There seems to be a never ending stream of news about data security and compliance issues. Most recently, we saw two stories: one about Apple and its refusal to decrypt the San Bernandino shooter’s phone, and the other about Zenefits’ CEO stepping down due to compliance issues.
A new role, the Chief Data Officer, is emerging as an answer to some of these data concerns. Many organizations have yet to hire a CDO but Gartner anticipates that by 2019, 90% of large companies will have hired CDOs.
A CDO should be responsible for the management of information to make sure an organization is compliant and to use data to advance organizational objectives. Once those base data needs are accomplished, the CDO can focus on monetizing the data for the organization through increased efficiencies and reliable metrics.
So why is the need for this role becoming more important? Organizations are becoming more data driven and data has become an asset for many companies as a way to grow their business. Traditionally, responsibility for data and its integrity resided with the CIO or with the various department heads. Some argue that the CIO is now more responsible for the technical infrastructure of the organization while the CDO needs to take a more holistic approach to the management of data across the entire organization. Only by looking at the big picture of how the data is used across the organization can the CDO manage compliance and set a strategy for the use of that data.
At StarGarden, we believe that access to data should be part of the individual tasks that an employee does as part of a business process. The process should be automated and the right data should be accessible when required. Furthermore, the authority of the individual should be specifically defined and verified on a continual basis to mitigate compliance risks. This ensures that we always have the appropriate resource performing the task at any given time. This, of course, requires the organization to optimize and automate its business processes and clearly understand the human capital within the organization.
At the crux of the need for this new role across organizations is the fact that business and IT frequently speak different languages and better alignment between the two is needed in the changing face of the regulatory and geopolitical environments we now operate in.
Marnie Larson is the CEO of StarGarden Corporation and oversees its operations in Canada, US and New Zealand. She has over 20 years’ experience in the software industry and specializes in HCM, Business process automation and Workflow technology.
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