulates over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

-The other main driver \u2014 shadow IT \u2014 is nothing more than people attempting to solve problems as their organizations grow. Employees acquire or create technology that\u2019s outside of your visibility. It occurs organically when devices are unmanaged, identity and access management (IAM) is inadequate, and unknown assets aren\u2019t accounted for. People will naturally solve problems using those tools most familiar to them. It sounds innocent enough, but risks (and potential costs) compound as time goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Tool Sprawl Is a Slippery Slope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) can purchase the elements of a Security Operations Center (SOC), but the mere presence of those solutions won\u2019t guarantee your security. SOCs are multi-million dollar investments in people, processes, and systems. Just purchasing more \u201cstuff\u201d makes managing and supporting systems more difficult, unless you\u2019re able to make that scale of investment into security. It may seem prudent to buy all security solutions possible, but it\u2019s a guaranteed path to sprawl \u201cdarkside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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The Negative Impact of IT Tool Sprawl<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

IT sprawl is costly, negatively affects security and compliance, dampens operational resilience, increases management overhead, and leaves gaps in the user experience. The dangers are generally spread out and may not be felt until it\u2019s too late, such as data compliance sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost Issues<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

IT can be a fountainhead of costs, especially if you overbuy, but being strategic also presents an opportunity to make your accounting department happy. Every system that you purchase must be supported and will add to your IT management overhead. Sprawl can also misallocate your budget against priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is the only way to accurately assess the true lifetime value of your technology. Failing to factor TCO into your decisions or basing decisions off of inaccurate TCO calculations can hamper your company\u2019s success and hurt your personal performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Licensing Costs and Over-Buying<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Licensing costs are cumulative and can become complex. Your organization could face legal exposure or fines when licensing isn\u2019t satisfactory. IT admins are all too familiar with the Client Access License (CAL) audit shakedown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overbuying is another phenomenon that happens when solutions are prescribed by outside consultants or there\u2019s an impulse to spend to solve problems instead of thinking inside of the box and expertly using what you already have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not your money to spend and the budget could be used more effectively elsewhere, such as training and certifying your team members to develop a competency to address the very problem you were trying to solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Having to support many things, some of which could inadvertently be outside of their product life cycles, creates risks. Your team can only be pulled in so many directions, and specialized knowledge creates silos of expertise. That\u2019s risky should that person ever depart your team. Hoarding knowledge (or expertise) isn\u2019t something that should ever be encouraged in IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operational Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Productivity is lost and compliance and security risks rise when IT has too much to do, along with too little focus. You may also be failing to utilize existing investments in SaaS environments with duplicate accounts, and lose out on resources because of decentralized IT budgets. Failure to properly budget also risks losing out on tax incentives and opportunities for your organization to reduce its tax burden. Smart budgeting aligns spending with your priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proactive Budgeting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT administrators wear many hats: help desk hero, network engineer, database administrator, and even budget manager. Budgeting can be as simple as having a lunchtime conversation and using common sense if you\u2019re a small organization, or you may have an operations-driven CEO and growing employee roles. A budget, in any case, isn\u2019t an afterthought, and should reflect your priorities. It\u2019s an opportunity to rationalize spending and make better decisions about IT resources and teams that also has a positive impact on the well-being and effectiveness of your staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulty Modernizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As noted, accumulating \u201cstuff\u201d doesn\u2019t automatically translate to good outcomes. Having a set of well understood, well-integrated systems and processes, is preferable and makes life easier for everyone. Overbuying and allocating too much time toward administrative overhead also makes it more difficult to modernize in support of business growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Compliance Crunch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s imagine having a short span of time to account for the maintenance of all of your systems when a compliance auditor starts asking for documentation. Compliance fines and a rush to take corrective action makes working less predictable and more stressful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start building a mental health roadmap to navigate the stress that comes with working in IT. Access 10 tips for improving your mental health, strategies for identifying burnout, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A False Sense of Security<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

SMEs have limited capacity to build out mature and robust security operations, and security tool sprawl only complicates that task. More software also adds more risks, and you might not even be aware of what some are when unknown third-party components are introduced into the solutions that you buy.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Information Overload<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having too many security systems functioning in isolation and never \u201ctalking\u201d to one another accomplishes very little as a whole. It will create \u201calert overload\u201d where the influx of notifications from systems are usually disregarded (or turned off). This situation creates a poor user experience (UX) for admins and end users alike. Poor administrative experiences delay deployments, increase the time to resolve support tickets, and result in admins repeating processes from siloed locations. This is especially true in identity and access management as well as user onboarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too Much to Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Security risks spawn from having too many things to support, which invariably delays patching. Your team only has so many hours in the day and apps that are core to a department may only present small windows of opportunity to upgrade or take offline for maintenance. Many zero-day attacks occur when organizations fail to keep up with the pace of change and patch management controls. It may not seem like it\u2019s a big deal, but patching is a critical activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increased Cyberattack Surface Area<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More stuff isn\u2019t always better, and sometimes it can even be worse. Apps that have entitlements in core infrastructure and servers running on your network all serve to increase the footprinting activity for exploits that an attacker will conduct if he\/she gains access within your perimeter. Also consider that many applications (not limited to security) are also siloed and aren\u2019t fully integrated with your security controls nor visible to monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verizon\u2019s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report uncovered that credential risks were the leading cause of unauthorized access of IT resources in your estate. Applications that exist outside of a universal IAM system, with Zero Trust security controls that interrogate users to prove they are who they are, place data and users at risk. Never underestimate the potential for human fallibility, or the effectiveness of techniques hackers use to obtain credentials. JumpCloud\u2019s 2022 IT Trends Report found that the three biggest concerns involving security are software vulnerability exploits, password reuse, and unsecured network usage. Problems amplify when apps stray beyond your core stacks, asset auditing, and security controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supply Chain Risks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Third-party components aren\u2019t under your control. This problem received greater attention following several high-profile breaches. The Log4Shell vulnerability affected Apache\u2019s Log4j and hundreds of downstream applications from vendors large and small, leading to a rush to patch and mass confusion. Every new third-party component introduces:<\/p>\n\n\n\n