Honoree for Chief Information Security Officer of the Year: Marene Allison, Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is making strides in its cybersecurity efforts, thanks in part to Marene Allison, the company's Vice President of Information Security & Risk Management and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
Allison, who joined J&J in 2016, initially held a more technical role that was less policy-focused. However, she sought a more strategic position, aiming to be involved in conversations with the college board. This ambition paid off when she was appointed to her current role in 2019.
Before Allison took on her expanded responsibilities, her role was not directly involved in board discussions. However, under her leadership, J&J's network infrastructure overhaul, which included social security from the outset, put her squarely in the spotlight.
One of Allison's most significant achievements has been the migration of 90% of J&J's computing and FDA-regulated workloads to hybrid cloud environments, a move she undertook with the help of her team. This transition has been instrumental in supporting J&J's vaccine development efforts without adding additional headcount.
J&J's current Enterprise CIO, James D. Swanson, who started his role in 2019, has been impressed by Allison's security leadership during an acquisition. Swanson sees their shared outcome as doing the best for Johnson & Johnson. He values Allison's leadership as an accelerator to his onboarding, describing her as a 'continuous learner' who leads her peers to become 'co-champions for security across the company.'
Stuart McGuigan, CIO of the State Department, also values Allison's straightforward approach. He has worked with her to make the standardization of the chargeback system a corporate standard cost, putting the overhaul and Allison directly in front of the audit committee and board.
Allison's leadership style allows her to add still unknown functions into the CISO role. This approach separates CISOs from CIOs, as the CISO role in pharma tends to be more risk management focused rather than operationally down in the weeds technically focused.
Centralizing control elements in J&J's security model, a delicate situation to preserve the freedoms of the IT groups, was a key part of Allison's 2016 strategy. Since then, J&J's cybersecurity has remained quiet, a testament to Allison's effective leadership.
This year, J&J is participating in a vaccine race, and Allison's security organization has remained constant during the vaccine development process. Her team's unwavering commitment to security has been crucial in ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of the company's vaccine research and development efforts.
In conclusion, Marene Allison's leadership has been instrumental in transforming J&J's cybersecurity landscape, enabling the company to focus on its core mission while maintaining robust security measures. Her strategic vision, coupled with her technical expertise, has positioned J&J to navigate the complexities of the modern digital world.
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