In a previous post I spoke about database gatekeepers within organizations frequently being unwilling to allow access to various databases because of security risk or potential compromise to performance that occurs when many users access the database at once. These gatekeepers have even gone so far as to deny access to the database, defeating the organization’s best intentions to implement a viable BI solution. I went on to have a sweep at the technical gatekeeper’s but let’s widen the net – business owners in SMBs would do equally well to truly understand the importance of allowing widespread access to data and support the gatekeeper in developing policies on accessing sensitive or potentially classified information.
Owners and managers of SMB’s must come to grips with the business implications of historical trending and associated predictive possibilities that their information represents. The more everyone understands how critical their data is to the business the easier it gets. The tension between providing access to data and that of data security is long-standing, but you have to assume in that , if we haven’t yet, we will learn to strike a balance between the need to provide more access to information to more people with the competing imperative of securing this information.
Companies of all types and sizes now realize that their information can be a valuable resource to help employees, managers, and executives make better decisions that improve competitive advantage and improve productivity. To support SMBs’ efforts to harness this information, organizations themselves should encourage their database administrators to find ways to shift the focus of their security efforts from keeping people out of their corporate databases to finding secure ways to allow people in to access the data they need. It’s not just about the gatekeepers, its everyone’s responsibility – and the best place to start is with the owners.
