Towards a Taxonomy for Shadow IT

In a comprehensive literature review, we identified 21 different terms used for Shadow IT related concepts. This variety makes it difficult to identify related research and build upon it. To address this ambiguity, we reduce the different terms to six distinct concepts by developing a taxonomy and examining their relationships. We do so by using a rigorous iterative methodology to identify common characteristics and to classify terms along them. By clustering the results, we derive and visualize the taxonomy. The identified concepts are Feral Practices, Workarounds, Shadow IT, Shadow Systems, Un-enacted Projects, and Shadow Sourcing. We elaborate on the concepts along their characteristics and clearly define and delimit them. As a result, we create a guide for their usage, increase search- and comparability, and unify existing knowledge.