Information Governance: Risks and Opportunities – PART II

Make sure to check out Part I here.

Non compliance issues data losses and email are also crucial aspects of Information Governance. Non-compliance can create many other disruptive issues. Records, whether on paper or digital, are a fundamental part of audits, both internal and external.

Studies show that approximately 26% had issues internal issues and 11% had external issues with audits.

A surprising 24% or organizations have had issues with Freedom of Information (FOIA) request rising to 45% if limited to just government organizations. Only 21% had had data protection issues and 20% litigation and discovery problems.

Each year we learn of data breaches. They include Target, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sony, State of Nevada and Equifax. On September 26, 2016, Yahoo was sued over the massive data breach and Equifax fined by GDPR in September 2019. History shows this will continue to happen. The question is how do you protect your information and what is your Information Governance Plan?

As we create more data, we also have a Digital Transformation from traditional methods or physical paper. Digital transformation is the profound and accelerating transformation of business activities, processes, competencies, and models to fully leverage the changes and opportunities of digital technologies and their impact across society in strategic and prioritized ways.

Network Drives

We now use network drives, USB drives, Could storage such as BOX and Google, private clouds and more to store our digital data. What’s missing is a single source of the truth.

Information is the world’s new currency according to US Business and IT Executives and they feel if they could harness all of their data they would be a stronger business. They said they feel DATA is their greatest asset.

BUT, with new sources of content un-managed, new types of data, paper records still on paper, emails not in a managed solution, data breaches and more, we have created the perfect storm for a crisis. The result is that Records Management is now in the spotlight. It’s not in the back office, it’s in the Board Room.

According to IBM, Information Governance is “A holistic approach to managing and leveraging information for business benefits and encompasses information quality, information protection, and information life cycle management”.

Principals are the well-governed information will enable an organization to meet all of their business priorities and strategic imperatives but Information Governance is also about using all the technology we have today not just to create it but to truly comprehend it.

Risks

Coalescing under Information Governance risks are the issues of privacy, protection accessibility, life cycle management, and insight. Line of Business Managers are making independent software purchased to solve “their” information problems but are unaware of the need for system integration to support better business decisions. This is how we end up with multiple Content Management systems.

If Information is an asset, the CEO, CFO and CIO need to change their perspective. Today’s Executives must look at how their enterprise and information can be used to generate revenue. Legal and Discover Costs can become an issue if data is not controlled. Industry requirement s for compliance can be mitigated if information resides in a Document Management System.

Watch for the Part III, the final segment in this blog.