Information Governance

Information governance and data governance are the same thing.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

Data governance is one component of information governance. Information governance focuses on the policies and procedures that can help an organization balance compliance and risk management requirements with its business goals.

Data governance, on the other hand, focuses on the technical aspects of data collection and storage.

What can information governance help organizations achieve?

• Reduced storage costs

• Improved regulatory compliance

• Streamlined e-discovery

• All of the above

Which role typically initiates and leads an information governance plan?

• CEO

• Owner

• Chief Customer Officer (CCO)

• CIGO

Answer explanation

Many organizations have a CIGO who oversees the information governance plan's success and ongoing maintenance. However, in some organizations, the CIO, chief counsel or data protection officer may lead the plan.

TRUE or FALSE: Information governance professionals typically struggle to get buy-in from C-level executives.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

C-level executives may view information governance as a lower priority compared to business growth, so information governance advocates may struggle to gain C-level support. To garner executive buy-in, advocates should explain how information governance can secure important customer and business information, deliver ROI and boost an organization's growth.

Which roles typically comprise an information governance committee?

• Sales, marketing and graphic design professionals

• Business, legal, HR, compliance and IT leaders

• Accounting and editorial professionals

• Only IT professionals

Answer explanation

People who build information governance plans must understand business goals, industry-specific compliance regulations, data management and more. Therefore, organizations should form a committee of key stakeholders that includes leaders in business, legal, HR, compliance and IT departments. This committee can devise the plan and review its effectiveness over time.

As the committee plans its information governance initiative, what should it do first?

• Perform a needs assessment and evaluate compliance requirements

• Purchase information governance software

• Delete all files more than six years old

• All of the above

Answer explanation

An organization's business and compliance requirements shape its information governance plan, so committees must identify those needs early in the planning process. For example, if an organization stores a lot of duplicate data, the committee may focus on data deduplication to reduce storage costs.

An effective information governance plan can generate _____.

• A single source of truth (SSOT)

• Redundant, outdated and trivial data (ROT)

• Omnichannel support

• Both B and C

Answer explanation

An effective information governance plan should make information easily accessible to those who need it. Workers may struggle to find accurate data if their organization stores different versions of the same information in different places, creating data silos. An SSOT offers a centralized place to access reliable information.

Which technology lets organizations manage information that remote employees generate and share across different collaboration tools?

• Workforce optimization platforms

• Unified communications as a service

• Data federation software

• Predictive analytics tools

Answer explanation

Data federation software uses APIs to interact with other tools and bring data from disparate sources into a centralized location. This software can streamline how organizations manage and control information across collaboration platforms.

Which metric can help organizations track their information governance plan's success?

• Number of security incidents

• Amount of storage that each department uses

• Ratio of used to unused files

• All of the above

Answer explanation

An organization should implement an information governance plan with specific goals and measure over time whether its plan achieves those goals. Typically, organizations use information governance to enhance compliance and security, increase productivity and cut storage costs, so metrics like the number of security incidents and amount of storage used in each department can help evaluate success.

Also, organizations can use the ratio of used to unused files in their systems to identify ROT. If the majority of an organization's files go unused for extended periods of time, information governance professionals may want to delete them.

What can technology leaders do to ensure an information governance plan's effectiveness?

• Offer one training to all employees

• Limit ongoing training to professionals in IT, legal, HR and compliance roles

• Increase IT staff

• Offer ongoing trainings and provide regular updates to all employees

Answer explanation

An information governance plan's success relies on cooperation from all workers. For instance, a governance policy may require all workers to encrypt attachments before they share sensitive information over email. However, without consistent training, employees may forget how to encrypt data or underestimate the policy's importance.

Organizations should offer ongoing training to all employees to keep information governance fresh in employees' minds. Managers should also weave important information governance updates into regular discussions to keep employees up to date on the latest policy changes.