Defining Information Governance: An Exploration with Industry Experts
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Misconceptions
What are the biggest misconceptions of information governance?
From Chris Walker: All of the varying definitions from industry players have resulted in several misconceptions. For instance, look at ARMA; they are replacing records management with information governance while other vendors say that information governance is focused on e-discovery and litigation representation.
Personally, I think the single biggest misconception is that information governance is about minimizing legal damages. Information governance is far better served when it’s deployed as an offensive weapon, not defensive. The thinking must shift to, ‘how do I run my business better’ and ‘how do I better serve my constituents’ – if this is done properly, the negative and defensive piece falls into place.
Another misconception is that information governance must be applied equally across all information assets. That’s not true. Different types of information have different requirements around governing, storing and accessing them, they can’t all be treated the same.
As digital information grows, so do the challenges and burdens of managing this mountain of data. Until recently, much of the industry has been focused on applying principles used to manage physical records, but they are now realizing that records management is no longer a sufficient solution. Companies are only now beginning to understand the importance of having an information governance program to manage electronically stored information across their organization as they drive new standards, controls, processes, disciplines and corporate objectives. This natural evolution to encompass a wide array of features and capabilities will continue to change the way that companies maintain their documents and ensure compliance across the organization and within their vertical industries.
RSD recently developed a monthly blog segment titled Influencer’s Corner where the team sits down with the industry’s top influencers to discuss all that is happening in the world of information governance. To kick this off, the RSD team recently spoke with the following industry influencers to discuss their thoughts on the current state of the information governance market, misconceptions, advice for companies looking to embark on information governance projects and industry predictions for 2015.
Influencers include:
- Chris Walker, father of the Principals of Holistic Information Governance, an independent consultant and an analyst with Digital Clarity Group
- Bassam Zarkout, CTO of RSD, is a thought leader in the information governance space (conception, design, development and implementation), a frequent speaker at key industry events and a 20 year Information Governance veteran
- James Lappin, an independent records management consultant and trainer
- Robin Woolen, founder and principal consultant at The Records Guru®, IG industry veteran circa 1994
Continue reading for the influencers’ insight.
Related Topics : A Big Market for Big Data Jobs, Midmarket CIO, IT Management Automation, SharePoint, Technology Markets
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