The company is a large multinational with some 17,000 employees in 40 countries, and Symantec uses its software to meet its own business needs in terms of protecting its brand and information, as well as ensuring data availability.

"I find it important to be very credible with my peers," Thompson said.

Using a portfolio management methodology along with well-documented processes, he is able to explain to customers how the company achieved its results in this area.

Thompson noted that he asks similar questions of Symantec's suppliers.

A recent project within Symantec has been the deployment of data loss prevention software to help guard the company's intellectual property. The goal was to allow more people to have access to data (which as Thompson pointed out is there to be used) while still protecting it.

The software detects and blocks attempts to take data where it isn't supposed to go, and reports the contravention.

What other 'dishes' is Thompson serving up to his colleagues? See page 2.

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Other areas where Thompson has deployed Symantec's own technology include virtualisation (using the same products to secure, protect and manage virtual and physical infrastructure, as well as using AppStream to transparently deliver virtualised applications), and cloud computing.

The company is "staying in tune with our customers" regarding cloud computing, he said. Symantec is already one of the world's largest providers of managed security services, and the MessageLabs email filtering business is "very successful." As customers become comfortable with the idea of managed on-premises services they may move to a cloud-based or at least a hybrid approach.

To this end, Symantec offers potential customers a SAS 70 Type II report, prepared by an external auditor and testifying to the security and management of Symantec's operations.

It is "similar to a Sarbanes-Oxley report, but focussing on hosting or SaaS businesses," said Thompson.

Initially demanded by customers in the financial services industry, it is increasingly required by healthcare and other customers.

As a result, "we've become much more mature in pour processes... it's a real competitive advantage," he said.

Thompson also observed that according to the US EPA, data centres are among the biggest power users in the country. Consequently, CIOs are increasingly charged with reducing power consumption and bills.

"I don't like greenwash," he observed, but he knows how much power he's using and how much it costs.

The issue covers social responsibility as well as cost-cutting, and in addition to measures to reduce energy consumption (such as using Symantec's Altiris software to control power management settings on PCs), the company has arranged for at least 30% of the power used by its main data centre to come from green sources.

Symantec has also committed to reducing its carbon footprint (including employee commuting and business travel) by 20% from its end-2008 level by 2012. Customers like - and sometimes actively ask for - such programs, and Symantec's suppliers are also working towards the goal.

"[CIOs] have the opportunity to influence as we are typically the largest buyers of commodity technology in an organisation," Thompson observed, so they can press suppliers to become more socially responsible and more power efficient.