In addition to the direct users of the system, additional stakeholders
and support staff who are critical for successful adoption of a digital
intelligence solution include IT teams and data scientists. These
may be the security organization’s own in-house teams or they
may be external professional services staff or consultants. Security
organizations face persistent staffing shortages for skilled IT staff
as well as data scientists, especially when staff are required to
have security clearance, and as a result many choose to work with
a system integrator partner.
Over the lifetime of the system, security organizations often want
to adapt a digital intelligence solution to their needs, either on their
own or using a system integrator. As an organization’s mandate and
working methods change over time, if their system cannot adapt
accordingly, in many cases it becomes a ‘white elephant’ and is
ultimately abandoned.
TECHNICAL STAKEHOLDERS
AND OPEN DESIGN
Unfortunately, IT teams often find themselves stuck with a system
that they cannot modify. This is because many digital intelligence
solutions are built with a rigid design and data model, where for
example adding a new data source could take months. There are
solutions with a closed design, ‘black boxes,’ where new machine
learning models or algorithms can only be developed and added to
the solution by the vendor’s professional services staff – at extra cost.
Therefore, it is important to consider what types of changes and
adaptations your organization may require over time.
A Practical Guide to Adopting a Digital Intelligence Solution 11