Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices

CHAPTER 7

Business Considerations for a Successful IG Program

By Barclay T. Blair

The business case for information governance (IG) programs has historically been difficult to justify. It is hard to apply a strict, short-term return on investment (ROI) calculation. A lot of time, effort, and expense is involved before true economic benefits can be realized. So a commitment to the long view and an understanding of the many areas where an organization will improve as a result of a successful IG program are needed. But the bottom line is that reducing exposure to business risk, improving the quality and security of data and e-documents, cutting out unneeded stored information, and streamlining information technology (IT) development while focusing on business results add up to better organizational health and viability and, ultimately, an improved bottom line.

Let us take a step back and examine the major issues affecting information costing and calculating the real cost of holding information, consider Big Data and e-discovery ramifications, and introduce some new concepts that may help frame information costing issues differently for business managers. Getting a good handle on the true cost of information is essential to governing it properly, shifting resources to higher-value information, and discarding information that has no discernible business value and carries inherent, avoidable risks.

Changing Information Environment

The information environment is changing. Data volumes ...