7 REASONS TO ADOPT INFORMATION GOVERNANCE

Each department in your organization creates information, collects it, stores it, and sometimes needs access to it, often under short deadlines. The efficient use of your information is a key differentiator (in the face of competition, for decision-making, to control risks,…) But there is a problem. If your information governance strategies are not sufficiently defined and implemented, or worse, non-existent, your organization is unable to take full advantage of your information and is at risk. In such a situation, it is urgent to reclaim your information heritage.

Need to be convinced that information governance is crucial? Here are 7 good reasons to adopt it.

Too much information kills information

Each department of the company creates its own data or documents. Human resources, Accounting, Administration, IT, R&D, all are subject to regulations, which sometimes are their own, and have different needs both to access information and to store it. With the explosion of data and document volumes, taking a strategic approach becomes a necessity. Therefore, It is important to define information governance plan, policy-adapted information governance-oriented “flow” and apprehending these future flows according to their nature (data, documents), medium (electronic, paper), value (engaging, confidential, patrimonial,…)

Not all data is useful

Not all your information is good to keep. Some are essential and some are not, some must be deleted (example: the right to be forgotten,). It is therefore important to sort and qualify the elements that must be kept:

• What do I need to keep being in compliance?
• What can or should be removed?

Take information into account wherever it is

Given the different networks, different applications, and different formats, centralized control is necessary and requires relying on a wide variety of ready-to-use connectors.

It is important to take into account :

* Information stored in different company solutions,

* Sensitive information stored in legacy systems,

* The multiplicity of types of data and/or documents.

Finding the right information, on time, is key

The information to be recovered can come from several distinct applications, be drowned in a large flow of information or be poorly described or qualified. In such a context, how can we easily find the information we need? Most of the time, people do not make it, or at least not in the immediate future, unless we succeed in :

• have a centralized access point to search for information,
• qualify the information as soon as possible, to control the life cycle and facilitate the access by research,
• retain only useful information and allow access only to authorized information, in order to reduce search time, and easily take advantage of the information.

Secure information based on its value

The data and documents you manage have values that change over time. It is necessary to understand this notion in order to take into account the constraints of access, integrity, availability of information over time. This aspect is manageable by dedicated technologies (cryptographic, security,…) driven by a clear governance policy.

It is thus imperative :

* making information accessible to the right people at the right time,

* control access and use of information,

* protect data and documents from malicious intent.

Do not break the law

Legal actions are costly and harmful and their impacts are rarely anticipated. However, it is possible and sometimes easy to align the application in place with the regulatory and normative obligations imposed on your company.

Increase agility

Information is both a risk factor and a competitive advantage. Things are changing quickly and constantly, and what is valid today probably will not be valid tomorrow. You need to be able to rely on your information to make the right decisions during a dispute or when faced with an opportunity.