isaca_21st century technologist
TRANSCRIPT
The 21st Century TechnologistDONALD TABONE12/03/[email protected]
A story of tech evolution
1986, Memotech 512s2 1990, Goldstar 286 12Mhz PC 1994, dan 486DX 66Mhz PC …
To a state wherein each family member (inc. my four year old) now has two or more electronic devices we use on a daily basis – connected to the web
Have we all evolved into technologists?
Some recent stats..1
Sources:
We are social - Social, Digital & Mobile in Europe, Feb 5 2015
In total we spend close to
6 Hours online!
Necessity vs. habit
Some recent stats..2
Regular internet users are 73.2% of the population aged 16 to 74
Sources: Internet access in 81% of Maltese households, Maltatoday, Mar 3 2015
We are social - Social, Digital & Mobile in Europe, Feb 5 2015
“”
A thirsty crow found a pitcher containing some water, albeit too little and low to reach. As it seemed she would die within sight of the remedy, so the crow struck upon an idea to drop pebbles into the pitcher. The water level rose and the crow was able to drink.Necessity is the mother of invention – Aesop
The crow and the pitcher
And as tech continues to evolve so do businesses and the way we do business. Lest we forget, so does the technologist (out of necessity) …
Define: technologist
Pronunciation: /tɛkˈnɒlədʒɪst/ A specialist in the field of
Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the
application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise
Which gave birth to what we like to call the IT professional …. (generically)
Zooming in CTO/CIO Systems/Infrastructure Engineer IT Manager Systems Administrator Systems Support Executive Developer / Software Engineer Technical Architect Information Security Analysts Database Administrator Network Engineer
Some duties include: Ensuring business continuity Ecommerce development Establishing Legal safeguards Managing teams Improving process efficiency & effectiveness Developing an IT and digital strategy The identification & communication of IT risks Budgeting
Major distinction is between technologies that a firm seeks to actually develop to commercialize itself vs. technologies that support or enable a firm to carry out its ongoing operations
The challenges RESOURCES Limited technical, human and financial resources FOCUS Changing landscape of the business PEOPLE Team management – performance and people problems QUANTIFICATION Quantifying risks and proposed solutions IT GOVERNANCE Policy implementation / establishing standards SECURITY Justifying the need for security CHANGE MANAGEMENT Acting as agents for change SOLUTIONS AND TECHNOLOGY new technologies in favour of legacy systems ANALYTICS Leveraging big data, BI and data mining techniques
& TIME !
Supported by:
Resources There is a technical solution for everything… BUT
clearly we need TIME TO DEVELOP / IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS FINANCING HUMAN RESOURCES + KNOWLEDGE + ADEQUATE
SKILL SETS ADEQUATE SUPPOTING TECHNICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE How should we manage expectations?
COBIT basic principle and identified IT resources Applications, Information, Infrastructure, People
Focus Companies change focus too often Adopt a ‘react or die’ approach
Doing things by default As a consequence
Resources are spread thinly Not dedicating enough time for any one project Motivation & demoralisation issues ? Overworked & underutilised staff ? Productivity issues?
Perhaps we should be making our highest contribution where it really matters.
Image source: http://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-The-Disciplined-Pursuit-Less/dp/0804137382
Focus
Image source: http://www.amazon.com/Essentialism-The-Disciplined-Pursuit-Less/dp/0804137382
People The organisation
of team dynamics Skill sets that are
hard to find Flexitime Mobility Device
independence Company
hierarchy structure constraints
People
Does this apply to the evolution of a technologist?
Quantification (of risks) Adopting a risk based approach to quantify risks is difficult to
drive Risks can be quantified when looked at from various angles:
Financial (though cost/benefit analysis) Reputation Business Customer base Loss of market share Indirect / direct dependencies Legal liability
Risks would always be relative to the business Such an approach is also beneficial to prioritise
IT Governance COBIT5 enables
a company to take a holistic approach to IT Governance
Provides a structured control framework against which you can benchmark the activities in an IT Department
Security Information security is often
Downplayed Misunderstood Taken for granted Assumed to be only applicable in the digital world
Security awareness sessions are rare and very fruitful The answer to – How secure are we? – is vague at the very minimum The result of security exercises (when done) are often left on shelf 13
Sometimes we actually prefer NOT TO KNOW.. Security policies are rarely upheld or embraced and controls are ineffective Balancing security and usability is a feat… We prefer to take a reactive approach rather than proactive The business always wins…
Quote source: Executive Priorities – Balancing Security and Usability, Rafal Los, 17 Mar 2015
"No one should ever have to fight against a set of security tools to accomplish their job.
Ever.” “ without security the business still most likely can survive. Without the business, security is unemployed.”
Change management General resistance to change The old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ still very much applies
Image source: Applying COBIT framework in change management, Madhav Kulkarni, CISA
Accelerants to the process of change management Revamping of business strategies such
as diversification, acquisitions, mergers Competitive pressure Rising customer expectation Emergence of new tech
Solutions and technologies We are living in a mobile-fist, cloud-
first world Cloud computing is driving business
agility (positively) Reducing (if not eliminating) capital
expenditure Transforming Domiciling information out-of-the-office But also creating increased
dependencies on third parties
Image source: Harvard Business Review, the digital transformation of business
Solutions and technologiesInternet of Things (IoT)There is more risk being seen as wearables and other connected devices are increasingly making their way into the workplace
Embracing the benefits requires: Preparation Education Governance
Source: ISACA, Internet of Things: Risk and Value considerations
Analytics Business Intelligence is driving management to take data driven
decisions BIG data allows management to gauge and benchmark
performance in a wider context (rather than just local) Analytics through data mining
Further allows the company to get to know its online audience Provide better targeted products vs. a one size-fits-all approach Understand and respond to customer concerns Embrace customer engagement (on social media) (Market) trends are easily deduced over time Facilitates decisions related to diversification efforts
There must be an effort to transform data into information through management systems
SOME FACTS Data is
increasing at nearly 50-80% year over year
Storage capacity is doubling every 18 months and dropping in cost by 50% a year
Fact source: Introduction to Associative Information Systems, Jean Michel Letennier, CTO AtomicDB Corp.
With doubt, with MANY CHALLENGES! A plethora of designations to choose from (related to IT) A warrantless profession that is continually evolving And in need of several skill sets
Managerial Business (development) oriented Legal oriented Technically savvy and up to date
Sanity is achieved with structure – by adopting a framework such as COBIT Training, leading by example and a general can-do aptitude are essential Communication in general is vital for survival
ConclusionWhere does all this leave the technologist?
A FEW LESSONS LEARNT
In case you were wondering!
Thank you!DONALD TABONE12/03/[email protected]