FierceCIO's chat with CipherCloud's Chief Trust Officer - Bob West
FierceCIO makes a regular point of examining hot and emerging job roles in the IT ranks, but every now and then an especially unique job title crosses our path. One of these is the chief trust officer, a role that may find itself gaining favor at IT vendor organizations--especially those in the cloud computing space.
We spoke with Bob West, chief trust officer at CipherCloud, about this position, what it's all about, and what the career implications are for those who succeed in the role.
FierceCIO: How long have you been in the role of chief trust officer and are you the first in that role at your company?
West: I joined CipherCloud in February and am the first person in this role at CipherCloud.
FierceCIO: What exactly are the responsibilities of that role?
West: The chief trust officer is an advocate for the customer. It's my job to make sure there is proper support and alignment between the customer and CipherCloud.
FierceCIO: What was behind the initial creation of the role?
West: The idea was to extend CipherCloud's commitment to delivering trust in the cloud by bringing in someone with a strong track record in a customer industry--in my case, the financial sector. That person would understand the security, privacy and compliance challenges our customers face and be able to advise these organizations on how to mitigate these risks.
FierceCIO: What background did you have that played a role in you getting the position?
West: I worked in technology and security at major banks for about 20 years and consulted for almost 10 years. During this time, I was the CISO at Fifth Third Bank and Bank One.
FierceCIO: What are the mandates or marching orders being given to you in this role?
West: My mandate is to spend the majority of my time with customers so I can listen to their needs and counsel them on how to best adopt the cloud.
FierceCIO: How common is this position, and who does someone with this title traditionally report to?
West: The position typically reports to the CEO. It's a relatively new role that we're predominantly seeing at cloud service provider companies, like Salesforce and Box. In our case, we are a software provider, but we partner deeply and broadly across many cloud applications, so it makes perfect sense for us to have this "other" CTO role.
FierceCIO: What current and pending trends in business and technology or with your customers and partners are likely to impact or change your role in the near future?
West: The vast majority of businesses are moving to the cloud aggressively, and we don't see that trend changing in the foreseeable future.
FierceCIO: What would the ideal chief trust officer candidate look like to a recruiter?
West: Key is someone with a background that can build trust inside the company as well as with its external ecosystem of customers and partners.
FierceCIO: Assuming that ideal candidate isn't available, what Plan B should a recruiter have?
West: Like for any other c-suite role, don't settle.
FierceCIO: What are the career opportunities for individuals that are successful in this role?
West: Given the chief trust officer's work with the rest of the executive team, other leadership roles--such as CEO or head of corporate strategy--could make sense as a next step.
Read more: A look inside the role of chief trust officer - FierceCIO http://www.fiercecio.com/story/look-inside-role-chief-trust-officer/2014-05-29#ixzz33Ya1aly3
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