{"id":4788,"date":"2021-11-01T17:30:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=4788"},"modified":"2021-11-01T17:30:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T22:30:28","slug":"is-app-sprawl-slowing-you-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/is-app-sprawl-slowing-you-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Application Sprawl Slowing You Down?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AHow many applications does your team utilize during a typical workday? As technology has evolved and remote and mobile work has become common, many businesses have deployed a flurry of solutions for everything from collaboration to file sharing to ensure their employees can complete their work from anywhere.<\/p>\n

However, while the right apps can help end users get things done more effectively, too many applications can lead to the opposite outcome. If your IT system harbors old, under-utilized and redundant solutions, you can end up slowing your team down with a situation known as \u201capp sprawl.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Is App Sprawl?<\/h2>\n

Application sprawl \u2013 or software sprawl \u2013 refers to a ballooning number of applications deployed on an IT system. Extraneous software eats up limited resources and leads to inefficient operations, according to Techopedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Companies suffering from software sprawl typically have programs in place that overlap in functionality, which can lead to underutilization of some apps, PC Mag states<\/a>. This can happen when different departments in a large enterprise install separate software for the same purpose.<\/p>\n

Potential Pitfalls of Software Sprawl<\/h2>\n

An abundance of overlapping apps can frustrate end users and hamper productivity. The transition to remote work last year led to software sprawl for many U.S. workers. At organizations that have deployed apps to make distributed and hybrid setups possible, 75 percent of employees feel that those solutions have the increased complexity of their work, according to a study from Citrix Systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are working the same or more hours, but they\u2019re accomplishing less because technology is getting in their way,\u201d Tim Minahan, executive vice president of business strategy and CMO at Citrix, said in a June 2021 press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to making people\u2019s jobs more complicated, having too many apps in place can make your business more vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks, according to the VentureBeat article \u201cHow to avoid drowning in application sprawl<\/a>\u201d by NTT DATA Services Vice President of Cloud Transformation Aater Suleman. Unused and old apps (or those unknown to your IT team, a.k.a. shadow IT<\/a>) might get passed over for updates and monitoring, which could lead to weak points in your network.<\/p>\n

Additionally, application sprawl can overwhelm your IT staff as they struggle to monitor and manage everything and respond to end users\u2019 support needs.<\/p>\n

How to Fix Application Sprawl<\/h2>\n

Here are a few steps you can take to combat software sprawl and ensure your end users and IT staff aren\u2019t overwhelmed, according to the Memory blog entry \u201cHow to stay on top of software sprawl<\/a>\u201d and Suleman\u2019s article.<\/p>\n

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