Call to better manage information

The implementation of companywide information governance programmes to increase the strategic value of information can minimise costs and risk, according to a research paper by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by EMC.

The report, titled The Future of Enterprise Information Governance, is a survey and briefing paper compiled by the EIU, highlighting the strategic importance of managing vital corporate information assets, and the policies and processes that define how information is to be controlled, shared and leveraged among employees and stakeholders.

The briefing paper is based on an EIU research survey of senior executives from leading companies around the world about the benefits, challenges and risks associated with developing an enterprise-wide information governance strategy. Seventy-seven per cent of respondents expect information governance to be important to their company's success through 2011, while 68 per cent expect the complexity of their company's information governance issues will grow during that same time period.

Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds – 62 per cent – of respondents indicated their companies had no formal information governance programme in place, a worrying trend that may leave many corporations unprepared for new compliance mandates and open to preventable risks to sensitive information.

"Even though the standards for good governance are rising, we find that much of today's focus around corporate governance leaves information out of the discussion," said Frank Hauck, EMC Executive Vice-President, Global Marketing and Customer Quality.

"Carefully managing the relentlessly growing volume of information carries both risk and opportunity for the enterprise. At EMC we believe that senior corporate leaders need to be active stewards of their companies' information and should know as much about their information assets as their CFO knows about their company's financial assets. Implementing a companywide information governance initiative is one of the most valuable moves corporate leaders can make to create and enforce policies that help ensure information quality, compliance, and protection, while increasing its business value."

Debra D'Agostino, Deputy Director in the Americas, Industry and Management Research, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: "As firms large and small begin to think more strategically about how information is used and conveyed, creating policies and procedures for governing information protection, use and distribution inside and outside the firm will be important."