Winning the data tug-of-war: how to balance access and security
Data visibility and security can feel like opposing ends of a game of tug-of-war. The more people have access to data, the higher the potential risk. Yet, it’s this same data that holds the insights to better decision making and customer interactions.
In my last article, I argued that the CRO—or the person tasked with data governance—should also oversee the data itself to ensure security and compliance. Today, I’ll explore how CROs can build a platform that achieves data visibility and access, without compromising on risk.
You can’t achieve compliance without visibility
66% of organisations report that at least half of all of their data is dark. Dark data includes underutilised and undiscovered data, as well as personally identifying information (PII) that has been improperly categorised. This dark data increases risk of compliance violations and security breaches, not to mention the cost of storing and protecting data that your organisation isn’t currently gaining insights from.
CROs need visibility across the entire suite of data to ensure their organisation remains compliant and secure, such as:
The penalties for a misstep in the domain of compliance are severe—organisations can face massive fines or jail time if they do not hit their reporting deadline.
In a truly data-driven organisation, data must flow both ways: from a centralised hub out to those on the front lines, and from the front lines back up. This is true visibility. Let’s have a look at how it works.
Your front line needs data?
A truly data-driven organisation gives the right people access to the right data, at the right time—sometimes called ‘data democratisation’. Employees at every level of the organisation need access to the data that will empower them to make better decisions and provide better experiences. Imagine being a customer service representative for a retail store without access to current inventory information or a customer’s previous order history.?
That’s why true data-driven organisations don’t share data according to role. They don’t lock information up in a traditional data security framework. They make data and insights available to those that are closest to the customer, because that’s where it’ll have the biggest impact.?
However, the more users have access to data, the higher the security and privacy risk is. We’ll come back to tackling this issue.
Data from the front lines needs to make it back, too
It is equally imperative that the organisation collect data from these front line engagements to consolidate and generate insights. The ability to identify, capture, and escalate those signals quickly is key to effectively using these early warnings from those closest to the customer. Consider the difference between a retailer that notices that the average chat wait time exceeds 7 minutes (and changes staffing and procedures accordingly) and one that doesn’t. Or a bank that notices an uptick in call center traffic following the launch of a new product because the information contains an error or is misleading.
领英推荐
The effect of not escalating inconsistencies quickly enough can be dire. In international security, a signal that is not interpreted and forwarded to the right people in time can be the difference between a thwarted terrorist attack and a successful one. In financial services, catching a potentially fraudulent signal in time is the only way to stop a nefarious transaction from taking place.?
Traditionally, organisations have struggled to get the right data into the hands of the right people fast enough, because they didn’t have a system to identify the pieces that were urgent, and therefore couldn’t prioritise the signal reliably enough.?
Start with data. And keep risk centre stage.?
Minimising risk is a non-negotiable directive as a CRO. Using the right platform enables your organisation to harness its data, while protecting it at every level.
Here’s what you’ll need to build secure, data-driven organization:
??A platform that empowers employees at any level to quickly access the data they need, when they need it, safely
??A unified view of data that not only enables the CRO to accurately quantify and mitigate risks, but also gain the information they need to ensure they are compliant with government regulations
??A system of procedures and tools that escalates relevant data up the chain, contributing to insights—and also flags data that’s outside of the norm and warrants a second look
The Google Cloud platform embeds gen AI into the data pipelines, enabling organisations to be predictive and gain insights in real time. Our AI tools in BigQuery monitor data as it comes through, can identify challenges, inform you about patterns, and look for insights—at no additional cost or performance impact. It’s functionality that isn’t natively available in other products. It’s made a significant difference in use cases like fraud detection, where pattern anomalies are automatically detected and blocked, and has been a game-changer for financial services.?
A predictive strategy that responds to potential issues proactively changes the entire way an organisation approaches risk. Unfortunately, many organisations don’t have this structure in place right now. Too many are simply patchworking tools together and making assumptions about their total exposure. This is the antithesis of total visibility and a barrier to being truly data driven.
Has your organisation transitioned to a unified platform in the past couple of years, but now find you’re bolting on lots of extras? If so, you’re not alone. I’m going to tackle this issue in my next article—because chances are your data isn’t as unified as you think it is.
Would you like to have a chat? Join me at The Agent Advantage in Melbourne on 4 March or in Sydney on 5 March, 2025 –?we’ll discuss these challenges and solutions in detail. And message me to set up a 1:1 appointment.