Shadow IT Audit & SaaS Consolidation Survey

Welcome! This survey asks about the digital tools you use for work — both officially approved and unofficial. It should take approximately 13 minutes to complete. Your participation is entirely voluntary, and you may stop at any time. All responses are confidential and will be reported only in aggregate — no individual answers will be attributed to you. There are no right or wrong answers; we simply want to understand your experience. Your feedback will help us reduce tool duplication and improve the software environment without disrupting the way you work.

Approximately how many distinct work-related digital tools (apps, websites, or platforms) do you actively use in a typical week?

• 1–3
• 4–6
• 7–10
• 11–15
• 16–20
• More than 20

This section asks about the unofficial tools you mentioned. If you haven't used any, feel free to skip ahead.

How often do you encounter situations where two or more tools are used for the same task?

Based on your responses in this survey, is there anything else you would like to share about tools that help or hinder your work?

Finally, a few questions about you to help us analyze results across teams.

Thank you for your time! Your input will directly inform safer, simpler, and more effective tool decisions across the organization.

Do you know where to find your company's list of approved (officially sanctioned) tools?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

Please list up to 3 unofficial tools you have used recently for work. For each, briefly note the tool name and its main purpose.

For each of the following functions, approximately how many different tools do you use in a typical month?

We'd like to explore your tool experiences in a bit more depth. An AI moderator will ask you a couple of follow-up questions.

What is your primary role?

• Engineering
• Product Management
• Design/UX
• Data/Analytics
• Marketing
• Sales
• Customer Support/Success
• HR/People
• Finance
• IT/Security
• Operations
• Other

In the past 30 days, have you used any digital tools for work that are not on the approved list (or that you're unsure about)?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

What were your reasons for using these unofficial tools? Select all that apply.

• Faster to complete tasks
• Official tool lacks a needed feature
• Lower cost or free
• Colleagues or external partners use it
• Easier to learn or use
• Integrates better with my other tools
• Temporary or one-off need
• Other (please specify)

How many different tools do you use for messaging and chat in a typical month?

• None
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4 or more

Where do you primarily work?

• Remote
• Hybrid
• On-site

What types of data were processed or stored in these unofficial tools? Select all that apply.

• No company data (personal sandbox only)
• Public or marketing content
• Internal, non-sensitive information
• Internal, confidential information
• Customer personal data
• Financial data
• Source code or intellectual property
• Other (please specify)

How many different tools do you use for video meetings in a typical month?

• None
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4 or more

What region are you based in?

• Americas
• EMEA
• APAC
• Other

In your opinion, how much risk do these unofficial tools pose to the company?

How many different tools do you use for file storage and sharing in a typical month?

• None
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4 or more

How long have you been at the company?

• Less than 6 months
• 6–12 months
• 1–2 years
• 3–5 years
• 6+ years

Do any of these unofficial tools duplicate a function already covered by an approved tool?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

How many different tools do you use for project or task tracking in a typical month?

• None
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4 or more

Approximately how many people are on your immediate team?

• Just me
• 2–5
• 6–10
• 11–25
• 26+

How many different tools do you use for document creation and editing in a typical month?

• None
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4 or more

What is your employment type?

• Full-time
• Part-time
• Contractor
• Intern/Apprentice
• Other

Are there any tools (official or unofficial) that you believe could be consolidated or replaced? If so, please name up to 3 and briefly explain why.

Which of the following tool categories are essential to your effectiveness and should remain unchanged? Select all that apply.

• Messaging/chat
• Video meetings
• File storage/sharing
• Document creation/editing
• Project/task tracking
• Reporting/BI
• Automation/integration
• Other (please specify)

How willing would you be to switch from your current preferred tools to a company-standardized set?