Rolling Meadows, IL, USA (19 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."

Marc Vael, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, international vice president of ISACA, said, “For many organizations, big data is about understanding which data they are capturing first, setting clear priorities in terms of business criticality, taking actions based on results and finding a big data coach to guide them whenever needed.”

Vael concluded, “Big data is about the fact that your data is precious and thus needs to be handled intelligently by future proof processes and systems and in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.  I recommend that every organization look at this opportunity whilst accepting the fact that the volumes will keep on growing.”

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.

• Participate in the ISACA Knowledge Center: www.isaca.org/knowledge-center
• Follow ISACA on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ISACANews
• Join ISACA on LinkedIn: ISACA (Official), http://linkd.in/ISACAOfficial   
• Like ISACA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ISACAHQ

Contact:
Kristen Kessinger
+1.847.660.5512
news@isaca.org

Hannah Rafferty
+44 (0) 207 183 2836
hannah@eskenzipr.com

Further information (external website)