Establishing an Information Governance Program

Information Management SeriesBy Bill Bickford

The Value of Information: A Definition

Value of information (VOI):

Is the amount a decision maker would be willing to pay for information prior to making a decision.

If you think about it, information can, to some extent, be valued and costed in the same way as another asset of an organization, and included in the financial report.

Just as inventory, information goes through the same value-added stages:

Raw material (events or processes to be measured) Work-in-progress (information in development) Finished goods (marketable or usable information)

Information Governance: Overview

Information governance is a discipline which embodies a convergence of information quality, information management, business process management, and risk management surrounding the handling of information in an organization. Through information governance, organizations are looking to exercise positive control over the processes and methods by which their information is used and handled across the organization

Building Blocks

Information

Accessibility

Information

Availability

Information

Quality

Information

Consistency

Information

Security

Information

Auditability

Information Integration Infrastructure

Standards Policies & Processes

Organization

Information Definitions & Taxonomies

Enterprise Information

Model

Technology & Tools

Standards

Master / Reference

Information

Information Definition

Information Access and

Delivery

Information Change

Management

Monitoring & Measuremen

t

Roles and Responsibiliti

es

Planning & Prioritization

Org. Change Management

Training & Education

Information Governance

To drive robust, scalable information governance programs, organizations are now implementing a common, enterprise information integration infrastructure—one that leverages a unified information integration platform, is built on shared services, and supports competency centers.

Automating information governance processes, enabling organizational collaboration, and systematically enforcing information standards and policies demands the right technology infrastructure

Information Governance Drivers

Information governance encompasses the people, processes, and information technology required to create a consistent and proper handling of an organization's information across the business enterprise

Common Drivers: Increase consistency and confidence in

information driven decision making

Decrease risk of regulatory violations

Realize the full value of your information

Strategic corporate alignment

While information governance initiatives can be driven by a desire to improve information quality, they are more often driven by external regulations. Examples of these regulations include Sarbanes-Oxley & HIPAA

Identify both Internal and

External drivers for Information Governance and prioritize them

Strategic Initiatives:Data Driven Decision MakingRegulatory ComplianceE-DiscoveryCustomer Service ImprovementCost Reduction Process OptimizationPerformance Measurement

Information Governance: Initiatives

The Information Governance Team should employ some form of methodology for measuring, tracking and improving enterprise information, such as Six Sigma, and utilize a standard set of tools for information mapping, profiling, cleansing, and monitoring.

Team Members:Executive Leadership (CxO)Program ManagerLine of Business ManagersProject ManagementInformation StewardsIT Management

Information governance initiatives improve information quality by designating a team that is responsible for information's accuracy, accessibility, consistency, and completeness across the organization

Information governance initiatives are usually aimed at achieving a number of objectives including better visibility to internal and external customers, compliance with regulatory law, improving operations after rapid company growth or corporate mergers and acquisitions, or to aid the efficiency and streamlining of business processes

Establish an Information

Governance Team with Executive

Support

Information Governance: Program Focus Areas

Major focus areas within an Enterprise Information Governance Program

Policy, Standards and Definition

Information Quality and Stewardship

Privacy, Compliance, Security

Business Intelligence

Business Alignment

Types of information:Master DataClient InformationProduct or Services InformationSensitive or Secure InformationPurchased InformationAcquired Information

Indentify areas of focus based on your business

needs

Information Governance: Program Charter

IT Initiatives:Enterprise Information ManagementMaster Data ManagementEnterprise SearchBusiness Process ReengineeringPlatform Standardization & Consolidation

The Charter should include:

Prioritize needs for Policy, Standards, and information Related Requirements

Set accountabilities and measures for the design, development, implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of the policies, standards, and information definitions

Gather Requirements Across the Organization

Perform Gap Analysis

Create Standardized information Definitions

Write Business Rules to enforce the Application of the Policies and Standards

Monitor and Report on Status of ProgramEstablish a Formal Program

Establish a Information Governance Program Charter

Information Governance: Standards, & Definition, Policy, & Organization

Objectives:Information AccessibilityInformation AvailabilityInformation QualityInformation ConsistencyInformation SecurityInformation Auditability

Formal Information Governance policies, backed by cross-functional Stewards, can give needed weight to architectural positions.

Standards & Definition: Information Definitions & Taxonomies Master / Reference Information Enterprise information Model Technology and Tools Standards

Policy: Information Definition Information Access and Delivery Monitoring and Measurement Information Change Management

Organization: Roles and Responsibilities Planning and Prioritization Training and Education Organizational Change ManagementDevelop a

Measurable Approach

Information Governance:Information Quality & Stewardship

Information Governance initiatives focused on Information Quality and Stewardship almost always involve some type of Information Quality Software, which may be used by Business Staff, Technical Staff, Information Stewards, or Designated Information Governance Teams

Level of Focus:These types of programs begin with an enterprise focus, but are executed initially at the department or project level.

“Act Local but Think Global”

This type of approach or focus typically comes into existence because of issues around the quality, integrity, or the usability of information.

Identify stakeholders, establish decision rights, clarify accountabilities

Collect information Quality rules from across the organization

Reconcile gaps, overlaps, and inconsistencies in information Quality rules

Implement Standards and Rule and Monitor

Report status for quality-focused initiative

Information Governance: Privacy, Compliance, & Security

This type of program focus typically comes into existence because of concerns about information Information Security controls, or compliance. Compliance, in this context, may refer to regulatory compliance, contractual compliance, or compliance with internal requirements.

Identify and locate sensitive information across the business

Align governance, compliance, security, and technology frameworks and initiatives

Help assess risk and define information-related controls to manage risk

Support Access Management and Security Requirements

Technologies Used to:Locate sensitive informationStore sensitive informationProtect sensitive informationMaintain Access & AuthorizationManage policies or controls

Create and Enforce Standards

and Policies

These types of initiatives usually include a strong focus around policy enforcement and sometimes are combined with a focus on information Quality

Information Governance: Business Intelligence

Information must be accessible and must also be reliable…

The information Governance around Business Intelligence typically comes into existence because of efforts focused on initial and or ongoing efforts around information quality entering into a information warehouse / ODS or business intelligence system.

Most of the time these types of information Governance initiatives are centered on control and designed to be preventative or detective in nature, and are either completely automated or heavily technology augmented.

Improve the Value of Information: Optimizing information’s value across the organizationAchieving a single version of the truthImproving confidence in decisions

Create Business Rules to Reinforce the Application of

Standards and Policies

Many times this area of focus will serve as a prototype for an Enterprise information Governance program

Information Governance: Strategy and Business Alignment

When managers find it difficult to make “routine” information driven decisions that effect operations or compliance efforts there needs to be a focus on information Governance when it comes to Strategy and Business Alignment.

Establishing councils that analyze business information interdependencies, make decisions, and issue policies is important to establishing and maintaining a strong information governance program

Combining information governance with traditional IT – governance and strategic initiatives is very common and provides a more holistic approach for the business

Monitor and Report on Status

of Information Governance

Program

Management must be able to make information driven decisions with confidence and not have to second guess the accuracy and quality of the information.

Conclusion

An information governance program can lay the foundation for managing not just information, but also the entire company or business group. An effective information governance program ensures information is developed, protected, and managed as a valued enterprise asset. It makes information universally visible throughout the organization. It also instills confidence that information is accurate.

As such, a information governance program can dramatically improve an organization’s ability to:

Establish sound business strategy and make effective decisions Maximize operational efficiency and effectiveness of all lines of

business Manage risk Comply with government and industry regulations

Next Steps

Establish Information Governance Team and Program Charter

Conduct a formal analysis to define program scope and the strategic value

Establish a long term roadmap with corporate milestone objectives

Execute Phase 1 - Analysis of Program

OVERVIEW

Provide Global business and IT consulting services and solutions.

Leadership team with decades of Big 5 experience built a consulting organization with the expertise of a larger firm while maintaining the speed and flexibility of a boutique.

Dedicated account teams with the ability to quickly scale project teams.

A business unit of the Adecco Group, a global services firm with $32B annual revenue.

Strong technology partnerships and certifications.

Our parent company, Adecco, has 6,600 offices in over 70 countries and territories around the world

Key Strategic Alliances

DEEP DOMAIN EXPERTISE, PROVIDING INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES…

Idea Services

• Business Strategy and Alignment

• Business Intelligence and Data

Visualization

• Business Process Analysis and

Optimization

• Creative and Interactive Design

• Custom Development and

Integration

• Compliance and Security

• Data Processing and Management

• Geographic Information Systems

• Infrastructure

• IT Strategy and Architecture

• Legacy Mainframe Modernization

• ERP and CRM Consulting

• Project Management and

Governance

Questions:

?

Contact:

Bill BickfordVP Strategic SolutionsIdea Integration

904.400.2952Email: bill.bickford@idea.comWeb: http://www.idea.com