A Beginner s Guide to Information Governance

Transcription

1 A Beginner s Guide to Information Governance Corporate information takes many forms. While most people readily think of financial and legal data such as budgets and contracts, an organization's entire body of information assets is much more widespread. Think s, marketing documentation, instant messages, and even meeting notes. While some of this data may sound insignificant, having it deleted or comprised may have legal implications down the road for many companies. So how can such a broad range of data be captured, classified and later retrieved without hours spent weeding through boxes of paper files? Many years ago, companies that anticipated a digital information boom implemented content management systems (CMS). A study conducted in 2013 found that 75 percent of companies now have more than one in place, and 61 percent of companies report than more than half of their data lies outsides these systems. Now we are left looking for a more innovative solution that can capture the unforeseen volumes and diversity of corporate information. That s where information governance comes in. Designed to address these issues, successfully implemented information governance solutions allow companies to capture the entire landscape of corporate data, and ensure it s easily collected where and when it s needed. What is Information Governance? There are many ways to define information governance (IG). For instance, Gartner defines IG as:...the specification of decision rights and an accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior in the valuation, creation, storage, use, archival and deletion of information. It includes the processes, roles, standards and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its goals. (Logan, Debra, 2010) Another definition from Wikipedia goes like this: Information governance, or IG, is the set of multi-disciplinary structures, policies, procedures, processes and controls implemented to manage information at an enterprise level, supporting an organization's immediate and future regulatory, legal, risk, environmental and operational requirements. Both of these definitions consist of industry terminology and technical jargon. 1

2 A simpler way to think about information governance is to define it as: the means to accessing the most relevant information at the right time, in a way that it can be reliably read, sorted, and retrieved. Information governance inherently suggests the use of data standards to support the integrity, security, and value of data, allowing a business to not only properly preserve information assets, but also create a more efficient and reliable information lifecycle within the organization. The fear mongering sales approach for information governance solutions often goes as follows: You need an information governance solution or you will be exposed to litigation. This isn t the best way to promote the value of these solutions, nor does it properly capture the largely advantageous results of implementing such a solution Corporate Data: The Issues Businesses have incurred an information explosion in recent years. Cisco predicts that global data center traffic will nearly triple from 2013 to 2018 from 3.1 zettabytes/year in 2013 to 8.6 zettabytes/year in A zettabyte is trillion gigabytes. The rate of data growth increases every year and clearly shows no sign of slowing down. Further complicating the growing volumes is the equally growing diversity of sources that now include: , social media posts, instant messaging, job applications, attachments, Excel documents, videos, and more. Essentially, there is more data found in more places than ever before. One of the primary issues at a corporate level lies not only in being able to capture all this data, but also to organize it in a way that it can later be efficiently retrieved without losing time and money. There are many other considerations for proper information governance that include: Trusted Data Organizations that manage their own data have realized that doing so is a daunting task that may be done carelessly when proper resources or time aren t available. Employees and end-users need confidence that the information they are using is relevant, reliable and accurate to their request. For example: An employee may need access to a recent client-specific document, but finds that the data system is only inclusive of the previous year and doesn t yet capture the last six months of documents. Data Protection Information governance isn t just about data management, but also protecting and securing that data. Proper IG greatly reduces the threat of data breaches and unauthorized changes to sensitive data. For example: A disgruntled employee may try to damage their employer by deleting, or making changes to, sensitive data that they can still access outside the company walls. Fragmentation Enterprise data is becoming extremely fragmented as different departments leverage different applications and data feeds. The end result is corporate information that is spread across multiple systems and locations throughout a business. 2

3 For example: A marketing executive needs access to previous sales data to track recent marketing efforts and profitability of a specific campaign, but cannot find or access the data because financial records live in a completely different system. Compliance Legal and industry-specific regulations continue to grow and put increased responsibility on organizations to properly prepare themselves for potential litigation. A fast response to litigation substantially reduces expenses and can also improve the chances of a favorable ruling. For example: An ex-employee makes claims of harassment and the organization needs to access all of the employee s s during the time of their employment in order to dispute the claim, but the current database does not support archiving of s. Information Governance: The Benefits Executive support is an essential part of program success, particularly organization-wide initiatives such as information governance. While IT professionals may clearly understand the benefits, other leadership may need more explicit explanation and proof. Clearly demonstrating the benefits of an information governance solution is the best way to get everyone on board. Cost One of the most basic benefits of information governance is the actual cost savings on storage, security, multiple vendor contracts, and employee hours that can be realized from an information governance solution. For example: By properly securing years of tax information in an information archiving solution, a large financial services provider can reduce not only it s physical storage costs, but also the hours and dollrs spent weeding through boxes of paper files when a specific document is needed. Data Retention & Regulatory Compliance Many industries have specific regulations with regard to data retention and security. While others may not, it is advantageous for all companies to proactively protect information assets against deletion or alteration. For example: A healthcare practice may be called on to produce patient documentation in response to malpractice litigation and must have that data complete and readily available. ediscovery One of the more obvious benefits of an information governance solution is the streamlined organization and retrieval of corporate data. An information governance solution drastically reduces the time and money spent on ediscovery processes, even more so if the ediscovery solution is from the same provider and fully integrated into the archiving solution. For example: Assuming a work force of 1000 employees, research shows that the total annual cost of searching for documents is $7.5 million a 50% increase in search productivity gives us an estimated $3.75 million savings from recovered employee productivity. 3

4 Collaboration & Innovation A company s ability to produce innovative output is closely linked to the level of collaboration among its employees, according to Thomas Davies, director of Google enterprise in Northern, Eastern & Central Europe. When employees and key decision makers can share, store, and access data from within different teams, or even from different global locations, it fosters collaboration, which results in better, faster and more innovative thinking. For example: An organization can more quickly address cross-cultural considerations when global team members can collectively edit and review solution-specific documents. Security Proper information governance provides a higher level of protection by ensuring that all data resides under one secure solution. Within that solution, administrators can set rules, standards, and regulations for preservation and management of the information. For example: Executives can best protect confidential client information when it all resides within the same information governance solution, rather than across disparate accounts and hard drives. Customer Service Information governance can greatly improve the level of service you provide customers by allowing all employees quick and easy access to client-specific information. For example: Customer-facing employees can find all the information about a customer to better serve them. Successful Information Governance Implementation After successfully campaigning for internal support, getting the information governance solution up and running is the next step. There are a few things to keep in mind when you first get going, including: Start Small While information governance sounds fairly straightforward, this is rarely a reality. Strongly consider rolling out the solution in one department at a time, or one piece at a time, until organization-wide adoption is reached. Some smaller projects to begin with include: Selection and implementation of archiving tools Training program for employees Migration to a new platform Information governance assessment 4

5 Set Retention Standards While instant messages with can be crucial to a litigation matter, those that painstakingly plan the upcoming corporate picnic are not. Organizations should avoid making the costly mistake of saving every single piece of data. This fear-driven approach can cost substantial amounts of money in storage and create a lot of clutter. Having clearly established save guidelines and a deletion strategy is essential. Ensure Scalability While defensible deletion is an important part of information governance, so is the archiving itself. Often times, as data volumes become overwhelming, organizations start to become selective about what they keep and may start overlooking things. Ensure that the solution is scalable and can accommodate growing volumes without risking omissions or problems down the road. Get Everyone Involved Many organizations make a big deal over the launch of an information governance solution and forget that it will need to be maintained and supported long after the initial kick-off. Ensuring that all employees and executives are committed to the ongoing maintenance of the solution is crucial for its continued success. Validate the spend Proving ROI is critical to the success of any information governance initiative, and there is growing pressure to do so. While it can be difficult to prove the ROI of budget put towards these initiatives, consider demonstrating ROI via more quantitative means such as: decreased overtime hours, quicker ediscovery turnaround times, less spending on storage, or fewer litigation issues. Identify the Right Solution & Provider Designing and implementing an information governance solution can be daunting and is best left to the experts. Hire consultants who are well versed in your industry and understand the information asset management issues you are facing. When looking for a software solution you will want to ensure that it provides a wide range of functionality including: information lifecycle management; real-time reporting and monitoring; automated workflows; preservation management; collection, review, and data disposal; advanced search capabilities; and data integration and quality management. It s also important to remember that not all information governance solutions are created equal. About Daegis Daegis provides end-to-end archiving and ediscovery software with specialized services. Our solutions simplify and reduce the cost of information governance and ediscovery while mitigating risk by improving data management. Visit Daegis.com to learn more. 5