Taking a deep dive into information governance.

• Author: Lanter, Amy
• Position: Editorial

Information governance has to do with an organization's ability to effectively manage and use its information to meet its goals. This begins with implementing comprehensive records management systems, policies, and procedures to gain control of information assets, which will help:

* Drive value--by providing the ability to leverage information for effective operations while simultaneously minimizing costs and risks

* Advance collaboration -by creating a framework for legal, IT, and records and information management to define a unified approach to meeting information needs

* Provide transparency--by providing context for business transactions and demonstrating the quality and credibility of information

* Mitigate risk--by ensuring information is handled properly

Managing records and information according to the Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles [R] (GARP [R]) will help an organization ensure effective information governance, It can use GARP [R] metrics to evaluate how well it has integrated GARP [R] principles into its culture, scoring itself in:

* Executive leadership--how much priority has been given to information governance objectives

* Organizational--how well the executive priorities have been translated into roles and responsibilities

* Functional/Tactical--how deeply the principles have penetrated daily operations

* Documentation/Audit--how well the organization has achieved its goals for the records and information management program

* Transformational/Strategic -how integral the information governance program has become to providing ROI

The Hot Topic insert in this issue takes a deep dive into information governance by examining its role in ensuring that organizations consider the business, legal, and technology ramifications of using cloud-based services before they make the leap to the cloud. Two other information...