Big Data: ISACA Issues Governance and Assurance Guidance
Auckland, New Zealand, (18 March 2013) — Big data can save big money. A recent McKinsey report found that value gained from data in the US health care sector
alone could be more than US $300 billion every year. But traditional tools aren’t enough to manage these extremely large
amounts of fast-changing information. To help enterprises use big data effectively, global nonprofit IT association
ISACA issued guidance today on how to manage the chaos and address the business benefits and challenges.
“Enterprises are investing significant capital to develop and deploy big data analytics to obtain an early competitive
advantage,” said Richard Chew, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, senior information security analyst at Emerald Management Group and a
co-author of ISACA’s new white paper, ‘Big Data: Impact and Benefits’. “While big data can reap big rewards, it also poses significant risk, including misleading data and unexpected costs.
It is critical for enterprises to put in place a governance program to ensure that information remains accurate,
consistent and reliable.”
One of the challenges posed by big data is that it has turned enterprises into competitors in some arenas and
cooperative partners in others. Consider Netflix and Amazon, whose video streaming services compete, while Netflix uses
the Amazon.com cloud infrastructure to support its streaming.
While the need for governance of big data environments is clear, big data governance is still at an early stage of
maturity.
"Several issues present challenges pertaining to big data. SCADA systems, social media and financial institutions
present enormous amounts of data to sift through and manage,” said Genemar Arthur Lazo, MSBA, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC, CISSP,
CEH, manager of vendor evaluation at Walt Disney Studios and research chair for the ISACA white paper. “In addition, the
lack of presentation of the data in meaningful data sets and the inaccuracies of real-time data are daunting and
challenging. Frameworks such as COBIT help facilitate the balances for managing risk and reward when working with big
data for enterprises."
ISACA’s ‘Big Data’ white paper is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/big-data-wp. The COBIT framework is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/cobit.
About ISACA
With more than 100,000 constituents in 180 countries, ISACA® (www.isaca.org) is a leading global provider of knowledge, certifications, community, advocacy and education on information systems
(IS) assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance. Founded in
1969, the nonprofit, independent ISACA hosts international conferences, publishes the ISACA® Journal, and develops international IS auditing and control standards, which help its constituents ensure trust in, and value
from, information systems. It also advances and attests IT skills and knowledge through the globally respected Certified
Information Systems Auditor® (CISA®), Certified Information Security Manager® (CISM®), Certified in the Governance of
Enterprise IT® (CGEIT®) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control™ (CRISC™) designations.
ISACA continually updates and expands the practical guidance and product family based on the COBIT® framework. COBIT
helps IT professionals and enterprise leaders fulfill their IT governance and management responsibilities, particularly
in the areas of assurance, security, risk and control, and deliver value to the business.
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