In Depth

How you fund a CSO

Genzyme's CFO-An exec who gets it; Finding security equilibrium; Are our harbors safe?; Better budgeting; What employees who travel need from a CSO; Protecting your company's intellectual property; A true story of employee termination

By CSO Contributor

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-Scott BerinatoPeer to PeerVIEW FROM THE CFO

Thinking about security has become second nature to us at Genzyme. In fact, security is an integral part of everything we do. Our company's lifeblood is intellectual property and the people who create it. So we're very aware of protecting both. Some companies have only begun to establish a stronger security sense since 9/11somewhat like hiring a CFO only when you need to close the books at the end of the quarter.

Dave Kent, our vice president and CSO, and I work very closely together. We are members of common work teams and frequently meet informally. It is imperative that the CFO and CSO maintain a close relationship. Failing to maintain a close and open working relationship leads to potentially costly decisions.

As for educating ourselves about security, the senior management staff meets frequentlyformally and informally. We use such occasions to review changes in our business, discuss both new and ongoing programs, and review functional areas. But it is the ongoing contact with Dave that provides the real education. Since we have had a CSO for so long, it has become second nature for us to integrate security into everything at Genzyme. The nature of our business dictates that everything we do has the highest standards built in. Security is part of those standards, and it starts at the top. If security is made a priority and it has become a natural part of your work life, you think of it less as an event and more as business as usual. For us, being smart about security is less a matter of spreading the education and more just a basic part of our lives. It's less of a process of who educates whom and more of a natural offshoot of our culture. Because the nonsecurity executives at Genzyme are aware of security, they tend to seek out Dave at the same rate as Dave educates them and their staffs. We think of it more as a dialogue than an educational series.

As a biotech company, it is vital for us to do it right the first time. Everything we do needs to be of unassailable quality, from the clinical trials to the protection of our employees. For us, there truly is no alternative. The risks are simply too great. Through the integration and involvement of security during the design phase, we avoid costly surprises later. We monitor all expenditures closely. We review what programs work and which don't. But in the end, it all comes down to early involvement and doing it right from the beginning.