| | July 20168CIOReviewThe two large technological challenges for today are cyber security and regulatory. The spend for these two items is growing and cuts into development and innovation budgets. Firms in the financial industry are spending much more on risk mitigation and finding it hard to spend on new, innovative ideas. In the private equity world, it is not that easy to get the data needed to research non-public companies and the data around non-public companies is not clean (private companies are not required to file with the SEC). One wish list solution would be a standard filing process that private companies need to follow and then someone to create a centralized database of this data with a front end developed to meet an investor's needs (ability to answer many questions about the private companies). There are firms working on this, but until the input process is standardized it will be challenging. Expectations from providers will be secure cloud based applications/infrastructures so that firms can scale faster, develop faster, or integrate faster if not going to build.From Data to Actionable InsightsEnterprise data and reporting is very hard when it comes to understanding the core data (initially just understanding how the business defines their core data), the process and governance. If organizations can get the understanding of the data correct, the process and governance correct then leveraging a technology becomes easier. To get this right you have to first have a mandate from the top for Enterprise Data and reporting, and then your business users have to own their data and work with technology teams to figure out what is the core data that needs to be governed and what policies/procedures should be put around this data. With respect to resources, organizations should hire strong data associates (understand data structures, organizing data, etc.) who have a good understanding of the business. When setting up data councils a business person should chair the council and stewards of the data should sit on the business side also. Importance of Infrastructure Security In the private equity space, it is very important if you are global to have a good infrastructure in place. Your investment professionals are traveling frequently and need laptops, phones, collaborative tools, and connectivity to their files. So the ability for your private equity professionals to work from any place, anywhere, anytime, is very important on how you look at the technology. Your security strategy with associates going into many different countries is also very important. Also in the alternative asset management space on the private side we are buying new businesses and some have to be incorporated into our infrastructure, so our infrastructure has to be built for scale and agility for change.Strategic Intervention of Technology in BusinessBy Georgette Kiser, CIO, The Carlyle GroupGeorgette KiserIN MY OPINION
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