A world-class provider of automated data mapping and privacy management solutions that are fast, compliant and easy to use: DataBench

The Silicon Review

Founded in 2018, DataBench’s earliest days were focused on assessing the global wave of data privacy compliance and how the world’s vendor market was responding to a new global industry. It became clear that most businesses don’t know the full extent of the applications and systems they have running across their organization, so they don’t really know where all the personal data sits within their business. The other core underlying finding was that organizations choosing to address the changing landscape with manual solutions were applying, on average, up to six extra staff members to deal with the extra workloads, but they were still falling behind on mandated timeframes, still needing sign-off from six to eight different departments to release information, and failing their legislative obligations. On the other hand, organizations that chose to address privacy legislation with automated solutions reduced their staff load to 1 person and turned the workflow over in 1-3 days.

DataBench’s Founder, David Christmas, knew that helping businesses across Australia and New Zealand automate their respective privacy and personal data landscapes was the best place to start, so he designed a leading automated data privacy platform called “DataBench.” As David has been quoted, “It needs to be a local Australian solution tailored for local conditions and ultimately for local companies.”

In conversation with David Christmas, Founder of DataBench

Q. Can you explain about your services in brief?

DataBench helps organizations understand their privacy data landscape (where all of their privacy data resides across their vast data stores) and maps that data to ensure it remains secure and compliant with Privacy Law requirements while using smart technologies to automate subject requests (such as “Show Me My Data” and “Delete Me”). A unique value proposition of the DataBench solution is its ability to understand both structured and unstructured data. Through our consulting services and the deployment of our technology platform, we provide a full data privacy discovery and compliance automation solution.

One of the biggest barriers to businesses when it comes to investing in any kind of technology is the cost. Tell us about the affordability of your solutions.

DataBench’s approach to clients is to be their long-term trusted partner, and part of that culture demands a deep understanding of the clients’ needs, budgets, timeframes, and staff. The investment in us is thus a mutual agreement between the parties, with a focus on delivering our solutions on time and with discernible quality and value. Our solutions are affordable for businesses of all sizes. DataBench places focus on the value that technology brings in terms of time and cost benefits, security and access to privacy data, meeting compliance requirements, and the rebalancing of manual tasks to automated processes.

Q. How do you monitor the performance of the solution? What guidance and direction did you find most effective to train agents to use your solution effectively?

Ultimately the performance and hence the benefits that come from of the DataBench solution can be categorized as follows -

We help businesses know where all the privacy data lies and therefore assist to map and secure that data which has large performance benefits from a security perspective and from a consumer subject request processing perspective
We ensure businesses remain compliant to current and emerging privacy laws not only for their countries of operations but the countries represented by their customer base
We monitor, alert and action when there are unusual behaviors on the data so we can ward off threats be they ransomware or unauthorised insider access attempts
We take manual business processes and automate consumer requests from the initial validation of the consumer thru to the full processing of the request (Show Me My Data, Delete Me) with confirmation back to the requestor and with full audit trail

Doing all these tasks accurately, securely, timely and at a lower cost than manual operations delivers a high performance solution from DataBench. Most users of the DataBench solution come from a background of manual task processing so training them to use the DataBench solution is a relatively fast process as they currently own the work flow. Our consultants will set up the DataBench solutions with the support of the users so adoption is accelerated by this process.

Q. There are other major players in this segment. How do distinguish your services/ standout from the rest?

DataBench sits in an envious position in the ANZ market because we are truly unique in our offerings. No other technology provider can provide the full extent of our solutions, from privacy data discovery through compliance automation. We are aware of offshore solutions that have marketed themselves as complying with the European Privacy Data Standards or the US Privacy Data Standards. DataBench provides compliance with all major global privacy data standards.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

In response to Australia’s privacy reform (currently in progress), since privacy rights were first established in Australia in 1988, DataBench is readying its solutions for all market segments and all sizes of businesses. We are launching the DataBench Data Privacy and Security Solution in three editions—Lite, Premium, and Elite—to offer both a suitable range of functionality and pricing to their corresponding market segments.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers? Are exciting things on the way?

DataBench is a young and vibrant startup in the ANZ region, and we are just beginning our journey. We have many plans for further developments in intellectual property and have a series of patents currently under review. We feel we are just getting started to become the market’s recognized force behind data privacy solutions and the go-to for privacy discovery and compliance automation.

Meet the leader behind the success of DataBench

As the Founder of DataBench, David Christmas developed the original vision and strategy for the company and continues to be very hands-on in developing multiple parts of the business. Prior to creating DataBench, David’s career has spanned over 20 years of software experience which includes delivering programs of work in locations such as North America, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Qatar, Dubai, India and the Middle East. David holds Microsoft Certified Network Engineer (MCSE) certification and Post Graduate Qualifications in Business and Technology from University of NSW.