Information Governance & its Importance

1. Information Governance & its Importance Every business interaction be it internal or external (with the customer) leaves big data, which could be audited. Many times, it is seen that the business interaction data is valuable, needs security and privacy, whereas there have been several incidences, wherein the data has no value and is just consuming the space. Knowing this thin line of difference between valuable data or non-valuable data is one of the biggest challenges an organization faces these days. Moreover, the mammoth data remains unchecked to reach the consensus of which data being valuable and which not. Having said this, the possibility of sensitive data being compromised, and the valuable data not being used as required remains very high. With all the above issues commonly faced by organizations, the only answer is Information Governance Plan. Information Governance – What is it? Well, there Information Governance can be defined in several ways but the crux of all can be understood in a simple way i.e., the Planned framework for managing information at the organization level. Information Governance cannot be limited to digital context but also well incorporates physical assets like devices, printed documents, etc. This is more applicable for the organization, which are matured or developed enough and have high reliability on the information stored in printed or digital form. As of date, there have been several standards, compliance on managing the information. However, Information Governance concepts have largely remained the same. The robust implementation of Information Governance allows the organization to extract greater value from the information and hence, more informed decision making. Importance of Information Governance One of the biggest challenges faced by organizations is the overload of data. Our digital activities as of date are not very far to reach 149

2. Zettabytes of data in the coming few years. The data from larger enterprises has reached petabyte-scale, whereas, for small businesses, it is still in dozens of terabytes. The fact of having this data increase tremendously cannot be neglected. The mammoth task in front of every organization is to minimize the risk and increase the value derived from it. Organizations even though considering their data as of high value but their digital assets are ungoverned and not protected or it would be right to say underutilized. Information Management Vs Information Governance Information Management and Information Governance are often considered interchangeable, but they are two different stages of scale. Information Governance's broader subset is information management, which integrates the capture, storage, distribution, and preservation of information assets. Not limited to it, It also includes the secure disposal of obsolete data in line with company regulation and compliance requirements. Information Governance has a comparatively much broader scope and varies from one organization to another. Most often, it refers to company policies and processes to optimize information management in line with business goals. It includes reducing the operation cost, deriving valuable information from the data available. Information Governance – The innovation Driver Information Governance system is not about a legally defensible program for managing sensitive information, but the business tycoons consider information governance a legal requirement. Information Governance is a journey and not the destination and the most disciplined one is called the digital transformation. If organizations wish to innovate, it cannot be done without risk. However, an adaptable IG strategy could help to make it without any risk. With fast-changing technologies these days, the risk and opportunities look alike, and both need to be managed at massive scales. Hence, there is no denying the massive scale of the requirement of Information Governance.

3. Overcoming the challenges of scale across the business roles Any organization going on board for an overhaul concerning information governance policies and procedures, it is very important to consider the challenges first, which can include the following but not limited to: The complexity and diversity of the available technology Increase of data across all business roles and departments.The regulation and policies at local, state, federal, and global levels In business environments, matters become more complex, especially when factoring in the rise of small teams and multiple branches. A wide range of cloud services is used by different departments. For easy understanding, every department team has a different requirement and hence, collects and uniquely stores the information. Therefore, it calls for the need to implement information governance in every possible area of the organization. Since Information Governance is involved in every critical business role, there is a need for a centralized way to access and manage the entire technology. It is about streamlining large and difficult technology situations by bringing everything under a unified management system altogether, where it is possible to apply and impose their policies. Initiatives – By Business Leaders Being the integral fields of cardinal transformation, innovation and empower exponential growth could be Governance strategies are much capable of it. Like all, it is mandatory to follow the rules and take care of the pitfalls that may come on the way. The following recommendation could help to boost Information Governance in any organization: driven, as Information Identification of an executive-level sponsor Leadership transformation. Leadership support is critical for any business transformation. If there is no one to drive the information governance initiative, the hope is almost nil to have the implementation succeeding. is very important and essential for any business

4. Hence, Larger companies are often seen to particularly appoint Information Governance board or committee involves leaders across the full range of business roles. Involvement of an engaged sponsor whose understanding is not limited to IT but also understands the business language increase the chances of success. Take an Org-wide approach Well, many of the organizations consider or view Information Governance as nothing but an IT project. However, what should not be mistaken is that it needs cooperation from the entire organization. For successful Information Governance, any data available or being used in any way must be on board of Information Governance. Any critical data being missed for whatsoever reasons may impact the information governance. Having taken care of it, what comes next is the participation from all departments in the Organization, which is very paramount for successful information governance. Employees Learning Understanding of employees on Information Governance is also critical for success. To adherences of all employees with legal, security, and privacy obligations, the training becomes a must. Education should be on regular basis and it should not be limited to single-time training. By keeping them under regular learning, you ensure that the chances of mistakes are less and positive implementation. Understanding of Information Lifecycle The lifespan of any information is predefined from the moment it’s first collected to the moment it’s archived or securely disposed of. The variation in the information enormously depends on its content, type, and industry. Legal factors must be given priority which includes privacy regulations to inform how an information lifecycle looks like. After you’ve addressed business priorities and legalities, you can move into standard lifecycle processes. Selection of right tools and solutions

5. Manual means alone are a no more feasible solution, due to the challenges of scale because of the explosion of data and the increasing range of devices as well as the software used. It has become important for every organization to use a powerful, automated approach to ensure the managing of data at every stage from the point of its existence. The processes that require automation consist of three processes starting from the application of retention policies, archival, and classification. However, the main goal remains to be able to implement a platform that brings all your apps and data together under a centrally managed system. Incorporate data-driven decision-making Big data could be data sets beyond human capabilities as well as it also presents a wealth of opportunity for businesses to derive valuable insights. By consolidating, the patchy and underutilized data from the wider technology environment, it is possible to stay ahead of the curve with informed, real-time decision-making.