Information Management: Today s Reality

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1 A Point of View Series

2 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT REQUIRES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS COOPERATION LIKE NEVER BEFORE To date, many executives have only paid lip service to the notion that information is an asset and that they need to get involved. For organizations to effectively harness their information as an asset, they will need to transform the way they manage the vast quantities of business content across their enterprise. They also need to find tools and partners to help. Given the exponential information growth, having ready access to information in ways that are faster, better, cheaper and legally compliant is increasingly difficult. In addition, the consequences of information mismanagement are now greater than ever. Many companies have learned the hard way that the sheer volume of information and its existence in more places without centralized access and control makes managing security, privacy, records retention and litigation response that much more challenging. Without topdown management policy and technology augmenting sound information management practices, business critical records can t be expeditiously found when needed. In order to utilize information as a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive world, and ensure it doesn t become a business or financial risk, executives need to take information management more seriously. To get it right across complex business environments, stakeholders from varying functions across the enterprise will need to involve themselves in implementation efforts. This paper will briefly examine the current state of information management and discuss both the need for a coordinated effort and for alignment across the organization. INFORMATION PROLIFERATION CONUNDRUMS Data volumes are doubling annually, and new technologies (such as social media), new storage locations (such as The Cloud ), and new formats with less centralized control of all information have emerged. To get information management right, major changes need to happen immediately. IDC predicts that this year alone, we will create 1800 exabytes of new information (one exabyte is the data equivalent of 50,000 years of DVD movies). This volume alone dictates change. Evidence of business transactions and activities are now regularly documented in a way that makes protecting legal and business interests more challenging. Contracts don t appear like contracts. Important business records can be found in systems, on mobile devices, or on storage environments in the Cloud. More employees regularly work from home with personal devices, use social networking sites, and store business records in unsanctioned locations. Consequently, finding needed business information or responding to a regulator s request becomes more difficult, inconvenient and very expensive. It is no longer acceptable to blame peers or other departments for information management failures when you are facing a legal or regulatory matter. 2

3 EXECUTIVES NEED TO LEAD INFORMATION MANAGEMENT; GETTING KEY IM STAKEHOLDERS TO THE TABLE Taking information management seriously requires leadership from the top making it clear that such efforts are a top priority. Messaging the importance of information management, including putting executive support behind policies and directives, is essential to driving the initiative across the enterprise. Policies and programs are developed by mid-level management, but are only successfully sold across an enterprise by executives. Getting all business units engaged and business unit leaders onboard usually requires a C-level executive setting information management as a top priority. Executive leadership and sponsorship will help elevate the issue and promote a coordinated effort across the company. This will also help ensure the program components are consistently implemented. Senior management must make it clear that information management is a priority Develop an information management executive committee with joint IT and Legal leadership Senior management sponsors need to delegate and add oversight to the overall program including implementation, policy and procedures development such as training, communication, auditing and compliance to ensure proper program implementation and sustainability. Getting business leader sponsorship helps ensure programs are funded for sustainable success. This in turn helps to guarantee that the needed people, processes, resources and technology are available to fully implement the plan. Leaders also need to ensure that a strategy, roadmap and alignment processes are all in place to successfully implement the information management policy. In other words, while policy may be a starting place, to have a successful on-going program it will require much more to follow through. It is especially important in a lean economic cycle, that senior leadership set information management as a top priority to ensure that adequate funding is allocated for such undertakings. Getting all business units engaged and business unit leaders onboard usually requires a C-level executive setting information management as a top priority. All information management initiatives should have C-Level and senior IT and Legal sponsorship at a minimum with committee support Committee needs to dictate policy Committee needs to develop both a strategy and implementation plan to delegate the implementation of the plan to stakeholders 3

4 MULTI-FUNCTION TEAM It is much more cost effective to identify internal weaknesses and correct them upfront, than it is to allow a lawyer or regulator to identify them for you. To address the various information management needs and functional requirements of an organization requires bringing the right stakeholders to the table to develop policy, strategy and measures, to address the functional requirements for technology tools, and to then implement the program. The IT, Legal, records management and business functions, at a minimum, need to be engaged and involved to help coordinate efforts and provide functional needs for policy development, training efforts, audit requirements, technology acquisition, etc. Increasingly with many IT acquisitions, Legal and Compliance departments are asked to be part of the process to ensure that not only are business needs and IT requirements addressed, but that records management and litigation response needs are met as well. Technology does a great job of creating new information, but unless that new information is managed, at some point, it will lead to unnecessary costs and risks. All information created within the organization needs to be managed, whether for back-up, records management, security, privacy or litigation response purposes. ONE POLICY - ONE TECHNOLOGY When organizations fail to coordinate efforts from an executive level, invariably different business units do their own thing. Sometimes it s good and sometimes is bad, but with such an approach it s never coordinated or consistent. What is clear is that sustainable information management programs develop one program and one policy. They also seek to coordinate efforts on technology purchases to have fewer technology platforms and fewer overlapping purchases. By adopting the multi-function team approach discussed earlier, organizations are best prepared to ensure a more aligned technology strategy early in the IM plan development. Coordinated top-down efforts help to better utilize limited resources by reducing the number of technologies that need to be integrated, managed and supported. Coordination in the purchasing process can also lead to more competitive pricing, as buying power is greater with more users. Further, coordinating efforts on technology purchases helps to ensure that technology has the longest useful shelflife as needed requirements and long-term company-wide needs are considered upfront. And finally, complex integration challenges and costly support issues are minimized with a smaller number of solutions implemented across an enterprise. 4

5 GOVERNANCE, RISK AND COMPLIANCE IS A COMPANYWIDE RESPONSIBILITY NOT A BUSINESS UNIT-SPECIFIC PROBLEM It is no longer acceptable to blame peers or other departments for information management failures when you are facing a legal or regulatory matter. Legal cannot point a finger at IT when the environment is poorly managed or social media access is open to all employees through the firewall with no rules in place on its use. It is not the sole responsibility of IT anymore to figure out the governance rules when implementing technology or managing information. C-Level executives must assess the risk versus business value in all technology environments, and implement appropriate policies to reduce the risk. Information management practices need to be regularly monitored and audited to ensure policies are being followed by all. It is much more cost effective to identify internal weaknesses and correct them upfront, than it is to allow a lawyer or regulator to identify them for you. Additionally when responding to information requests in litigation, for example, you must have a consistent cross-enterprise response. It is difficult, at best, to explain to a court why one business unit retained its for 30 days and another retained its indefinitely. Information management programs can be merged with compliance by following Kahn s Seven Keys to Information Management Compliance Key 1: Good Policies and Procedures Key 2: Executive-Level Program Responsibility Key 3: Proper Delegation of Program Roles and Components Key 4: Program Communication and Training Key 5: Auditing and Monitoring to Measure Program Compliance Key 6: Effective and Consistent Program Enforcement Key 7: Continuous Program Improvement CONCLUSION Today, it is more important than ever for C-Level executives to take responsibility for the management of information. It is their corporate obligation to shareholders to manage all assets with due care. Information is one of the most valuable assets that a corporation must manage. It is complex and challenging to get one s arms around all the information generated in a corporation, however this is no reason to ignore it. C-level management has been far too lax when it comes to information management. They need to take ownership for a business-wide strategy, involve key stakeholders and ensure effective and sustainable execution and ongoing management. By adopting this approach, organizations can become more efficient with less risk and will have the required governance and controls in place to achieve competitive advantage and risk mitigation. About Kahn Kahn Consulting, Inc. (KCI) is a consulting firm specializing in the legal, compliance, and policy issues of information technology and information lifecycle management. Through a range of services including information and records management program development; electronic records, e-communication and social network policy development; Information Management Compliance audits; product assessments; legal and compliance research; and education and training, KCI helps its clients address today s critical issues in an ever-changing regulatory and technological environment. More information about KCI, its services and its clients can be found online at: About HP HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at 5