Setting up a Technology Policy

A Technology Policy describes principles and practices that is used to manage risks within the technology organization in a company. The unconstraint growth of technology systems can introduce inherent risks that can threaten the business model of the firm.

I have had the opportunity to review and author Technology Policies at a number of organizations. The following are the key ingredients in a technology policy. Each of these policies should be accompanied by standards, procedures and controls that make these policies effective.

  • Security
    • Physical & Environmental Security Management: Covers physical access of a firm’s facilities, assets and physical technology from theft, loss, fraud or sabotage.
    • Network Security Management: Covers risk management of a firm’s network from theft, loss, fraud, sabotage or denial of service attacks.
    • Data Security Management: Covers the protection and management of data at rest as well as data in transit between systems internal and external to the firm. Role based access control is a common paradigm that is usually enforced to ensure that private or sensitive data is available only for the right roles and purposes.
    • Technology Risk Management: Covers the choice of technology components that a firm utilizes is in line and supportive of the business objectives and strategy as well as the laws and regulations under which a company operates.
    • Identity and Access Management: Managing access to the firm’s technology assets to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, theft or loss and fraud.
    • System & Infrastructure Security Management: Covers system/OS, software or other application patches to maintain integrity, performance and continuity of IT operations.
  • Development Practice Management
    • IT Architecture & Governance: Understanding short term and long term implications of technology initiatives/projects/architecture and product selection in alignment with business strategy.
    • System and Application Development and Maintenance Management: Covers application development and maintenance and inventory management of assets.
    • Change Implementation Management: Covers the planning, schedule, implementation and tracking of changes to production environments. Any change needs to be properly planned, scheduled, approved, implemented and verified to avoid disruption of business operations.
  • Data Management
    • Production Strategies: Manage through plans, processes, programs and practices the value and integrity of data produced during a firm’s operations.
    • Consumption Strategies: Manage through plans, processes, programs and practices the value and integrity of data consumed by a firm’s systems and clients and vendors.
  • Operations Risk Management
    • Service Level Management: Covers risk management around performance of firm systems, partner systems, operations and infrastructure performs within the specified service level agreements.
    • Incident & Problem Resolution Management: Management of risk around timely resolution of technology or operational incidents, communication of impact, elimination of root cause of the issues and mitigation of risk of reoccurrence.  Maintain a robust incident and problem management process to improve service delivery and reliability of operations.
    • Capacity Management: Covers risk management around managing availability, reliability, performance and integrity of systems towards maintaining customer, fiduciary and regulatory obligations by anticipating, planning, measuring and managing capacity during regular and peak business operations.
    • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Management: Covers management of risks around business continuity in events of disaster whether environmental, physical, political, social or other unanticipated causes. Disaster Recovery process detailing prevention, containment and recovery functions on a timely basis to recover business operations, protect critical infrastructure and assets is a critical part of this policy.
    • Vendor Management: Manage third party vendor operations and support activities in support of regulatory or other supervisory obligations as well as ensuring a good value for money from this technology or operations expenditure.
  • Policy Assurance Management: Manages the specification and adherence to the above policies by the technology, business and operations organizations.

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