Big Data policies lacking in NZ and Australian organisations

ISACA survey: Big Data policies lacking in New Zealand and Australian organizations

Lack of analytics capabilities of major concern to 28% of IT professionals in Australasia

Sydney, 22 November 2013 — Despite Big Data being an increasing area of focus, just 22% of New Zealand and Australian IT professionals surveyed in ISACA’s 2013 IT Risk/Reward Barometer are confident their enterprise has a policy regarding how it manages Big Data. Instead, almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents said their company has no policy around Big Data – and a further 17% of Australasian IT professionals were unsure.

Furthermore, just 5% of IT professionals say their enterprise is very prepared to ensure effective governance and privacy of Big Data. The majority, 45%, believe their organisation is “adequately prepared” and one-quarter (25%) said they are “not prepared at all.” Yet, information is currency and enterprises must not only protect and manage it, but also use it to drive business value.

Conducted by ISACA, a global association of 110,000 IT security, assurance, governance and risk professionals, the IT Risk/Reward Barometer asked 2,013 IT professionals about the risks and rewards of key trends, including Big Data. Big Data refers to the exponentially growing bytes of information that are created and collected in today’s digital world, often with datasets so large they require specialist software tools to capture, store, manage and analyse the data.

“While there has been an explosion in the data that organisations collect, the processes to manage, store and ensure the security of such information haven’t been as quick to keep up,” said Jo Stewart-Rattray, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, FACS CP, Director of Information Security and IT Assurance at BRM Holdich and International Director of ISACA.

“Australasian IT professionals need to ask the tough questions to make certain their enterprises are taking the necessary measures to ensure that governance issues and privacy related concerns are properly addressed, and their systems are as secure as possible.”

When asked what the biggest challenge their enterprise is facing with regards to Big Data, the most-cited reason from respondents in New Zealand and Australia was a lack of analytics capabilities or skills (28%). The management and storage of large volumes of data came second, highlighted by 22% of respondents. Compliance requirements were noted by a further 14% of IT professionals.

To help enterprises meet these challenges, ISACA has released a new guide based on the COBIT 5 business framework, which helps enterprises govern and manage their information—COBIT 5: Enabling Information.

“Companies in all industries and all geographies are struggling with massive volumes of data and increasingly complex compliance requirements,” said Steven De Haes, chair of the publication’s development team. “When governance structures and processes are in place, enterprises are much more equipped to handle these challenges.

“At many enterprises, information is spread across multiple isolated silos, repeated in redundant copies scattered throughout the company, and underutilised,” De Haes continued. “ISACA’s goal is to help companies simplify information governance so that they are not only able to handle the information pouring in from a vast number of channels, but also derive value from it.”

COBIT 5: Enabling Information also helps enterprises deal with three key aspects of Big Data: fraud detection, IT predictive analytics and marketing situational awareness. It aims to provide readers with three key benefits:
1. A comprehensive information model that includes all aspects of information, including stakeholders, goals and good practices
2. Guidance on how to use COBIT 5 to address common information governance issues, such as Big Data and privacy concerns
3. A deep understanding of why information needs to be governed and managed, along with clear guidance on how to accomplish that

COBIT 5: Enabling Information can be purchased from www.isaca.org/enablinginformation. The COBIT 5 framework can be downloaded free of charge at www.isaca.org/cobit.

About the 2013 IT Risk/Reward Barometer
The annual IT Risk/Reward Barometer is a global indicator of trust in information. Conducted by ISACA, a global association of 110,000 IT security, assurance, risk and governance professionals, the Barometer polls thousands of business and IT professionals and consumers worldwide to uncover attitudes and behaviours about essential technologies and information, and the trade-offs people make to balance risk and reward. The study is based on September 2013 online polling of 2,013 ISACA members from 110 countries. A total of 64 Australian and New Zealand IT professionals contributed to the survey. Additional online surveys were fielded by M/A/R/C Research among 1,216 consumers in the US, 1,001 consumers in India, and 1,001 consumers in Mexico. The US survey ran 16–18 September 2013, and the India and Mexico surveys ran 25 September–5 October 2013. At a 90 percent confidence level, the margin of error for each individual country sample is +/- 2.8 percent. A UK survey of 1,000 employed consumers was conducted by OnePoll on 2 October 2013 with a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. To see the full results, visit http://www.isaca.org/risk-reward-barometer.

About ISACA
With more than 110,000 constituents in 180 countries, ISACA® (www.isaca.org) helps business and IT leaders maximise value and manage risk related to information and technology. Founded in 1969, the nonprofit, independent ISACA is an advocate for professionals involved in information security, assurance, risk management and governance. These professionals rely on ISACA as the trusted source for information and technology knowledge, community, standards and certification. The association, which has 200 chapters worldwide, advances and validates business-critical skills and knowledge through the globally respected Certified Information Systems Auditor® (CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control™ (CRISC™) credentials. ISACA also developed and continually updates COBIT®, a business framework that helps enterprises in all industries and geographies govern and manage their information and technology.

Participate in the ISACA Knowledge Centre: www.isaca.org/knowledge-center
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Join ISACA on LinkedIn: ISACA (Official), http://linkd.in/ISACAOfficial
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