Data Protection a Spending Priority for 2015

Strategic Planning for Information Governance

Spending on information governance will increase in 2015, according to a TGC survey of in-house practitioners taken in October 2014. Judging from the priorities the respondents identified, increased spending will focus on enhanced data protection systems, staff training, improving compliance and upgrading technology. Over half of respondents reported that their organization’s highest priority for 2015 is to enhance their data protection systems. Relatively few said that adding email and social media to governance planning was a priority.

Respondents were asked to rate their company’s overall approach to information governance – planning, policies, and procedures. Twelve percent rated their organization as “excellent,” the same percentage that rated it as “not very good.” Most respondents said “fairly good” or “just average.” There were no clear trends by department or organization size.

Asked for reasons why they graded as they did, respondents who rated their organization as being excellent emphasized the longevity of their approach to information governance or the people in charge of it. One respondent wrote that his/her organization had a “long history of litigation that drove the focus on our information governance policy.”

Those who described their organization as rating a grade of “not very good,” mentioned what was lacking – “devotion of thought to the process,” “experience or apprehension,” “money for infrastructure.” Several noted a lack of centralization for data repositories, data governance, and managing information.