Visibility and Control: The Cornerstones of Information Management and Security

Businesses have woken up to the reality of information access and management in a remote work situation. There are three immutable factors for remote work:

1. Information is scattered across the enterprise – in network folders, in other archives, either in the cloud or on premises, in different business systems and more.
2. Team members are likewise scattered across the globe in their home offices. They are no longer safely confined within the office network.
3. Data security and compliance risk takes on even more importance.

So, what can companies do to manage information effectively in a remote work environment? Organizations must make critical information easy to find when needed. They need to support approved work methods — including governance and compliance protocols — and make information an asset that works for people rather than people working for information.

The key is to provide both visibility and control for the organization.

The business needs visibility over what information there is, where it is, who interacts with it, and how they’re interacting with it.

When there’s complete visibility over information assets, companies are better able to identify and address information security vulnerabilities.

And as an additional perk, with this visibility, there is also the ability to easily provide evidence of compliance to information security standards. This, for example, makes it easy to demonstrate to a client how their sensitive information is handled and secured.

Additionally, the business needs control over how information is created, stored, archived, retained, accessed, shared, and processed. It is impossible to secure something you have no control over. But with proper information management tools and practices in place, all information is securely controlled.

There is no security without proper management of information. There’s no proper management of information without control. And there’s no control without visibility. It’s a cycle where all the pieces are codependent and need to be in their proper place.

Source: https://www.m-files.com/blog/visibility-and-control-the-cornerstones-of-information-management-and-security/