Embrace Information Lifecycle Management in Your ECM Program
Assure the quality of your information assets from cradle to grave (and every stage in between) with an effective information classification scheme, policies, and governance.
- Information lifecycle management (ILM) considerations are ever-changing. As regulations, industry practices, and organization priorities emerge and evolve, organizations must constantly adapt their approach. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
- Information volume continues to grow exponentially. As more information is created and managed, an organization’s need to mitigate the associated risk exposure through ILM is increasingly urgent.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Don’t tackle every information asset. The majority of your information does not merit the ILM investment; start by prioritizing information domains and tackle what is most important.
- Keep the program simple, yet elegant. Balance the granularity of your ILM program with organizational need and resource availability.
- Governance is a necessary evil. Without people and process to design, police, and enforce standards, ad hoc ILM practices will prevail.
Impact and Result
- Scope and structure ILM projects by prioritizing your organization’s information domains based on risk and value, and tackling the most pertinent domains first.
- Leave no stone unturned, and avoid expensive re-work, by researching and defining your organization’s ILM operating model (i.e. regulatory, industrial, and organizational considerations) ahead of classification and policy creation.
- Take a two-step approach to defining the standards by which your information assets must be handled. Begin by articulating an information classification scheme that highlights various standards of care that must be adhered to for different classes of information and use detailed policies to flesh out the specifics at each stage in the information lifecycle.
- Establish a governance model to enable, maintain, and optimize the ILM program. Effective ILM governance ensures the ILM program is adaptive to evolving operating models and technology trends over time.
- Leverage ILM technology to structure and automate your ILM program.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
10.0/10
Overall Impact
$84,499
Average $ Saved
20
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
Guided Implementation
10/10
$84,499
20
got to meet Andrea = Best not enough time (I was not fully prepared) = Worst
Wood
Guided Implementation
9/10
$8,659
7
Greater Bank
Guided Implementation
8/10
$78,376
50
Best - Iteration and reinforcement of the challenges that may be faced by not considering some of the non-architectural elements. Worst - That t... Read More
Workshop: Embrace Information Lifecycle Management in Your ECM Program
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: ILM Workshop Level-Set
The Purpose
- Craft the driving statements for the ILM program.
- Define the logical groupings of information assets that will fall under the ILM program.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Definition of information domains that support scoping of the ILM project.
Activities
Outputs
Introductions and workshop overview.
Identify ILM objectives and drivers.
Define the ILM program vision and mission.
- ILM program vision and mission statements
Identify and define information domains.
- List of organizational information domains and definitions
Module 2: Organizational Context for ILM
The Purpose
- Prioritize the information domains based on organizational value and risk.
- Develop an ILM operating model.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Defined scope for the ILM project.
- ILM operating model that compiles the key legal/regulatory, industry, and organizational considerations for ILM.
Activities
Outputs
Conduct information domain risk assessment.
Conduct information domain value assessment.
- Prioritized list of organizational information domains
Prioritize and scope information domains for ILM project.
- Scope of ILM project
Develop ILM operating model.
- ILM operating model (i.e. regulatory, industrial, and organizational considerations framework)
Module 3: Develop the Information Classification Scheme
The Purpose
- Define an information classification scheme that serves as the foundation for policy development.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Defined information classification levels.
- Defined standards of care that are applied to information assets at each classification level.
Activities
Outputs
Review information classification schemes from industry.
Determine starting point for information classification.
- Information classification scheme
Identify standards of care.
Define standards of care.
Module 4: Information and Program Governance for ILM
The Purpose
- Establish the governance structures that will bring your ILM program to life.
- Assess your existing policies/standards and create an action plan for addressing gaps.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Defined governance structure, roles, responsibilities, and functions.
- Action items for developing ILM policies.
Activities
Outputs
Review information lifecycle model for information governance policies.
Identify existing ILM policies and policy gaps.
- ILM policy needs assessment and action plan
Determine action items to close ILM policy gaps.
- ILM policy templates
Determine ILM governance structure, roles, and functions.
- ILM governance model
Module 5: ILM Workshop Debrief
The Purpose
- Create an ILM program stakeholder presentation.
- Develop an ILM roadmap and communication plan.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Compelling summary of workshop activity outputs.
Activities
Outputs
Assemble ILM program stakeholder presentation.
- ILM program stakeholder presentation
Identify and validate roadmap of activities for ILM.
- ILM program roadmap (i.e. high-level next steps)
Conduct senior leader presentation.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
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A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
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Guided Implementation 1: Establish the information lifecycle management foundation
- Call 1: Structure the ILM program and project.
- Call 2: Develop your ILM operating model.
- Call 3: Conduct an audit of information assets.
Guided Implementation 2: Develop ILM classifications and policies
- Call 1: Set the information classification scheme.
- Call 2: Determine ILM policy needs.
- Call 3: Draft your ILM policies.
Guided Implementation 3: Implement and operationalize ILM
- Call 1: Establish the ILM governance model.
- Call 2: Implement your ILM program.
Contributors
- Christopher Wynder, Director of Client Services, ThinkDox
- Issam Mohamed Ali, EIM Consultant, Do IT Right
- Hemant Prasad, CEO, Crest Business Solutions
- Shahjehan Rao, ECM Consultant, KhepriSoft
- Andrew Lin, Product Manager and Scrum Master, Tax Analysts
- Brian Iacaponi, Director of Technology Innovation, Best Friends Animal Society
- Brian Kudeba, IT Transformation Leader, Fidelis Care
- Eric Raffin, CIO, San Mateo Health Department
- Ilidia Sa Melo, Records Manager, City of Cambridge
- Issam Mohamed Ali, EIM Consultant, Do IT Right
- Hemant Prasad, CEO, Crest Business Solutions
- Kathy Harnack, Executive Assistant, San Mateo Health Department
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