publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/306297
A CONTEMPORARY DEFINITION OF IG The definition of IG has evolved over time, as needs and objectives have shifted. In the recent past, the term IG was defined narrowly, often focusing on a small set of data within an organization for a relatively small target audience. The definition has expanded, however, with the introduction of added risk derived from increasing e-discovery and investigation challenges and spoliation concerns, coupled with the desire to achieve greater insight and productivity in the organization. A contemporary definition of governance now applies to a much broader set of data spanning numerous data silos and to a wider target audience that needs to solve a greater range of problems. This evolving definition of IG will ultimately provide greater value to the organization, but it also means IG practices and technologies implemented in the past must be re-evaluated to ensure they are optimized to deliver on today's complete set of needs and requirements. With these new objectives in hand, ECM is becoming an increasingly important piece of the IG puzzle. BEYOND RECORDS MANAGEMENT Historically, managing records has been seen as a common use case in IG, from an ECM perspective. The practice of managing business records from creation through disposal, and of maintaining a complete and accurate history of business transactions and organizational knowledge, is critical to ensuring you can comply with many regulatory mandates. Records management technology should also allow users to get simple, uniform access to information, sometimes across a range of devices, while still achieving high levels of information security, integrity, enterprise scalability and operational efficiency. However, records management alone cannot meet the full breadth of IG needs within ECM. THE FUTURE: ECM WITHOUT BORDERS In a 2013 survey, AIIM found that 75 percent of respondents had more than one ECM/DM/ RM system, and 26 percent had four or more such systems. This fragmentation and resulting lack of visibility creates a significant risk. As with driving with one eye closed, IT can't see important information that could pose a hazard, such as content that has fallen out of compliance with retention policies or that can't be discovered effectively. For instance, some repositories could be walled off from existing search technologies, or content might be in formats outside the current technology's deciphering abilities. There's no question that organizations must mitigate the risks posed by disparate systems — ILTA WHITE PAPER: APRIL 2014 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 13 TAKE BACK CONTROL OF ENTERPRISE DATA METRIC TRADITIONAL DEFINITION CONTEMPORARY DEFINITION Data Covered Limited in scope — specifi ed silos and data types (e.g., fi nancials, contracts) Pan enterprise — across silos and many data types Problems Solved Legal and compliance Business and operational, information management, legal and compliance Target Audience CCO, CLO CIO, CTO, CCO, CLO Flexibility Monolithic and infl exible Modular and frictionless Consistency (Policy) Manual, inconsistent and opaque Automated, consistent and transparent Data Accessibility Limited access for only a few Optimized for access by a mobile workforce Security Highly secure Highly secure Scalability Limited Versatile enough for the largest enterprises