"So what you are saying is that an IGers (for a lack of a better term)
is a jack of all trades and master of none.  I would be interested in
knowing how many IGers are experts let alone perform all of the
functions you identify."

"nope not all. what you need to understand is that Information Governance is about setting a strategy for an organization. the groups that make up IG such as Legal, RM, Privacy, Compliance to name a few implement that strategy ie they are involved in the tactical side.
IG folks are not "jack of all trades"
IG folks don't perform all the functions, but they are experts in particular areas. there are attorneys, cpas, rms etc who sit at the IG table. They share ideas and work together to come up with an organizational strategy that transcends the silos”

Colleagues:

I have been reading all of the posts about IG over the last year or so, not to mention reading up on the IG certification and the IGI website and I have to say that everything I have seen sounds very familiar.  My organization used the GARP Assessment a few years ago and it was a great tool to take our records management program to the next level, and we have.  As we all know, GARP, or the product formally known as GARP, has 8 principles...A TIP CARD...Accountability, Transparency, Integrity, Protection, Compliance, Availability, Retention and Disposition.  When we rolled the Assessment out, I partnered with a lot of key departments at my company, including RIM (of course), Legal, Data Governance (I sit on the Data Governance Council), Data Security/Privacy, Business Continuity, IT, Taxonomy & Systems, Internal Audit, and Compliance.

Now, rolling forward a few years IG comes along and the 10 principles that must be addressed and adhered to according to Robert's post are:   Executive Sponsorship, Stakeholder Consultation, Information Policy Development and Communication, Information Integrity, Information Organization and Classification, Information Security & Privacy, Information Accessibility, Information Control, Information Governance Monitoring and Auditing, and Continuous Improvement.  This certainly sounds familiar to the Assessment principles, not to mention all of the departments I worked with during that Assessment.  And now when I see offsite storage vendors frame inventory management as "Inventory Governance", I get a little nauseous.

Having worked in RIM for almost 18 years I understand the need for the profession to evolve and stay relevant.  But, setting the strategy for an organization for all records, paper and electronic, and data/information is something we all have been doing for years.  And we have all been trying to pull various departments together and sit at the same table.  Call it a RIM council or Data Governance Council or whatever you like, but I have been trying to get all of the departments mentioned above on the same page for a very long time.  I have made significant progress in that regard but there is always more work to do.  My organization like many others out there can operate in silos.  I have been trying to break those silos down for years and get everyone, both domestically and internationally, to operate on the same page.  It is challenging and fun and sometimes frustrating.

I am a RIM professional, but I also sit on the Data Governance Council and I work very closely with Legal and IT as my company's e-discovery coordinator.  So, I have the ear of IT, Data Privacy/Security, Legal, Internal Audit (we also conduct RM audits), compliance, BC, Finance, and all areas of the business.  And this was accomplished by sticking my nose in everyone's business and not by re-branding RIM as something else to get everyone at the same table.  I know the definition of IG includes RIM as a player in that world along with everyone else, but I prefer the opposite.  To me, RIM is the governing body, the umbrella that is trying to cover every area of the organization and I suspect a lot of fellow professionals are doing the same thing.

At the end of the day, as RIM professionals, we have been doing Information Governance long before Information Governance was around.

Thanks, Steve

Stephen A. Smith, MLIS, CRM, CIP, CDIA+
Manager, Corporate Records
QVC, Inc.  Compliance Audit
O:484.701.1559
F:484.701.1021
C:484.905.2517
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