As I’ve written previously, you can’t do anything with your information (apply retention, protect privacy, etc.) unless and until you know what you have and where it’s located. (Duh!) The problem is, you may not be completely sure about either of these things, in which case you have to produce an information inventory or data map – a time-consuming task that must be done before you can do your job.
I put it this way because it’s unlikely you were hired to chase around to find your information; rather, your real responsibility probably is to perform several duties that are based on it:
- Analyze the current state of your governance,
- Recommend actions to take based on this analysis, and
- Ensure those actions are executed well and in a timely manner.
Your ability to handle these assignments is what makes you valuable to your boss and your organization. Any time you spend gathering the intelligence you need to do so therefore is time you’re not spending on what you’re really being paid to do – meaning that the faster and more accurately you complete them, the happier everyone is going to be.
Paths of Lesser Resistance
There’s no doubt that inventory/data map work is challenging, for myriad reasons that range from shadow IT to office politics. But there are paths of lesser resistance to ply if you’re open to them.
- Keep a list. Note which systems you’re searching across whenever you’re looking for something. You’re in there anyway, so take a beat and write down what you found where, and use this as a jumping-off point the next time you’re on the hunt. It’s not a fix, but it’s a start.
- Ask for help. Chances are, someone in your office has looked for the same thing you are and can tell you where to find it. Less likely, though not impossibly, you may have a “Yoli” available to you as well. True story: Yoli was a staffer at one of my clients, and she built an amazing-slash-ridiculous spreadsheet that she used to find files that others were searching for. Unfortunately, this wasn’t her job, but she did it because nobody else could and somebody had to. Kudos to Yoli.
- Use a tool. Many people, Yoli among them, rely on Excel to make sense of their data locations, but it’s a bit clunky to use for that purpose (especially at scale). Asset management software can take you a decent way forward but isn’t granular enough to get into the specifics of, say, particular document types. And autoclassification tools can be hugely valuable but can require a fair amount of work to achieve the precision you may be looking for. So there are options, but be prepared to keep a human in the loop with them all to ensure they meet your operational particulars.
- Use AI. No. Just, no. Call me and I’ll explain why.
Git ’er Done
Your job is to actively govern your information by doing all the things that need doing, not to conduct information inventories or draw data maps. These are necessary in nearly all cases, and they require a lot of work. But it’s important to remember that they are means to various ends, and those ends are what you’re getting paid to do. It’s in everybody’s best interest that you get to them as quickly as you can.
Want to expedite your information inventory and data mapping? And do a better job of both along the way? That’s a big part of what we do. Reach me today and let’s make it happen!
Steve Weissman, Founder & CEO, Holly Group LLC • “The Info Gov Guy™” • steve@hollygroup.com • 617-383-4655 • Member, AIIM Company of Fellows • Recipient, AIIM Award of Merit