December 2013: Mounting Accountability

In many respects, it and reliability are inextricably linked, and are therefore often considered to be one and the same thing, although the former goes one step further than the latter by specifying who specifically is required to be reliable and what exactly it is they are responsible for. It allows people and organizations to plan ahead, understanding the protocols and parameters of their domains, and that their bases are covered and their contingencies planned.

Accountability plays a crucial role is firms' data governance frameworks, a phenomenon that is currently sweeping both sides of the industry on both sides of the Atlantic. And for good reason: Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that data management practices within significant numbers of financial services firms can best be described as laissez faire, with disparate, siloed business units developing their own data management strategies as they evolve, in a chaotic, reactive manner. And then there are the individuals within those autonomous business entities, who, first and foremost, manage their data in the best interests of their particular fiefdoms, in a manner consistent with pulling apart when exactly the opposite is required to drive firm-wide efficient and effective data management practices.

No Secret
It is no secret that an enormous amount of value resides deep within firms' data stores, which, now that the technology is readily available, can be mined and unlocked to the benefit of almost any business-related activity, ranging from client-facing functions such as customer relationship management (CRM), to activities more directly associated with furthering the performance of the business: advanced trading functionality and risk management disciplines.

It is, therefore, in every firm's interest to develop an operational and organizational framework underpinned by deliberate, logical, coherent, consistent, transparent and disciplined data management practices. Which inevitably brings us back to accountability, requiring individuals charged with managing certain aspects of the firm's overall data governance strategy to get on with the job at hand.

Accountability also means that if individuals will not or cannot fulfil their responsibilities for whatever reason, it provides the firm with a mandate to appoint someone who can. From the CIO's perspective, the notion of accountability, as it pertains to data governance, is simple: Do what you're paid to do, to the agreed levels of service and timeframe. And if you can't, find someone who can.

Empirical and anecdotal evidence suggests that data management practices within significant numbers of financial services firms can best be described as laissez faire, with disparate, siloed business units developing their own data management strategies as they evolve, in a chaotic, reactive manner.