Staying flexible in a complex world

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.

Complex can be good. Processes can be complex and still work just fine.

Complex is often the answer.

But staying flexible in a complex world is one of the toughest things a CIO and IT Professional can do.

Enterprise Security is complex…as it should be.  Take a look at a Risk Model from the Enterprise CIO Forum in a post tilted Information Security Risk Model: Switch Lensesby Gideon T. Rasmussen.   In that post, Gideon provides a very complex model for risk.  He defines a risk model as:

…a useful tool for defining how a security function identifies and mitigates risk. This article explains how to document your current risk model, evaluate its effectiveness and plan for changes to better mitigate risk moving forward.

Go read that article and you’ll see complex…but its complex because it has to be.  Security is complex. Risk Management is complex.

The key is to take that risk model (or any risk model) and implement it so that this complex model and process has flexibility for new services/data.

The ability to remain flexible is key.  We in IT know our jobs are complex. We tend to tell everyone that will listen that our jobs are complex.  But…we usually have a hard time being flexible  We tend to say ‘no’ very quickly because we know that saying ‘yes’ will lead to more work and more complexity.

In the realm of Enterprise Security, processes and systems are complex for a reason.  They have to be…there are a ton of working parts to get right.  That said, while focusing on the complex, those responsible for Security must also be cognizant of the ability to remain flexible and ready for change. We see new platforms, new data, new products come around daily…and we need to remain flexible enough to incorporate the ‘new’ into the complex.

As IT professionals today’s, we have to stay flexible for these changes.   We can’t just say ‘no’ to new data and platforms in the era of data.

The key question…how do we provide our complex services and processes in a world where flexibility is key?  How do we secure our data platforms when we have new data and platforms created daily?

Image Credit: flexible wooden sheets by SNIJLAB on flickr

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP.