The Cost of Information Misgovernance, and What You Can Do about IT

Information governance — historically a bottom-up practice and now the responsibility of Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) managers — has been pushing its way into boardrooms around the world. Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, The Basel II accords and similar regulations have triggered this trend. The problem is that the concerned parties rarely speak the same technical language. Modern enterprise information management systems are helping to address the problem but there are still a few secrets to success. Here are some things to keep in mind during your initiatives.

The terms “corporate governance” and “information governance” no doubt sound similar. Many people focus only on the “governance” aspect of both, and assume that they are different names for the same discipline.

But for too long those who specialize in both fields have paid too little attention to each other — a disinterest that courts and regulators are now forcing to an end. Corporate governance — the role of boards and top management in overseeing, administering and monitoring a company, is very much of a “top-down” field. Information governance, which oversees the performance and risk management of information technology (IT) systems, would seem to be a very “bottom-up,” tactical item at the bottom of a board’s agenda. Yet IT and data management have been pushing their way up on that boardroom agenda for some time.

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Source: CMS Wire
By: Betsy Atkins