Big data, unstructured electronic content and paper records all need to be considered when implementing a holistic information governance programme. The fact that this information is generated and stored in multiple locations, by different departments is a cause of the problem. Ensuring that everyone creates and keeps the right information, and protects it according to company dictates isn’t easy.

1. C O R
Concepts
Big data, big content, and Big
paper stores -
Information
Governance across all
media

2. C O R
Concepts
Information stored in
multiple formats
One of the key challenges with adopting a holistic approach to
information governance is that the information is stored in
multiple formats, in many locations, and managed by many
people with different responsibilities. This article looks at a few
of these different perspectives and identifies an approach to
gaining control.

3. C O R
Concepts
Big data
This has become a hot topic, and remains a current focus of many
IT departments today. The challenge with big data is that it is data
focused, and this remains (necessarily) under the control of IT.
Looking back to the heyday of data warehouses, the challenge
always existed to gather the right (accurate) information, store it
in separate databases that would allow business intelligence
processes to be performed, whilst protecting and preserving the
integrity of the original data. The challenges remain similar,
except now there is far more data to be taken into consideration.
With the size of large data sets, new considerations emerge
regarding appropriate systems to gather, manage and store all this
data. From a governance and discovery perspective, the
organization needs to ensure that the data is accurate, is up-to-date,
and accessible only to those who need it.

4. C O R
Concepts
Big data cont.
The systems to manage big data must sit within control of the IT
department, but questions need to be asked regarding who has
the responsibility to gather and curate the data, both in its raw
form, and the outputs from the business intelligence models
being run.

5. C O R
Concepts
Big Content
Whilst big data is an issue, an even greater concern may be the
management of all the unstructured information in the
organization, that doesn’t sit in databases and corporate ERP
systems. Although different organizations have different views
on Enterprise Content Management (ECM), the fact remains that
a very high percentage of information in an organization is in
unstructured formats. Ignoring paper for a second, the amount
of information in scanned images, office suites, word processing
files, spread-sheets, presentations, videos and pictures is truly
staggering.

6. C O R
Concepts
Big Content cont.
Conventional industry wisdom talks of 80% of information in an
organization being in unstructured formats. Whether the actual
percentage is 80% or even as low as 50% is a moot point; the
concern remains that organizations hold tens of terabytes of
unstructured information. The nature of this information is such
that it is generally created and stored in a decentralised manner,
by office workers scattered around the globe. Ensuring that all
this information is accurate, collated, used properly, protected,
and stored in formal systems that allow its search and retrieval
remains a nightmare for many organizations. This information is
often out of the control of IT departments and may be stored on
local or shared drives, with duplication being a major concern.
Finding the latest version, ring-fencing it and preserving it are key
issues from an information governance and discovery perspective.

7. C O R
Concepts
Big paper
Yes, I know, you’ve all gone paperless, and none of your
organizations have any paper stores any more. Sadly this is
seldom the case, and the use of paper is still increasing by over
10% per year. For many processes, and many organizations,
paper remains a key source document, and hence a key store of
information. Information governance requires management of
information on all formats and media, and paper simply cannot
be ignored. Whilst e-discovery is the fashion of the day, true
discovery still begs the question – is there information out there
on other formats which may be required in the event of disputes
or litigation.

8. C O R
Concepts
Big paper cont.
As with electronic unstructured information, paper is often
generated in a decentralised manner. It happens “out there” in
user departments, very far from the control of IT. Much of this
paper is a record and needs to form part of the organizations
records management programme, and hence clearly needs to be
considered as an integral part of information governance.

9. C O R
Concepts
Bringing it all together
Big data, unstructured electronic content and paper records all
need to be considered when implementing a holistic information
governance programme. The fact that this information is
generated and stored in multiple locations, by different
departments is a cause of the problem. Ensuring that everyone
creates and keeps the right information, and protects it
according to company dictates isn’t easy.

10. C O R
Concepts
Bringing it all together
Formulating coherent global policies and creation of a multi-disciplinary
information governance steering committee are two
key starting points for getting control of the different types of
information. The next step is recognising what information
exists, where it is stored, and allocating responsibilities for it
during its lifecycle. Monitoring, reporting and revising
processes on an on-going basis become the cornerstone for
implementation into the future.

11. C O R
Concepts
Questions?
Any questions before
we move on?
Paul Mullon is an Information Management Professional
with a passion for Information Governance,
and developing cohesive, standardised approaches
to managing information of all kinds.
paulm@corconcepts.co.za
COR Concepts. http://www.corconcepts.co.za