| | DECEMBER 20178CIOReviewAs a multinational chemical company focused on safety, innovation, and growth, we are faced with a multitude of challenges including the need to be compliant in diverse areas encompassing environmental, financial, safety, and security. In this pursuit, information technology (IT), driven by security and compliance, is a key enabler to achieving business goals.Over the last several years, the leadership from both IT and business has worked closely to build innovative applications and robust processes to address the evolving compliance mandates. Aware of the need to secure the networks to ensure data integrity, we have adopted a layered security approach. Through this approach, we prevent unwanted entities from getting into the network while successfully checking accidental or intentional loss of data from inside the network. The approach involves a series of policies, procedures, processes and people awareness programs to ensure a comprehensive security blanket over the network, data, and the entire IT infrastructure. The business strategy implemented in our IT organization is termed `ELM Connect'. With ELM Connect, we ensure the IT department acts as an integrated group aligned with the overall goals and objectives of the organization. ELMConnect is implemented via an Enterprise Architecture Board (EAB) that seeks to drive the practice of standardization, harmonization, simplicity, and effectiveness. The EAB balances new IT demand with cost effective, secure life cycle management of data, systems, and processes. Through EAB, we highlight the importance of being connected to the industry evaluating the latest suite of products. Prioritizing CybersecurityFor any company today, cybersecurity ranks high amongst the list of priorities when laying out the IT strategy. SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE-FOCUSED IT APPROACH--KEY FOR BUSINESS SUCCESSBy Daniel Hughes, CIO, Elementis GlobalIN MY OPINIONDaniel Hughes
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