“How are you going to manage, not stop, risk?” Asked John Suffolk, the Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer of Huawei Technologies at the company’s ICT roadshow in Sydney today.
Suffolk’s message is one that should be heeded by all business owners, managers and executives in areas more than just IT security.
One of the conceits of the late Twentieth Century management philosophies is that risk could be managed out of business, partly through technology but mainly through legalisms that attempted to push liabilities onto suppliers, contractors, resellers and customers.
That philosophy still holds true in many organisations today, particularly government agencies, and it costs them dearly.
In truth, business is risky and trying to eliminate risk is a fool’s errand. How it’s managed is the real test for leaders.