Information Governance vs Records Management

The phrases “records management” and “information governance” are frequently used interchangeably. While these practices do share some common purposes, it is crucial for businesses to recognize the differences between them.

Understanding the differences between records management and information governance is a vital aspect of holistic information management. However, distinguishing between the two can present a significant challenge for businesses, particularly when organizations aim to overhaul their information management practices.

Information Governance

According to ARMA, information governance is defined as “a strategic framework composed of standards, processes, roles, and metrics that hold organizations and individuals accountable to create, organize, secure, maintain, use, and dispose of information in ways that align with and contribute to the organization’s goals.”

Records Management

On the other hand, ARMA defines records management as “the systematic management of records and information through its various lifecycles. It includes the analysis, design, implementation, and management of manual and automated systems regardless of format or medium.”

Information Governance vs Records Management

Criteria	Information Governance	Records Management
Scope	Encompasses all aspects of managing organizational data, including creation, use, security, and disposal.	Focuses on the systematic management of records and information through their lifecycles.
Responsibility	Manages 100% of the information within an organization.	Manages less than 20% of the total information estate.
Focus on Data Type	Addresses both structured and unstructured data.	Primarily focused on the lifecycle of documents and other unstructured data.
Departments Involved	Involves Security, IT, Legal, HR, Compliance, and Operations.	Typically functions as an individual department.
Enterprise Responsibilities	Manages data security, storage, disposition, archiving, and data protection policies.	Primarily concerned with classifying, securely storing, and destroying business records.
Reporting Structure	Often reports to various departments, including Security, IT, Legal, HR, and Compliance.	Usually a standalone department within the organization.
Use of Unstructured Data	Enables strategic use of large volumes of unstructured data for the benefit of the organization.	Traditional focus on discrete documents and records.
Mitigating Risk	Crucial in mitigating risk within the organization.	Emphasizes reducing risk through secure data management.
Legal Risk Reduction	Reduces legal risk in the face of litigation or government inquiry by managing data effectively.	Focuses on enforcing functions related to the overall information estate during legal proceedings.
Decision-Making	Provides an overall structure and organization to data, allowing it to be turned into information and knowledge.	Offers efficiency and waste reduction, supporting a business’s ability to be nimble and productive.

1. Scope:
   • Information Governance: Developing policies for the secure creation, use, and disposal of both structured (databases) and unstructured (documents, emails) data.
   • Records Management: Implementing processes to manage the lifecycle of specific business records, such as contracts and employee files.
2. Enterprise Responsibilities:
   • Information Governance: Implementing a comprehensive data security program that covers all types of information, including customer data, financial records, and intellectual property.
   • Records Management: Establishing retention schedules and securely managing physical and digital records like invoices, meeting minutes, and legal documents.
3. Use of Unstructured Data:
   • Information Governance: Strategically using unstructured data from sources like social media and collaboration platforms to inform business decisions.
   • Records Management: Focusing on the management of traditional documents and records, such as policy manuals and historical reports.
4. Mitigating Risk:
   • Information Governance: Implementing measures to secure sensitive data, reduce data breaches, and ensure compliance with privacy regulations.
   • Records Management: Ensuring that business records are securely stored and destroyed, minimizing the risk of unauthorized access or legal issues.
5. Legal Risk Reduction:
   • Information Governance: Responding to legal inquiries by quickly identifying and retrieving relevant information from a well-organized data structure.
   • Records Management: Enforcing records retention policies to comply with legal requirements and providing evidence of compliance during legal proceedings.
6. Decision-Making:
   • Information Governance: Facilitating knowledge creation by organizing data effectively, allowing informed decision-making across departments.
   • Records Management: Supporting efficiency and waste reduction by streamlining document lifecycles, ensuring records are only kept as long as necessary.

The difference between records management and information governance lies in their scope and purpose, with records management being a subset of information governance. Information governance serves as a comprehensive discipline, overseeing all aspects of information management, including its definition, creation, use, security, ownership, and deletion across an organization. On the other hand, records management specifically manages parts of that information.

To draw an analogy, the relationship between information governance and records management is likened to the Federal Government and the U.S. Military. While the military enforces government policy and law within its specific jurisdiction, the government is responsible for all laws in the country. Similarly, information governance has the overall responsibility for all decision-making in information management, while records management enforces specific functions on a portion of the overall information estate.

The scope of information governance includes all sources of data, such as records management systems, email servers, archives, enterprise content management libraries, network and local drives, SharePoint, and cloud service locations. Information governance bears 100% responsibility for an organization’s managed information, while records management comprises less than 20% of that total. Furthermore, information governance is applicable to both structured and unstructured data, whereas records management primarily focuses on the lifecycle of documents and other unstructured data.

Additional differences include:

• Information governance involves managing policies, legal hold protocol, laws, cases, and business use, while records management operates within the realm of classification and retention schedules.
• Information governance typically reports to various departments within an organization, including Security, IT, Legal, HR, Compliance, and Operations, whereas records management is usually an individual department.
• Information governance has enterprise responsibility for managing data security, storage, disposition, archiving policies, and data protection, while records management’s primary function is to classify, securely store, and destroy business records.

Companies may require Enterprise Content Management (ECM) to automate critical business processes, and information governance to manage unstructured data and mitigate compliance and data security risks.

Difference between Information Governance and Records Management

Three key differences distinguish information governance from records management:

1. Scale of Information Governance

Records management tends to focus on the systems managing document lifecycles, while information governance takes a high-level, strategic approach.

Information governance represents a broader framework encompassing all processes, roles, policies, standards, and metrics involved in sophisticated information management.

While records management concentrates on the mechanisms employed for overseeing the lifecycle of documents, information governance takes a more elevated, strategic stance within the same domain.

To understand this difference, let’s refer to another definition. Similar to ARMA, Gartner characterizes information governance as “the specification of decision rights and an accountability framework to ensure appropriate behavior in the valuation, creation, storage, use, archiving and deletion of information. It includes the processes, roles, and policies, standards and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.”

The crucial element in this definition is the term “framework.” Information governance encompasses all the “processes, roles, and policies, standards and metrics” integral to the sophisticated management of information. In contrast, records management is composed of specific systems and processes. Information governance serves as the encompassing framework under which all these systems and processes operate. In essence, records management is a vital element within the larger information governance framework, considering the issue from a comprehensive, cross-departmental perspective.

2. Information Governance, Data Volumes, and IT

The explosion in data volumes, including big data, IoT, and online sources, has made traditional records management insufficient. Information governance recognizes the complexity and involves IT teams to manage modern data effectively. Records management alone covers only a small part of the larger information governance.

The surge in data volumes has been a key driver behind the rise of information governance initiatives in organizations. According to the IDC, the global datasphere is projected to grow from 33 zettabytes in 2018 to an estimated 175 zettabytes by 2025. The nature and location of this expansive data landscape are not always apparent.

In the past, records management primarily dealt with discrete and largely physical documents. However, with the advent of big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and online data sources like social media and enterprise collaboration platforms, the complexity of the data landscape has surpassed the capabilities of traditional records management.

Stephanie Blair and Tara Lawler, legal experts, emphasize that designated business records typically constitute less than 5% of an organization’s data. Even with a well-executed record retention program, which is a noteworthy accomplishment, over 95% of an organization’s information remains unmanaged, posing space and liability challenges. In essence, record retention addresses only a fraction of the extensive information governance puzzle.

Effective information management goes beyond the purview of records and compliance teams; the involvement of IT teams is crucial for success. This is why information governance places significant emphasis on IT.

Blair and Lawler suggest that an information governance program should be tailored to oversee an organization’s IT and legal practices, policies, procedures, infrastructure, and resources throughout the entire information lifecycle—from creation to disposition. The advantages of such a program include ensuring secure and effective information management, reducing the volume of retained information in the normal course of business while meeting regulatory, legal, and business obligations, and enhancing awareness of the location and nature (sensitive, proprietary, privacy) of an organization’s information assets.

3. Competitive Advantage of Information Governance

Information governance offers a strategic advantage by providing an overall structure and organization to data. It reduces risk, enhances productivity, and allows organizations to turn data into information and information into knowledge. A well-organized information governance structure supports a business’s agility and efficiency, reducing legal risks in the face of litigation.

As information governance adopts a broader perspective on records management compared to traditional approaches, it presents an opportunity to strategically leverage information. Beyond mitigating risk within an organization, it facilitates the advantageous use of substantial volumes of unstructured data.

Stephanie Blair and Tara Lawler argue that information governance plays a pivotal role in risk reduction by providing an overarching structure and organization to data. This enables businesses to transform raw data into valuable information and, subsequently, into knowledge. A well-organized information governance structure not only enhances productivity but also eliminates waste, such as wasted effort, time, and resources. Importantly, it supports, rather than hinders, a business’s ability to be agile, productive, and efficient.

Moreover, information governance contributes to reducing legal risk in the face of litigation or government inquiries by minimizing the presence of unmanaged data. When confronted with a request for production or a subpoena, organizations often face the challenge of navigating through numerous sources, systems, applications, and databases containing potentially relevant information. An effective information governance framework addresses this challenge by enabling the identification of where relevant information is stored, the duration of its retention, and determining who controls or has access to the information. A robust information governance process unifies records management, compliance, privacy, legal, and security into a cohesive framework, allowing organizations to mitigate the risk associated with unmanaged data and maximize the value of their information.

Conclusion:

From a broader perspective, information governance goes beyond traditional records management, providing organizations with a framework to manage the complexities of modern data effectively. As data continues to evolve, creating a successful data culture within an organization demands robust information governance, involving every department to handle data responsibly and effectively.

Traditional records management remains important but is no longer sufficient in the era of vast and diverse data sources. An information governance framework becomes a necessary ingredient for comprehensive and effective data management across all aspects of an organization.

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