What is Information Governance?
Information governance incorporates basic common sense. Know where your data is and who owns it. Implement multi-layer security to keep information safe. And plan for data end of life. For many industries, an important result of information governance is data compliance. HIPAA and GDPR regulations set strict rules to protect personal information, invoking stiff penalties for organizations that fail to comply. Organizations following best practices of information governance can easily demonstrate regulatory compliance.
Information governance forms the umbrella strategy that covers all your organizational data, including:
- Categorization and Storage of Data
- Multi-faceted Data Security
- Regulatory Compliance
- Information Access Controls
- eDiscovery Management
What is Information Governance?
Information governance incorporates basic common sense. Know where your data is and who owns it. Implement multi-layer security to keep information safe. And plan for data end of life. For many industries, an important result of information governance is data compliance. HIPAA and GDPR regulations set strict rules to protect personal information, invoking stiff penalties for organizations that fail to comply. Organizations following best practices of information governance can easily demonstrate regulatory compliance.
Information governance forms the umbrella strategy that covers all your organizational data, including:
- Categorization and Storage of Data
- Multi-faceted Data Security
- Regulatory Compliance
- Information Access Controls
- eDiscovery Management
The Data Dilemma
Deep in the information age, we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, about 1.6 MB per second, per person on the planet. Put to work, that information drives business strategy and sparks remarkable innovation. At the same time, endless data breaches spell disaster for organizations and for many whose information is lost to hackers. Likewise, vast quantities of data that could power analytics remain unused because businesses lack the resources to retrieve the information efficiently. Organizations that understand both the risks of poorly managed data and the benefits of effective information governance seek to manage data assets in a way that keeps sensitive information safe while unlocking the benefits of big data.
The Data Dilemma
Deep in the information age, we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, about 1.6 MB per second, per person on the planet. Put to work, that information drives business strategy and sparks remarkable innovation. At the same time, endless data breaches spell disaster for organizations and for many whose information is lost to hackers. Likewise, vast quantities of data that could power analytics remain unused because businesses lack the resources to retrieve the information efficiently. Organizations that understand both the risks of poorly managed data and the benefits of effective information governance seek to manage data assets in a way that keeps sensitive information safe while unlocking the benefits of big data.
Did you know…
99% of organizations think data is essential to success
88% of the data is ignored by most organizations
95% of businesses need to manage unstructured data
Benefits of Information Governance
Information governance helps keep data secure while making it accessible. Information Governance solutions aid compliance and strategy, reduce risk and save time. The benefits of properly managed data impact the entire organization. When businesses organize and manage data efficiently, they significantly mitigate the risk of suffering a data breach. Proper access controls, effective employee training and ongoing data monitoring all help to reduce vulnerabilities and keep information safe from attack. With data properly organized, companies can easily prepare the information necessary for eDiscovery. Quick response to eDiscovery requests saves time and money and gives the organization the upper hand in negotiations. The usefulness of data determines its value. Once you have properly categorized information, you can harness data analytics to drive innovation and inform operational strategy.
Implementing a comprehensive information governance strategy drives a boatload of business benefits, including:
- Reduced data storage and eDiscovery costs
- Reduced risk of a data breach and mishandling of sensitive information
- Improved regulatory compliance
- Increased employee productivity and enhanced collaboration
- Faster access to essential business information
- Using emerging technologies in business intelligence
Benefits of Information Governance
Information governance helps keep data secure while making it accessible. Information Governance solutions aid compliance and strategy, reduce risk and save time. The benefits of properly managed data impact the entire organization. When businesses organize and manage data efficiently, they significantly mitigate the risk of suffering a data breach. Proper access controls, effective employee training and ongoing data monitoring all help to reduce vulnerabilities and keep information safe from attack. With data properly organized, companies can easily prepare the information necessary for eDiscovery. Quick response to eDiscovery requests saves time and money and gives the organization the upper hand in negotiations. The usefulness of data determines its value. Once you have properly categorized information, you can harness data analytics to drive innovation and inform operational strategy.
Implementing a comprehensive information governance strategy drives a boatload of business benefits, including:
- Reduced data storage and eDiscovery costs
- Reduced risk of a data breach and mishandling of sensitive information
- Improved regulatory compliance
- Increased employee productivity and enhanced collaboration
- Faster access to essential business information
- Using emerging technologies in business intelligence
Information Governance Solutions
Information Governance Strategy
Information governance may feel like an enormous task. To conquer those terabytes of data, start simply and build your strategy one piece at a time.
Tap into Existing Expertise
The team of experts at Messaging Architects, together with eMazzanti, brings decades of experience in effective information governance consulting and information governance solutions. Contact us today to explore solutions and to begin developing comprehensive strategies for data and records management and information security.
Information Governance Strategy
Information governance may feel like an enormous task. To conquer those terabytes of data, start simply and build your strategy one piece at a time.
Tap into Existing Expertise
The team of experts at Messaging Architects, together with eMazzanti, brings decades of experience in effective information governance consulting and information governance solutions. Contact us today to explore solutions and to begin developing comprehensive strategies for data and records management and information security.
Establish a Retention Policy
Know the regulations for your industry and set your retention policy accordingly. Where possible, automate deletion and archival of outdated information. Do not keep data longer than necessary.
Employee Education
Effective information governance involves all employees. Include instruction on electronic document policies at regular intervals and during onboarding. The success of your program depends on employees that know and comply with policies.
Proactive Data Security
While proper storage, archiving and eDiscovery solutions allow you to access and secure information once it resides in your system, gateway solutions provide proactive protection, allowing you to monitor data as it enters and leaves the organization.
Comprehensive Data Audit
The first step in taking control of your data is to conduct a comprehensive data audit. Learn what data you have and where it resides, both on premises and in the cloud.
- What is in the data?
- Are there information policies in place, and are they being enforced?
- How much of the data is redundant, obsolete or trivial?
In addition to an initial data audit, implement software and processes to ensure that you have on-going visibility of your sensitive data moving forward.
Organize for Efficient Access
Improve efficiency by cleaning up the data. Within regulations, remove or archive information that is redundant or irrelevant. Archiving solutions allow you to retain data in a format that is easily searchable. At the same time, archiving frees up primary storage space. Make sure that strategic business information is organized into appropriate business categories such as invoices and customer correspondence. Tag information according to its value to the organization and whether it is subject to regulatory requirements.
Executive Sponsorship
It’s much easier to build engagement throughout the organization when top management is fully committed to the process of information governance.