INFORMATION GOVERNANCE IS A MUST

By K.C. Bishope

We are living in a very challenging economic climate. Nobody can afford to spend money. Privately we learn how to make due with what we have, going without other items that will produce expenditures.

However, in business environments we look for ways to cut costs in our day-to-day environments. We are constantly under pressure to increase productivity and the value of resources.

Currently we're creating more electronic data than ever. Worldwide analysts have estimated an increase of 60% annually. Customers and colleagues are always complaining that there's just "too much information" with which to deal.

Who among us doesn't spend an inordinate amount of time managing e-mail on a daily basis? If we don't manage it daily it mounts up and becomes unmanageable.

When you need to find something, even with archiving systems, how long does it take to locate the document or email?

The question is where do we begin when we speak about managing electronic information?

Information governance, a pro-active, policy-driven information management strategy is a practical way to manage electronic information. By integrating business objectives with information management policies, information governance addresses regulatory compliance, privacy and e-discovery mandates, and corporate governance.

The foundations of information governance are in risk and compliance initiatives (GRC) that are being developed by companies in an effort to apply enforceable, consistent, repeatable and defensible policies.

This system only works if the various constituents from different departments, come together to work in tandem.

Getting consensus between group members from the different departments is very challenging and very difficult to achieve. But an effective information governance system provides for the management of information growth, management of access to data, and reduction of risk.

The heart of each of these challenges is policy. The most effective information governance involves carrying policies forward consistently with enabling technologies. At the core are foundational technologies including security, access control, classification, search, retention policy management, archiving and content management.