CIO OPINION
The point to make here is that employees have jobs to do and frustrations are high when they can ’ t easily lay their hands on the information they need to do those jobs .
Making it difficult to easily access information can lead to lost productivity and more concerningly decisions can be made based upon inaccurate or outdated data causing significant cost or customer impact .
Lastly , we need to learn our lessons from previous cybersecurity attacks . The less data you store , the less data there is to steal and the less likely you are going to be liable for the mismanagement of data in the event you do become a target .
Implementing a good information lifecycle and robust retention and disposal process can reduce costs and increase efficiencies by ensuring you ’ re not keeping data beyond its need or value .
The list goes on .
Ultimately costs need to be considered . How much will the project cost and how much will it save ? It ’ s common to see the savings in storage costs funding the project in its entirety very quickly . This is a hugely important piece of the puzzle when selling projects to budget holders and needs to be clearly communicated from the outset .
In saying that , sometimes upfront costs and available resources will limit the project scope .
Then it comes back to prioritisation . If you could only choose one information management project to tackle , start with the simplification of retention and disposal schedules . It has the most impact and the most significant amount of flow-on effect . If you can simplify retention and disposal , you ’ ll have fewer rules to manage , implementation will be much easier , and you ’ ll have less impact on user experience .
The first step in an information management project should always be about strategic alignment .
For example , you may not be able to sell in an information management project on its own but could it slot into another Digital Transformation project in the business ?
Secondly , you ’ ll need to consider your options . What are the outcomes of the project versus the consequences of doing nothing ? Are there regulatory consequences for poor data management ? How does implementing data management solutions affect long-term expenditure , productivity , and innovation ?
As always , the final step is understanding the implementation process . You need to outline what ’ s required to get the project started , who needs to be involved and set out a timeline .
Importantly , you ’ ll also need to implement success metrics with strong measurement criteria to really understand the impact effective information management will have on the organisation .
Investing in a strong information management solution will reduce the amount of wasted storage , whilst increasing productivity and protecting you against potential security , regulatory and compliance risks . p
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