Foundations

In the dim past, computers were run like nuclear power stations: quality engineered for reliability. And then came Microsoft & Linux.

We traded reliable for nimble and the world got faster. Monolithic, centralised computing gave way to systems that could support faster business change. But the problem was this brought with it failures.

Bureaucracies invented “ologies” to cope. ITIL, CoBIT, ISO27001, SABSA, Prince2… people who knew little about how the machines worked made the classic Apple mistake, of assuming you could lead without understanding. The CFO became the go-to for IT because, well, numbers are information, right?

Governing Technology Risk

If information is oxygen, technology is the circulatory system of the modern business. It’s got to be secure in a way that allows it to be used. It has to be reliable, but in a way that is flexible enough to allow change and evolution. Staff and customers must have room to play. Engineering must be in controlled burst. And the bullshit-bingo of Chief Digital Officers, Programme Managers and Information Security Officers needs to be controlled.

Adam has rolled out SAP twice, spent years on the front line fixing, improving, project managing and designing IT systems. He was a project accountant, a solution architect and for the last fifteen years has been involved in digital security and forensic practice.