Information: Asset or Liability?

From ON Magazine

It's a new day in the courtroom: Plaintiff attorneys are finding that e-discovery of unstructured information—e-mail in particular—represents a new source of litigation leverage. In a number of lawsuits, electronic evidence has been a key factor in swinging a case. In others, e-discovery missteps have resulted in fines and sanctions. As a consequence, e-mail archiving and document and records management capabilities no longer are solely focused on narrow IT interests—such as keeping storage costs low—but are much more aligned with the legal and executive functions of organizations.

Three main drivers are contributing to the increased importance of information liability management:

• Explosion in unstructured content.
• Organizations' increased agility and globalization.
• Rapid evolution of information risk and value.

Effectively managing information liabilities scattered across the enterprise and harnessing information for business intelligence without limiting agility will require a true information lifecycle management perspective.

Information asset and liability management is not just about storing and securing instant messages (IMs), e-mails, voice, files, IP, collaborative tools, and the like. It's about providing flexibility to the business and understanding value, specifically what is actually stored and how it can be exploited in the context of how an organization views itself. Auto-classification of unstructured information and strategies that apply structured dimensions to unstructured content are key components of this approach.

To begin exploring technologies and strategies than can enable this level of automation and discovery for your organization, click here or dial 1-888-726-7730 to speak with a PaperFree consultant today.