--- title: "\"I Want Certainty and Control - How Do I Get It?\"" description: Regain control of your data. Learn how to build certainty, visibility, and security on your terms. image: https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/The%20image%20showcases%20a%20serene%20office%20environment%20bathed%20in%20soft%20natural%20light%20filtering%20through%20large%20windows%20In%20the%20foreground%20a%20sleek%20white%20desk%20holds%20a%20modern%20laptop%20a%20notepad%20filled%20with%20handwritten%20notes%20and%20a%20steaming%20cup%20of%20coffee%20Behind%20the%20de-1.jpeg --- [Skip to main content](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/i-want-certainty-and-control-how-do-i-get-it#main) [![Jason Logo](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logo50x200-1.png?width=200&height=50&name=logo50x200-1.png) ![logo50x200-1](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/logo50x200-1.png?width=200&height=50&name=logo50x200-1.png) ![logo50x200-1](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/logo50x200-1.png?width=200&height=50&name=logo50x200-1.png) ![logo50x200-1](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/logo50x200-1.png?width=200&height=50&name=logo50x200-1.png)](https://jasonwdcassidy.com) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Search - [Recent Posts](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog) [Recent Posts](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog) Search # "I Want Certainty and Control - How Do I Get It?" ![Jason W. D. Cassidy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots/jason-casual-outdoors.jpg?width=50&height=50&name=jason-casual-outdoors.jpg) by [Jason W. D. Cassidy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/author/jason-w-d-cassidy) Jun 11, 2025 Everyone wants certainty. Everyone wants control. We like knowing what’s going to happen. We like knowing where our data is, who’s accessing it, and how it’s being used. Back in 1999, we had it. Sure, the tools were clunky. File shares weren’t sexy. People struggled to find things, and security was a manual process. But we knew where everything lived. We owned it. We managed access. We had certainty and control and it worked. --- [*Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.*](https://shinydocs.com/request-meeting) --- ## Then, the "Promises" Came... The industry promised us something better: “Cheaper. Faster. Easier. More secure.” And we bit. We moved our content, our workflows, and eventually our questions — into systems we don’t own and can’t fully understand. Now, someone else decides: - How fast we can retrieve our own data - How AI analyzes it - What visibility we’re allowed to have - How much do we pay to get access to our own data And somewhere along the way, we lost the two things we cared about most. ## What is Certainty and Control, *Really*? It means for every question you have about your data, you get a complete, trusted answer — instantly, securely, and without third-party eyes. And control? It’s knowing: - What data you have - Where it lives - Who can see it - What’s being done with it - And how you’ll keep it protected Combined, it means you have Google-like knowledge of your own data, and your users have Google-like access to your data securely. But right now, most companies don’t have this. They’ve ceded that responsibility to someone else. ## "So, How Do I Get It Back?" Start by getting clear on what not to do: - Don’t hand over your IP — or your questions about it — to a black-box cloud AI you don’t control. - Don’t rely on tools that only answer questions from fragmented or incomplete data sets. - Don’t confuse “convenient” with “controlled.” Here's what to do instead: - Bring your data back under your ownership — and know where everything lives - Build private content workflows that are visible, searchable, and auditable - Give your team Google-like access to your data — but on your own terms - Ensure security by design, not as an afterthought You can still use modern infrastructure. You can still use AI. You can still scale. But you need to build with the assumption that certainty and control are non-negotiable. [Here’s an example of a customer that did it and they’re winning awards](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/2023-dunedin-city-council-world-class-data-driven-local-government). They control their data and they understand it and they’re doing a different technique than just ceding it to someone else. Also, [when I talk to folks like James Merklinger](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/ei-episode-29-james-merklinger), it's literally by policy and law, these firms and their clients want assurances that your data is appropriately protected. This is the kind of certainty that we're talking about.   [![Book a Chat with Shinydocs](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Call%20to%20Action%20Banners/Book%20a%20Chat%20with%20Shinydocs.png?width=2000&height=600&name=Book%20a%20Chat%20with%20Shinydocs.png)](https://shinydocs.com/request-meeting)   **Tags:** [Learning](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/learning) ![Jason W. D. Cassidy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Headshots/jason-casual-outdoors.jpg?width=50&height=50&name=jason-casual-outdoors.jpg) Post by [Jason W. D. Cassidy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/author/jason-w-d-cassidy) Jun 11, 2025 CEO at Shinydocs Corporation | Document and File Analysis Software | Privacy | AI | Cybersecurity | All your Documents, Files, and Records | Digital Transformation for Legal, Government, and Business [Follow me on my website](https://shinydocs.com) [Follow me on Facebook](https://facebook.com/jasonwdcassidy) [Follow me on LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/jcassidy/) [Follow me on Twitter](https://x.com/JasonWDCassidy) ### Related Articles ##### [![How to Succeed at The 3 Content Use Cases Where Most of us Are Failing](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/A%20modern%20hightech%20illustration%20of%20three%20glowing%20digital%20pillars%20emerging%20from%20a%20clean%20white%20surface%20surrounded%20by%20subtle%20data%20particles%20and%20soft%20ambie.png?width=520&height=294&name=A%20modern%20hightech%20illustration%20of%20three%20glowing%20digital%20pillars%20emerging%20from%20a%20clean%20white%20surface%20surrounded%20by%20subtle%20data%20particles%20and%20soft%20ambie.png) Learning • Nov 25, 2025 How to Succeed at The 3 Content Use Cases Where Most of us Are Failing 1 min read](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/how-to-succeed-at-the-3-content-use-cases-where-most-of-us-are-failing) ##### [![What Principles Guide Your Cyber Security and Governance Controls?](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/A%20modern%20minimalistic%20illustration%20of%20five%20interconnected%20pillars%20representing%20security%20principles%20Clean%20lines%20muted%20corporate%20colors%20abstract%20shapes-1.png?width=520&height=294&name=A%20modern%20minimalistic%20illustration%20of%20five%20interconnected%20pillars%20representing%20security%20principles%20Clean%20lines%20muted%20corporate%20colors%20abstract%20shapes-1.png) Learning • Nov 18, 2025 What Principles Guide Your Cyber Security and Governance Controls? 2 min read](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/what-principles-guide-your-cyber-security-and-governance-controls) ##### [![Can you use Controls to Measure the Success of Governance and Cyber Security?](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog/Can%20you%20use%20Controls%20to%20Measure%20the%20Success%20of%20Governance%20and%20Cyber%20Security.png?width=520&height=294&name=Can%20you%20use%20Controls%20to%20Measure%20the%20Success%20of%20Governance%20and%20Cyber%20Security.png) Learning • Nov 11, 2025 Can you use Controls to Measure the Success of Governance and Cyber Security? 2 min read](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/what-tools-measure-the-success-of-governance-and-cyber-security) ### Comments ###### Categories - [Podcast](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/podcast) - [EI](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/ei) - [Learning](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/learning) - [Success Stories](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/success-stories) - [Local Government](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/tag/local-government) ###### Recent Posts - [How to Succeed at The 3 Content Use Cases Where Most of us Are Failing](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/how-to-succeed-at-the-3-content-use-cases-where-most-of-us-are-failing) - [What Principles Guide Your Cyber Security and Governance Controls?](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/what-principles-guide-your-cyber-security-and-governance-controls) - [Can you use Controls to Measure the Success of Governance and Cyber Security?](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/what-tools-measure-the-success-of-governance-and-cyber-security) - [Are You Really Covered? Why Most Organizations Only Have Cybersecurity for Some of Their Content](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/are-you-really-covered-why-most-organizations-only-have-cybersecurity-for-30-of-their-content) - [Cyber Security and Governance:  How to be the Hero saving Money, Time, and Reputational Risk](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/cyber-security-and-governance-how-to-be-the-hero-saving-money-time-and-reputational-risk) ![JasonWDCassidyLogo220x50](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Logos/JasonWDCassidyLogo220x50.png?width=220&height=50&name=JasonWDCassidyLogo220x50.png) Caffeine, Curiosity, Creativity ©2026 Jason W. D. Cassidy All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/privacy-policy) - - - - - ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jason W. D. Cassidy", "url" : "https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/author/jason-w-d-cassidy" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-11T16:05:23.974Z", "datePublished" : "2025-06-11T16:05:23.000Z", "headline" : "\"I Want Certainty and Control - How Do I Get It?\"", "image" : [ "https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/The%20image%20showcases%20a%20serene%20office%20environment%20bathed%20in%20soft%20natural%20light%20filtering%20through%20large%20windows%20In%20the%20foreground%20a%20sleek%20white%20desk%20holds%20a%20modern%20laptop%20a%20notepad%20filled%20with%20handwritten%20notes%20and%20a%20steaming%20cup%20of%20coffee%20Behind%20the%20de-1.jpeg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/i-want-certainty-and-control-how-do-i-get-it", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://jasonwdcassidy.com/hubfs/Headshots/Jason-Round-Profile.png" } } } ```