Why is information management important?
Information Management Policies Require the Involvement of the Organization. A consistent set of information governance (IG) policies in support of a retention schedule is crucial to effectively control, protect, and manage your company’s information governance framework. It can also help improve operational efficiency and spend across multiple departments and locations when aligned properly.
Feel daunting? It’s easy to get started with the right people in the room. Ask for representatives from Legal, Records Management, Risk, IT and HR to join you as you start by aligning upon your organization’s risk tolerance. From there, we can access your current maturity, and get to work on a gap analysis so we can create and perfect your information management policy.
More than 33% of companies report that retention, data protection and PII are missing from their information governance policies.
— AIIM Governance and Compliance in 2017 Report
Information Governance Gap Analysis
To build a best-in-class IG program it’s essential to understand your organization’s current level of IG maturity. Our IG experts can provide an assessment based on industry best practices (ex. ARMA’s Maturity Model). We start with an assessment of your records and information management program and operations, encompassing both paper and electronic records.
Assessment projects can include:
- Identifying information governance policy issues as they relate to operations and RIM (records and information management) programs
- Assessing the current state of your records program and repositories that are considered high-risk / high-value from a regulatory compliance and/or litigation management standpoint
- Developing a strategic information governance framework to remediate gaps and weaknesses, and improve application and performance
- Developing cost estimates of the remediation and improvement activities
Information Governance Policy Advisory Services
Central to the success of policy review is an understanding of your organization’s operational processes and locations, as well as a clear understanding of your regulatory environment. To develop information governance policies fit for your specific organization, it’s crucial to first review and analyze existing documentation, data, and systems. This might include conversations with your stakeholders in Legal, Records Management, Risk, IT, HR, and other parts of the business.
Component evaluation and development may include:
- Policies regarding; privacy, security, email, social media, destruction, and legal holds
- Current process evaluation: highlight the degree to which policies are kept up-to-date for changing laws and operational mandates
- IT systems and controls review
- Workflows and governance processes for ongoing and efficient information management
Information Management Procedures and Best Practices
Not sure where to start? We’re here to help you evaluate existing information management procedures and recommend improvements. We can also help you create brand-new information governance framework specific to your business and industry.
Information Management services may include:
- Taxonomy development
- Record series and file naming conventions and metadata structure
- Container labeling
- Container packing and indexing
- Unstructured data management
- Enforcement of expiration / defensible destruction of documents
A Full Range of Information Governance Solutions
Creating and maintaining a strong IG policy is just one piece of the puzzle. The process begins with a comprehensive audit and assessment of existing records management policies, processes, and documentation. We then create and implement a unique information governance program to address gaps, shore up weaknesses, address change management, and create a roadmap for successful execution.
Records Retention Schedules
The backbone of a defensible records and information management program is a sound retention schedule. We’ll help you create a comprehensive, state-of-the-art schedule that meets all regulatory and operational requirements.
Regulatory Compliance
The regulatory environment continues to evolve quickly as privacy concerns amplify. We’ll help you create a centralized document management program that ensures compliance with your IG policies, and with regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, SOX, and more.
Your Complete Information Management Solution
We specialize in retention policy and schedule creation, and holistic IG support including compliance and data privacy, coupled with years of expertise in traditional records and information management. This allows us to offer a full-service approach to managing the entire information lifecycle.
Retention Schedule Software to Support Your Information Governance Policies
Virgo Provides The Legal Research For Your Organization
With over 170,000 requirements tracked across 200 jurisdictions worldwide, our legal research team ensures up-to-date retention policies.
Virgo provides:
- Research Database: Track over 170,000 requirements across hundreds of jurisdictions in over 120 countries & counting
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Retention Management: Create global, entity, or departmental retention schedules and attach citations to record series to support it
- Search and Reporting: Search schedules and citations across a variety of metadata points. Print reports and export data in PDF, Word, Excel and CSV
- Employee Portal: Customize views for each employee group and support a familiar search experience
- Cloud Access: Available via all major web browsers as a SaaS platform
- Powerful Security: Manage access with strong user controls and a complete audit trail
Additional Resources on Information Governance Management
