Economy & Business, Volume 16, 2022

Abstract: Digital technologies have affected every industry, and digitalisation has become a strategic priority for business process optimisation. Along with technologies introduced by Industry 4.0, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted organisations around the globe. The concept of work from home was introduced, and later the hybrid work model became the new normal. Digitalisation facilitates a foster increase in efficiency and competitiveness of a company, emergence of new business models, and origin of new opportunities for value creation and innovation. The more digital technologies are involved, the higher the associated risks. Even though current and potential advantages of digital transformation are outstanding in process optimisation, only a certain number of companies have realised and developed strategies to gain from the disruptive technologies. Others fail to capitalise upon digital technologies or resist transforming; meanwhile, employees are induced to turn to workaround solutions to support them in their daily processes. Adopting unauthorised devices and software - shadow information technology (IT), such as cloud-based applications, has grown drastically, and companies face increasing information security vulnerabilities. To identify changes and threats brought by the digital transformation of business processes, operations and value chain, the authors propose a conceptual review of disruption by the transformation of the processes. Through a literature review, authors have explored the primary artefacts of the digital transformation and risks related to implementing unauthorised devices and software - shadow IT.