Intralinks and Gigaom Research Highlights Significant Organizational Risks Posed by Freemium File Sync and Share Applications

NEW YORK, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Intralinks® Holdings Inc. IL, a leading global SaaS provider of inter-enterprise content management and collaboration solutions and Gigaom Research, which provides timely, in-depth analysis of emerging technologies, today announced new research that reveals that IT departments are fighting the unsanctioned and ungoverned use of file sync and share (FSS) applications and services originally designed for consumers, as they can put a business and its valuable information at risk.

"The characteristics that make consumer file sharing services attractive to employees can spawn governance, risk and compliance nightmares for senior executives," said Larry Hawes, principal and founder of Dow Brook Advisory Services and internationally-recognized analyst with Gigaom Research.  "Most companies, especially those in regulated industries, need to increase their visibility and control over file sharing policies, practices and technologies, while finding a way to maintain employee productivity and satisfaction."

The research offers insight into what file sharing services organizations are using, how employees get around IT restrictions and what IT managers can do about it without getting stuck in the middle. It also provides a framework to determine what enterprise file activities occur at an organization and then how to use that information to make decisions about file sharing policies, including what to look for in a secure solution.

In addition, the report cites the results of a Harris Interactive survey sponsored by Intralinks that found that nearly half of IT managers blame file sharing software for data leaks. The research was carried out amongst 308 IT professionals who identified themselves as sole decision makers or major influencers of IT budget spend. Intralinks supported this research in an effort to better understand how enterprises are reacting to 'shadow IT' and the ungoverned adoption of consumer FSS products with a freemium business model.

Notable findings:

• 46% of senior IT professionals believe data is leaking from their companies due to unmanaged file sharing products like Box and Dropbox
• 84% expressed particular concern about data privacy issues arising from 'freemium' FSS products
• 84% said the adoption of freemium FSS products by employees created problems for their company
• Only 38% of IT pros said they would trust freemium FSS apps to share personal, confidential documents
• Surprisingly, senior executives are more likely to engage in risky file sharing behavior than more junior colleagues

"Most organizations have poor visibility into which file sharing applications are in use, and haven't come to terms with the threats posed by ungoverned use of file sharing apps," said Sri Chilukuri, vice president of product marketing at Intralinks. "Enterprise IT needs to take immediate strategic action to prevent risky behavior, while providing employees with a trusted collaboration solution that keeps the organization productive."

Get a free copy of the Gigaom research report
For a complete copy of the research report with Gigaom, visit http://www.intralinks.com/lp/managersdilemma/.  

Get a free copy of the Harris Interactive report and infographic
For a complete copy of the results of the Harris Interactive research, visit http://www.intralinks.com/knowledge/whitepapers.

About Intralinks
Intralinks Holdings, Inc. IL is a leading, global technology provider of inter-enterprise content management and collaboration solutions. Through innovative Software-as-a-Service solutions, Intralinks solutions are designed to enable the exchange, control and management of information between organizations securely and compliantly when working through the firewall. More than 2.7 million professionals at 99% of the Fortune 1000 companies, have depended on Intralinks' experience. With a track record of enabling high-stakes transactions and business collaborations valued at more than $23.5 trillion, Intralinks is a trusted provider of easy-to-use, enterprise strength, cloud-based collaboration solutions. For more information, visit www.Intralinks.com.

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