Alvarez & Marsal launches Information Governance unit in Europe
Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal has launched a new service offering in Europe: Information Governance. To build and lead the unit the US-headquartered consultancy has carved out three senior consultants from IBM: James Donnelly, Pavel Treskin and Richard Aitchison. All three advisers will operate out of the firm's London hub.
Privately-held since 1983, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) is a professional services firm that delivers performance improvement, turnaround management and business advisory services.
Following in the footsteps of the firm’s US business, A&M’s European arm has decided to launch a dedicated Information Governance practice. With the move, the management consulting and financial advisory firm aims to tap into the growing demand for strategic technology services. In an era where data, and down the line data management, has moved to the forefront of decision making frontiers, organisations are grappling to establish policies that provide greater control of their own data, as well as the means to commercialise what is dubbed as the digital gold. At the same time, the landscape is becoming more complex, in particular though the introduction of new regulations coming into force, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Alvarez & Marsal’s Information Governance will support organisations with developing and evaluating policies and procedures, including repositories and controls that are designed to effectively and efficiently manage their information. Julian Jones, a Managing Director in A&M’s Disputes and Investigations practice, explains: “Companies now hold vast amounts of information that is spread across the enterprise in multiple dark data silos. This data doubles in size every 12-18 months and is subject to ever-increasing regulatory requirements. This means that now, more than ever, companies cannot continue increasing their data storage without strategies in place to mitigate the information and security risks.”
To grow and establish the new practice in the marketplace, A&M has poached three seasoned veterans from IBM:
James Donnelly brings more than 15 years’ experience in information technology services, including cloud services, virtualisation, data storage and archiving technology. He has worked in a number of sectors, ranging from financial services to energy. Prior to joining A&M, Donnelly was an Information Lifecycle Governance Solution Consultant at IBM in London. He previously worked as Head of IT at companies including Manhattan Software Group and Legal Document Management Global.
Pavel Treskin has more than 20 years of experience in information governance, predictive analytics and business intelligence, working with both unstructured and structured data solutions. He has advised leading global organisations on how to extract real value from the exponential growth in information, in addition to mitigating risks. Prior to joining A&M, Treskin was IBM’s Information Lifecycle Governance lead for the UK and Central and Eastern Europe. He previously held roles at companies including Thunderhead, Detica, BAE Systems, Teradata and Bank of Montreal.
Richard Aitchison also brings more than 20 years’ experience in information lifecycle governance. He has been assisting clients throughout Europe and Australia to design and manage legacy data clean-up, record identification and retention programmes, and identifying and securing highly valuable business information. Aitchison joins A&M from IBM, where he started his career.
At A&M, Donnelly has been named a Senior Director, while Treskin and Aitchison have been appointed a Director. “Together, their 55 years of experience helping companies to navigate the information governance world will bolster our service portfolio to current and prospective clients”, concludes Jones.
