This is the third article of the three articles written to introduce the Collaborative Information Governance Framework (CIGF)TM. The first article provided the genesis of the framework. The second article focused on the People and Processes of the framework through the supporting Stewardship program.
This last article focuses on each of the three disciplines that make up the framework and the supporting metadata foundation of the framework. While each discipline is unique, they all have the same basic structure of People, Process, and Technology.
A Multi-Discipline Framework
The Collaborative Information Governance Framework TM (CIGF) is a multi-discipline framework which puts structure to the and process disciplines to the topic of Information Governance (IG). CIGF addresses an obvious weakness with most data / information governance approaches and that is where or how should IG start. Without an obvious starting point or way to get to grips with it, IG sometimes fails to get the high-level attention it deserves. Yet, IG is not some arbitrary notion of “best practice.”
IG is – or should be – firmly rooted in practical, result-oriented business first strategy, tactics, and functionality. When executed intelligently and with discipline, IG can make a significant contribution to the bottom line of any organization. In my experience with implementing the framework I have seen results in the multimillion-dollar savings. The savings have been in several industry of the clients that I have assisted with establishing the CIGF. Industries included: Healthcare, Manufacturing (Defense Contractor), Finance, and Transportation.
One specific example was for a defense contractor that was struggling to meet key DOD reporting requirements, which resulted in huge fines. The reporting needed to be completed quarterly and the contractor had missed, filed late, or missed all together reporting properly. Through the implementation of the CIGF those fines were greatly reduced and saved them millions of dollars over several years.
CIGF Disciplines
The three pillars of the framework are defined as disciplines. Each discipline has a similar breakdown of: People, Process, and Technology. Understanding the disciplines and their importance to the organization’s overall information governance approach is essential for the successful deployment and management of the information governance function as well as managing the information assets consistently.
Discipline – Business Information Discipline
This first discipline is called Business Information Discipline (BID). This discipline is used for each of the business areas across the organization. It provides a consistent structure of ownership and stewardship of the information assets that are used to meet the needs of the business area. Business owners, defined in the second article (put a link here), drive the requirements for the information supporting their business objectives. Business Information Stewards are the day-to-day front-line resources ensuring that the information is defined properly and are meeting the business demands of quality, consistency and usage of that information. The technology is in the form of business applications that meet the needs of the business area that support the needs of the business performance objectives. All disciplines are defined this way clarity and consistency of the framework (People, Process, and Technology).
BID is also where key personal are chosen to participate in the Information Governance Steering committee and the stewardship program (see article two from details of the steward program).
Discipline – Information Asset Discipline
The next discipline in the framework is defined as Information Asset Discipline (IAD). In most data governance programs this discipline is missed or not well defined. IAD is truly a differentiator within the CIGF when compared to other data governance approaches. Within CIGF this discipline provides the linkage between BID and Systems Information Discipline (SID). These relationships are maintained by IAD resources. The implementation of this discipline varies depending on the organization. Some organizations choose to implement this discipline within existing Business Intelligence / Informatics organizations, while others establish this as a function all by itself.
In the Stewardship article (link), I discussed the importance of understanding information asset management and the responsibilities of IAD resources. This discipline becomes the ‘glue’ between the other two disciplines. That ‘glue’ is implemented as the metadata management solution that supports the CIGF environment. The metadata model used for CIGF has been analyzed against the leading Data / Information Governance software. The results of this analysis proved that over 92% of CIGF is covered within these vendors solutions. The other 8% can be extended within the vendors solutions.
Technologies support IAD are: Data / Information Governance software, Master Data Management (MDM) software, and Metadata solutions software.
Discipline – System Information Discipline
The last discipline is the Systems Information Discipline (SID) and yes, this IT. It is defined with CIGF so there is no mistaking that IT is part of the overall framework and that IT has a role to be filled within the framework. SID defines all the components of IT from Network administration, database administration and application development. All the necessary support functions that make up IT are included in SID. The key for IT is to participate in both the steering committee for CIGF and the stewardship program. In the second article, CIGF Stewardship Program, I noted the importance of having the technology stewards defined and suggested that these technology stewards are assigned from the business analyst within IT. They are key to coordinating the activities across all the components of IT.
Technologies supporting SID are: database tools, application development software, network software, and network monitoring systems, just to name a few.
Metadata Foundation
The last foundation piece of the framework is not defined as a separate discipline but is very important. That is the Metadata Management that supports CIGF. There has been significant improvements in metadata management over the past few years and especially in the Data / Information Governance tool suites. The metadata model for CGIF is used as a guide for comparing Data / Information Governance tool vendors. The leading Data / Information Governance tool vendors have all seen the CIGF metadata model and have allowed me to assess their product with the CIGF metadata model. Through some minor extensions, most of the vendor models to allow all the stewardship relationship to be added to the vendor metadata environment. This is key to understanding which areas are impacted by changes and reported properly.
So, now you have heard about the genesis of the framework, the stewardship program that supports the framework, and the processes within each of the disciplines. Here is the framework in a diagram that depicts the connections of the three disciplines and the metadata model foundation.
As I have stated, this framework has been deployed for clients in Healthcare, Manufacturing, Finance, and Transportations industries. There are times that minor changes are made to the framework based upon the client and their maturity of Data / Information Governance.
For more information on the Collaborative Information Governance Framework TM approach, you can contact me directly via email MVreeland54@outlook.com.
