United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

Neil Wells-West - 01.02.202320230201

What is Information Management Maturity?

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

In simple terms, it is the ability of an organisation to leverage its use of information in the most efficient, effective, and productive way. While all organisations create and consume information of some sort, there are some key areas where the maturity of organisations differs vastly, typically around the following key areas:

  • The ways data are handled and used 
  • Governance and regulatory responsibilities 
  • Security, recovery, archival and backup requirements 
  • Ease of use by staff (and customers) 
  • Cost of data management and storage

Information Management maturity Assessment

Information management maturity (IMM) should be assessed as early as possible; however, it should also be assessed at frequent intervals along the way after the initial adoption goes into operation. 

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

I will provide some pointers as to how to go about actually assessing IMM later in this blog, however it’s important to grasp that the concept of information maturity is really the key to understanding the results of any assessment that may be undertaken (or that may be undertaken on behalf of your organisation).

TECHIE ALERT! IT Managers often wring their hands and exclaim that “no-one understands” when they try and implement projects that require some form of data management, and the business data owners often claim that the project has had no effect or has not met expectations.

More often than not, the technical implementation of an information management solution is where IT Managers end their engagement on the basis of “we can’t measure whether this has any value, we need you to tell us if it’s working”. When this happens, it’s because no-one considered defining a way to measure success in the beginning. 

Information management maturity (IMM) creates a foundation for these measures.

Current State

IMM shapes the implementation of Microsoft 365 (or should) as it will influence the nature of ongoing governance, the size and shape of projects, even the types of workloads that will need to be deployed. 

If you’re going to tie organisational value to your Microsoft 365 implementation, you will absolutely need to know the level of IMM your organisation currently resides at and what level it requires to achieve that value. 

The means and nature of how any organisation uses data and content is expressed as a measure of its IMM. IMM is a relative measurement, not a scorecard. It is a statement of relative ability.  

Obviously, some companies do more with data and content, however one company appearing to operate with a different maturity level than another does not necessarily mean it’s ‘better’. 

The concept of organisational maturity (in the context of data) may seem superfluous or a synonym for “current state.” After all, implementing Microsoft 365 is by definition an acknowledgment that you are not where you need to be.  

So, why focus on where you are in great detail? There are two reasons: 

  1. Maturity is not a “score”

There are no absolute good or bad levels. Every organisation has an intrinsic level of maturity appropriate to their business model. It is important to understand what levels work with your business model.  

You may be at or have defined the level of information management maturity required to be effective in your sector. If so, your Microsoft 365 implementation would address other aspects of information management to help accomplish your goal. Likewise, you may be many levels away from where you need to be, in which case the implementation will need to focus on improving information maturity as a key goal.  

  1. Knowing where you are and the level you need to be

A “current state” assessment usually produces a set of facts regarding “what is not right.” To say that data quality is “bad” may be an appropriate finding, but there are likely many other criteria, such as the regulatory environment, where an objective evaluation of what “bad” actually means is important.  

Since information and content is everywhere, a current-state assessment without a root-cause analysis or a blending and presentation of all findings is only a set of facts presented without relevance to setting the future direction.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT MATURITY Assessment Areas 

Maturity covers several dimensions beyond how detailed your analysis and interpretation of data is. The assessments early in your Microsoft 365 implementation should focus on the culture, the business environment, the current state of IT (in terms of capability and infrastructure), the usefulness of existing content, the effectiveness of leadership in providing business vision, and the potential for communication and collaboration within the organisation. 

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

I have outlined some of the key areas below to provide an indication of typical assessments and how IMM factors in. 

  1. Human
  • Business Expertise – Employee and executive education and understanding of core IMM precepts
  • IT Expertise – Ability to properly take advantage of incumbent and new systems
  • Process – Extent to which an enterprise has analysed its content-oriented business processes
  • Alignment – Extent of effective Business – IT collaboration, understanding, and synchronisation 
  1. Information 
  • Content/Metadata – Extent to which an enterprise has analysed its content and metadata
  • Depth – Completeness of content lifecycle management
  • Governance- Extent of policies and procedures addressing information management
  • Re-use – Extent realisation of content re-use opportunities
  • Findability – Ability to find the right content at the right time 
  1. Systems (as related to Microsoft 365) 
  • Scope – Relevant range of functional workloads (Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Yammer etc.) adopted
  • Breadth – Evolution from departmental to enterprise-wide management systems, where necessary
  • Security – Extent to which actual content access reflects enterprise entitlements
  • Usability — Application fitness to purpose 

Also consider adding any missing workloads that may be relevant for your organisation e.g., PowerBI, Analytics, Dynamics etc. 

METHOD OF ANALYSIS 

The maturity assessment can be done as a quantitative or qualitative study. Consider asking users to describe the as-is maturity level, and if it is important for them that this is improved (to-be maturity level). 

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

The results will help you document the business problems of the current situation, and the importance of improving certain areas for users. 

  1. Quantitative study using an online survey tool 
  • Pros: Easy to reach many users
  • Cons: Users may misunderstand questions and possible answers 
  1. Qualitative study with virtual or in-person workshops 
  • Pros: Possible to explain questions and possible answers
  • Cons: Requires more resources to run the assessment 

NEXT STEPS 

Having reviewed the assessment and analysis approach and conducted at least an initial set of activities to determine IMM, the next steps could include the following (which will be covered in a subsequent series of blogs): 

  • Why you should establish an information governance strategy 
  • How to establish an information governance strategy 
  • How to establish a business case for improved information management 
  • How to get the business to support an information governance program

If you’re interested in learning more about Information Management Maturity and how it can improve your organisation’s use of information, contact Insentra for assistance. Our team of experts can help you assess your current level of Information Management Maturity and guide you towards achieving your desired level of maturity. Don’t hesitate to contact us for support on your information management journey.

Related Articles

The Risks of Dispersed Data and Poor Information Management
Enhancing Microsoft 365’s Information Security Governance
What is Information Architecture and Why Do You Need It?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUBMISSION!

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

The form was submitted successfully.

Join the Insentra Community with the Insentragram Newsletter

Hungry for more?

If you’re waiting for a sign, this is it.

We’re a certified amazing place to work, with an incredible team and fascinating projects – and we’re ready for you to join us! Go through our simple application process. Once you’re done, we will be in touch shortly!

Who is Insentra?

Imagine a business which exists to help IT Partners & Vendors grow and thrive.

Insentra is a 100% channel business. This means we provide a range of Advisory, Professional and Managed IT services exclusively for and through our Partners.

Our #PartnerObsessed business model achieves powerful results for our Partners and their Clients with our crew’s deep expertise and specialised knowledge.

We love what we do and are driven by a relentless determination to deliver exceptional service excellence.

United Kingdom | What is Information Management Maturity?

Insentra ISO 27001:2013 Certification

SYDNEY, WEDNESDAY 20TH APRIL 2022 – We are proud to announce that Insentra has achieved the  ISO 27001 Certification.