At our Stealth Security Experience in Chicago, 3 Tree Tech hosted a conversation that hit on a critical challenge facing technology leaders today: how do you scale data access across your organization without compromising on cost, control, or clarity?

Axiom, a featured partner, brought in a customer to help unpack that question. Ken Mannuzza, infrastructure engineer at M1 Finance, joined Eric Skeens for a fireside chat that dug into platform tradeoffs, internal alignment, and the real friction between cost and visibility. His perspective offered the room a clear, practical look at what it takes to support growth, security, and speed inside a modern fintech.

Visibility Is Still a Tradeoff

As data volumes grow, most companies are still making compromises. In many environments, engineering teams are forced to limit what they collect, shorten retention, or restrict access based on cost constraints. That puts pressure on DevOps, slows down security investigations, and creates bottlenecks for business insight.

Ken described the friction this causes at M1 Finance. Teams request access, dashboards, or logs, and engineers have to weigh the technical value against the financial impact. This results in defensive decisions. This is not because teams lack clarity but because platforms are built around cost control instead of business enablement.

Technology leaders should ask whether their current tools reduce risk or create it.

Security and DevOps Are Tied Together

Ken’s team sits next to security, not under it. But the partnership is constant. Whether it’s getting logs into the right system, responding to incidents, or enabling self-service across teams, the infrastructure group is deeply connected to the company’s security posture.

The conversation highlighted a shift in organizational structure. The lines between security, operations, and development are thinning. Data connects them all. Companies that want to move fast without exposing themselves need systems that support shared ownership, not separation.

For CIOs, CISOs, and CTOs, this raises an important question. Are your teams aligned around common data? Or are your silos getting deeper as your stack gets more complex?

Complexity Slows Teams Down

Ken also called out something every tech leader has seen. When pricing models are too rigid or access controls are too layered, your best engineers end up spending time on internal workarounds. That means less time spent building features, automating processes, or delivering value.

At M1 Finance, adopting Axiom allowed the team to reset that dynamic. With simplified pricing and accessible infrastructure, the team stopped worrying about what to log and started focusing on how to use the data.

This is not about buying more tooling. It is about removing the blockers that keep your teams from doing their best work.

Where This Is Going

The future of observability is not just technical. It is strategic. Leaders who want better outcomes need better access to the information driving their business. That means investing in platforms that scale without adding friction, and in cultures where DevOps and security operate from the same playbook.

Axiom’s role in this conversation was clear. They are helping companies like M1 Finance solve these challenges by changing how data is collected, stored, and used. But the bigger takeaway was this: the gap between visibility and value is growing. The companies that close it will be the ones that win.

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3 Tree Tech’s Tech Forums are designed for leaders who want real insight, not recycled soundbites. Whether it’s a Stealth Experience or one of our Connect Events, the goal is the same. Get in the room, hear what others are trying, and leave with something you can actually use.

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