Convergence Is Over, Hooray

Action, not rhetoric; cooperation, not organizational charts

By Derek Slater

May 21, 2007 — CSO — "Ask me what I think about convergence," said George Campbell, on stage at our recent CSO Perspectives conference.

Campbell was on a panel of honorees of the 2007 CSO Compass Awards.

I obliged: "OK, George, what do you think about convergence?"

"I think itâ¬"s crap," said Campbell.

The audience laughed; I laughed. (Campbell did not laugh.) George Campbell isnâ¬"t one to mince words. On the other hand, his comment was surprising since he was also an early adopter of what might be termed a converged organizational modelâ¬he had responsibility for both corporate and information security as CSO of Fidelity Investments some years ago.

With a little digging, we found that what Campbell objects to isnâ¬"t the need for infosec and corporate security to work together. He objects to turf wars and to leaders who look at pieces of the risk management puzzle as potential career conquests.

In fact, I noticed a marked difference at the conference. In past years thereâ¬"s been a bit of tension or discomfort at the blending of two often-Âdistinct disciplines. But this time around, the concept of meshing security functions together was not just widely accepted, it seemed to have rapidly become a nonissue. Campbellâ¬"s onstage comment was about the extent of controversy or pushback on the concept that I heard during the two-plus days. Overall, people seem less hung up on the semantics and the organizational chart issues and turf wars and more interested in just reducing risk and enabling business in the most efficient and cooperative manner possible.

Want one security function with one CSO? Fine. Want infosec to report to the CIO? Groovy. Think a risk management committee better matches your business model or current personnel? Bully for you.

Like Campbell, CSO Perspectives attendees seemed to just want to get the job done without all the politicking. Thatâ¬"s a giant step forward for the profession.

â¬Derek Slater