The Data Playbook for Every Executive Leader in a Financial Services Organization— Announcing the ‘Cloud Data Management Capabilities Framework’
Google, AWS, Microsoft, IBM, Morgan Stanley, Refinitiv and other major technology and financial services organizations joined hands to publish Cloud Data Management Framework.
I had the privilege and a great fulfilling experience working with my counterparts at Microsoft, AWS, IBM, Morgan Stanley, Refinitiv (LSEG) and other major technology and financial services organizations in publishing the Cloud Data Management Capabilities (CDMC) Framework. Here’s my take on why the CDMC Framework matters to every executive leader and for everyone in their organizations.
The Cloud and the Data Conundrum
Cloud is no more the shiny thing on the horizon that technology enthusiasts pull their socks up and begin chasing. Neither is cloud at the peak of its hype-cycle only set to soon slide down the trough of disillusionment. If there ever was a peak cycle for cloud, it has already matured into a plateau of productivity — wherein Cloud is no longer a technology option, but has become the survival skill that every business of any size needs today.
The most important asset for any business is their data. But that is also the asset that’s the most challenging to manage. While keeping pace with changing dynamics with cloud is important for businesses to thrive and grow, it also brings in a new set of challenges.
More so in the world of financial services, where many data decisions are driven more by regulations and security rather than the shiny-ness factor of new technologies.
Why Are Executives Hesitant to Rip the Band-Aid Off
“Don’t try and do this softly,” Yolande Piazza, VP Financial Services, Google Cloud, said to American Banker. “Now is the time to rip the Band-Aid off”. In my earlier post on Why the New Face of Digital Transformation is Unlike Anything Before, I discussed how the pandemic has changed the ways of financial services, overnight.
Remote working and cloud were suddenly no more a regulatory hassle — they were a dire necessity for businesses to survive. Data-driven digital engagement was not a deterrent to years-long deep in-person personal relationships — they are now the brand new business model.
But then, why do many executives still hesitate to make major decisions on managing their data?
The answer is quite simple. They don’t have a playbook. (Atleast not until now, but more about it in the next section).
Executives are as new to cloud, as cloud itself is, in the broad history of computing. This poses a unique challenge where the leaders are expected to make ground-breaking and innovation decisions based on data, but do not have a mature industry-accepted framework that they can rely on to guide them through their data management decision making processes.
All major cloud providers are innovating at a break-neck speed, coming up with newer and more advanced data technologies that can solve business problems considered unsolvable in the olden days. But without a good handle on their data, lacking clear cloud-ready data management capabilities, and continuously wrestling the data octopus in the hopes of taming it some day, the problems for executives in even making an attempt to manage and leverage their data are more profound than they have ever been in the past.
The Cloud Data Management Capabilities Framework
This is where the CDMC Framework comes in — providing a much needed playbook for data leaders, architects and other decision makers to gain the industry-acknowledged guidance, developed by the same cloud providers whose technologies they have adopted and their financial services peers who share similar data challenges.
The CDMC Framework was developed by Google, Microsoft, AWS, IBM and other notable technology organizations, partnering with major financial services organizations led by Morgan Stanley and Refinitiv (LSEG). The goal of the Cloud Data Management Capabilities (CDMC) workgroup was to establish an industry best practice guideline in implementing data management in the era of cloud computing with a specific focus on Financial Services.
The CDMC Workgroup released the full CDMC framework v1.1, and the CDMC 14 Key Controls and Automations for protecting sensitive data in cloud and hybrid cloud environments. This release makes openly available the world’s first best practices, assessment and certification framework for effectively managing data in the cloud and accelerating adoption of cloud and hybrid cloud ecosystems — a panacea playbook for every Chief Data / Risk / Information / Technology Officer in financial services organizations.
The framework covers the following key components
- Governance and Accountability
- Cataloging and Classification
- Accessibility and Usage
- Protection and Privacy
- Data Lifecycle
- Data & Technical Architecture
How can Data Leaders adopt the CDMC Framework
As a Data Leader in your organization, you can download and refer the full framework from here. You can assess, refine and reinvigorate your organization’s data management practices based on this framework.
CDMC also offers a training on the CDMC Framework, which you can read about here. This instructor-led, live, virtual training (delivered over two 6-hour sessions) provides a comprehensive perspective on capabilities needed to manage data in cloud, multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments based on the CDMC Framework.
I hope this collective work by us on the CDMC Framework, will turn out to be the missing link that can help executives move off the data inertia and help them take steps towards accelerated digital transformation.
Do share your thoughts and questions on this framework in the comments section below.
