Contoural’s Information Governance Assessment And Roadmap Service
Engages key stakeholders across the organization to foster cross-functional records management and Information Governance program ownership.
Assesses current information sharing capabilities for driving employee productivity and collaboration both within departments and across the enterprise.
As an option, benchmarks company information governance capabilities against selected industry peers.
Develops a comprehensive, detailed roadmap for achieving program state taking into account resources and other initiatives, timelines and resources.
Identifies program “quick wins” to build momentum.
Creates a detailed assessment on current capabilities, including meeting legal, regulatory and privacy requirements.
Determines appropriate targeted program maturity based on industry, regulatory, and litigation profiles along with business needs.
Identifies gaps from current capabilities to desired state, and activities and resources required to address these gaps.
Working with stakeholders, communicates findings and recommendations to senior management.
What are our current records management, document retention, information governance and privacy capabilities and how do they impact employee productivity, collaboration, compliance, risk and cost?
Are we meeting current legal, regulatory and privacy requirements for records management and document retention?
What are our current data retention processes, and are these effective and compliant? Do we retain the appropriate records? Do we over-retain information with a “save everything forever” approach? How do we strike the correct records and data retention balance?
Does our current records retention schedule/data retention policy and data security classification standard meet our compliance and business needs?
What level of records management, privacy and information governance maturity should our program have and what level of resources do we need to support this maturity for our company in our industry?
How do we ensure we don’t under build or underinvest in our program, and more important how do ensure we do not overbuild or overspend based on need, risk and industry?
How do our information governance and data retention capabilities compare against peers in our industry?
What current capabilities do we already have in place, and which pieces are missing or need updating?
What order should these program development activities take, how long will they take, and how should these activities be coordinated with other initiatives?
Who should participate in developing and executing our document retention and records retention program and how do we make this an enterprise-wide effort supported by multiple stakeholders?
What internal, external and technology resources will we require to support our document retention and data retention initiatives over what period of time?
How do we communicate this plan effectively and credibly to senior management?
Contoural’s Approach for Assessment and Roadmap Service
Contoural’s service addresses program launch for records management and Information Governance. Assessment findings shape a strategy that closes gaps and ensures proper management, litigation readiness, and data protection. The roadmap forms a project plan for the entire initiative, guided by our comprehensive approach.
Contoural is an Independent Provider
Contoural is an independent provider. We sell not products, do not do “reactive” eDiscovery or store any records. Nor do we take any referral fees from other vendors. The advice provided for all of our services is driven completely on our clients needs. We do not have any “product agenda” in our back pocket.
Engaging Cross-function Stakeholders to Build Program Buy-in
Successful records management and Information Governance programs serves a wide number of stakeholders and makes the entire business more productive and collaborative. Assessing and developing strategic Information Governance roadmaps should engage key stakeholders and business units early on both to fully understand needs and build program buy-in. The Assessment and Roadmap services engages a number of key groups:
Legal – Records Management, Litigation
Compliance – Privacy, Audit, Risk Management
IT – Messaging, Infrastructure, Information Security
Business Units – A variety of business units from across the organization
The Assessment and Roadmap Addresses all Media, Especially Electronic
Traditional records programs focus on paper records, sometimes to the exclusion of electronic information. While paper should be addressed, today the greatest risks as wells as opportunities for increased productivity lie in the management of electronic information. Contoural’s Assessment and Roadmap Service reviews the management of governance of all media:
Unstructured Including Files
Semi-structured Including Email
Structured Data in Databases and Applications
Paper
Effective programs managing information throughout its entire lifecycle.
We Identify Potential Information Risks
Immature of poorly function records management or Information Governance programs can create risks. Contoural Assessment and Roadmap service identifies a number of potential risks within a company. Some of these include:
Failure to Comply with Legal and Regulatory Recordkeeping Requirements – All organizations, from commercial to public sector to non-profits, large and small, public and private face numerous legal and recordkeeping requirements. Failure to ensure proper retention of records can subject organizations to fines and penalties. We assess organizations’ compliance capabilities.
Data Breaches from Data Stores That Should Not Have Been Created – Criminal groups and activist disclosure organizations are targeting and breaching electronic data stores of many organizations. Many cyberattacks focus on over-retained or expired data – large stores of data that should have not been saved in the first place or deleted at the end of the applicable retention period.
Over Retention Driving Increase in Discovery Risks and Costs – The ongoing accumulation of both paper and electronic information creates acute challenges when organizations face discovery obligations. First, the sheer volume and expanse of electronic information increases the risks of being non-responsive to a discovery request (i.e. missing a responsive document). Not knowing what a company often forces it to look through everything. Second, the increasing volume and lack of controls significantly increases discovery costs and impacts litigation strategies.
Challenges Establishing Ownership of Intellectual Property – Organizations continue to face challenges around asserting their ownership of intellectual property (IP) against competitors, well-funded non-practicing entities (“patent trolls”), and other litigants. Establishing ownership is often based on “organically” grown emails, files or other documents spread across the enterprise. Management and control of these documents are key to an effective IP strategy
Spiraling Record and Data Storage Costs, Especially for Offsite Paper Storage – Over-retention of paper and electronic information continues to drive up storage costs, often diverting resources from higher value projects.
Effective programs managing information throughout its entire lifecycle.
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Work-from-home and hybrid environments, siloed information repositories, and information “clutter” driven by over retention can significantly reduce employee productivity and effective collaboration. Contoural Assessment and Roadmap Service assesses information sharing capabilities, including:
Individual employee productivity including ability to find information
Impact of work-from-home and hybrid environments on information sharing
Intra-department information sharing and collaboration
Inter-department collaboration
Potential to eliminate employee’s time-consuming and burdensome records processes
Many of the recommendations typically focus on leveraging Information Governance programs to drive productivity.
Determining the Appropriate Program Maturity
Records management requirements differ by industry and company, with maturity levels varying even within the same sector. Avoid underinvestment leading to non-compliance and productivity issues, as well as overdesigning causing overinvestment and sluggish execution. Contoural’s Assessment and Roadmap Services targets the appropriate level of Records Management or Information Governance Program maturity based on the following factors:
Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
Privacy Rules
Litigation Profile
Size
Industry
Geographical Locations
Culture
Capabilities Compared to industry Peers
Often it is better to have a well-executed, albeit simpler approach than a more complex, difficult, and expensive “sports car” target that spends more time in the repair shop than being driven. Senior managers know this to be the case and savvy records professionals know that targeting the right level of maturity is key.
Following Leading Industry Frameworks and Standards
In all of our consulting services, Contoural consistently applies broadly accepted industry Information Governance (IG)/Records and Information Management (RIM) standards such as:
ACC Records Program Maturity Model
Sedona Conference and Sedona Canada Guidelines
Gartner Information Governance Maturity Model
ARMA’s Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles
Operational business needs
ISO 15489
MoReq 2010
In-country legal and regulatory requirements, including CBCA and US Federal Sentencing Guielines, as an example
Conquer Approach with Wins along the Way to Avoid Getting Stuck
Starting or updating a records management or Information Governance program can be intricate. Approaching it as a single large project risks stalling progress. Contoural’s Assessment and Roadmap Service employs a “divide and conquer” strategy, breaking the effort into manageable steps over time. Additionally, the service identifies “quick wins” that showcase program benefits and foster support from sponsors. Early victories build momentum and buy-in throughout the process, in contrast to a single win at the end of prolonged projects.
Understanding Culture
The most important element of successfully developing and executing a records management or Information Governance Program is understanding a company’s culture. Any records management, privacy or Information Governance activity that goes against the grain of a company’s culture is unlikely to succeed. Contoural’s Assessment and Roadmap Service seeks to understand company culture, and instead of trying to force change that culture implement best practices within how organizations already do their work.
Communicating Findings to Senior Management
Working closely with project sponsors and key stakeholders the Assessment and Roadmap Service presents to senior management assessment findings, proposed target maturity, a comprehensive roadmap, and the resources required to support the plan. Being the largest independent provider with experience across hundreds of organizations our recommendations are viewed as credible, realistic and needed.
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