Home/Information Governance
· Pillar 01 of 09

Information Governance

The strategic umbrella from which Data Governance — and all information disciplines — derive.

Twenty-plus years designing, operationalizing, and enforcing enterprise IG programs across Fortune 500 firms and federal agencies. Deep practitioner expertise translating governance policy into defensible, measurable operational workflows — spanning data retention, legal holds, classification, DLP, AI governance, access reviews, and Outside Counsel Guidelines compliance.

IGRM FrameworkSedona PrinciplesNIST 800-53NIST 800-171CMMC 2.0Microsoft PurviewLegal HoldsOCG ComplianceISO 15489
Conceptual Foundation
Information Governance is the Strategic Parent

Information Governance (IG) is the overarching enterprise framework governing how information is created, classified, retained, protected, and disposed of across its full lifecycle. Data Governance is a sub-discipline within IG, focused on data assets and stewardship. An enterprise with only a Data Governance program remains exposed across unstructured data, legal holds, records management, and compliance obligations that IG addresses holistically.

Information Governance — The Enterprise Framework

  • Unstructured & structured data lifecycle
  • Records management & retention schedules
  • Legal holds & eDiscovery readiness
  • Privacy, confidentiality & access controls
  • Policy operationalization & compliance monitoring
  • AI & technology information governance
  • OCG / outside counsel guidelines compliance
  • Includes Data Governance as a sub-discipline

Data Governance — Structured Data Sub-Discipline

  • Data quality & stewardship programs
  • Metadata management & taxonomy design
  • Data classification schemas
  • Master data management (MDM)
  • Data lineage & cataloging
  • Data stewardship councils
  • Structured data lifecycle governance
IGRM-Aligned Framework
Information Lifecycle Governance

Based on the Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM), enterprise information must be governed across its complete lifecycle. My programs address each stage with policy, controls, platform enforcement, and compliance monitoring.

01
Create / Capture
Classification at ingestion
02
Store / Organize
Taxonomy, metadata, labels
03
Use / Share
Access controls, DLP, OCG
04
Retain / Preserve
Retention schedules
05
Legal Hold
Preservation, audit trails
06
Dispose / Archive
Defensible disposition

Information Strategy & Policy

Defining the governance framework, roles, accountabilities, and policy architecture governing all information assets enterprise-wide.

  • IG policy framework design and maintenance
  • Retention schedule development and revision
  • Data classification schema design
  • Policy exception management processes
  • Governance committee structure and charter

Records & Retention Management

Operationalizing retention schedules and records disposition programs — ensuring defensible, auditable information lifecycle management.

  • Enterprise retention schedule design and deployment
  • Automated lifecycle management via Microsoft Purview
  • Records disposition workflows and approvals
  • File versioning and age-threshold governance
  • Backup and archival protocol governance

Legal Holds & eDiscovery

Defensible legal hold governance ensuring timely application, monitoring, and release across all enterprise repositories — zero compliance failures.

  • Legal hold framework design with Legal Risk Management
  • Hold application across M365 & SharePoint
  • Audit trail validation and defensibility assurance
  • Release procedures and compliance documentation
  • Zero compliance failures across external audits

Data Classification & DLP

Enterprise-wide classification schema and DLP policy deployment — enforcing data access controls at rest, in transit, and at ingestion.

  • Sensitivity label taxonomy design and deployment
  • DLP policy configuration across M365 ecosystem
  • Information barriers and guest access controls
  • DLP incident monitoring, trending, and escalation

Access Controls & Entitlement Reviews

Establishing least-privilege access principles with periodic entitlement reviews across all collaboration and governance platforms.

  • Periodic access and entitlement review framework
  • Alignment of access to data classification levels
  • Client confidentiality restriction enforcement
  • CMMC-validated least-privilege controls

Compliance Monitoring & KPIs

Designing ongoing compliance monitoring programs with executive dashboards providing real-time visibility into IG policy adherence.

  • Microsoft Purview compliance portal dashboards
  • KPI frameworks — label coverage, DLP trends, hold rates
  • Monthly executive compliance reporting cadence
  • Control testing and gap remediation programs
Regulatory Alignment
Standards & Frameworks

Every IG program I build is grounded in applicable industry standards — ensuring governance controls are both best-practice and defensibly aligned to the legal and regulatory environment the organization operates in.

IGRM

Information Governance Reference Model

The foundational framework organizing IG across all stakeholder groups — Legal, IT, Business, Privacy, Records, and Compliance. My programs follow IGRM's principle that "value + risk = retention."

  • Stakeholder-aligned IG program structure
  • Value and risk-based retention decisions
  • Unified governance policy architecture
Sedona Principles

The Sedona Principles (3rd Ed.) — Legal Hold & eDiscovery

Best practice framework for defensible legal hold management and eDiscovery readiness. My legal holds programs are designed to satisfy Sedona's defensibility requirements, including proportionality and audit trail documentation standards.

  • Defensible preservation and hold practices
  • Audit-trail documentation standards
  • Proportionality in preservation obligations
NIST 800-53/171

NIST 800-53 Rev 5 & NIST 800-171 — Federal Security Controls

Federal information security controls governing data classification, access management, audit logging, and information protection. All IG controls aligned to these standards across AC, AU, MP, RA, SC, and SI control families.

  • AC-2/AC-3: Access control and least privilege
  • AU-9/AU-12: Audit logging and monitoring
  • MP-6: Media sanitization and disposal
  • SI-12: Information management and retention
CMMC 2.0

Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification

Defense Industrial Base compliance framework with IG controls as prerequisites for certification. My programs established CMMC-required data classification, access controls, and audit governance — achieving zero failures across external CMMC audit reviews.

  • CUI identification and marking protocols
  • Least-privilege access enforcement
  • Audit trail and records governance
  • Incident response and data lifecycle documentation
ISO 15489

ISO 15489 — Records Management

International standard for records management programs — defining principles for creating, capturing, and managing records across the enterprise. Informs retention schedule methodology and disposition governance.

  • Records authenticity, reliability, and integrity
  • Retention schedule design methodology
  • Records disposition and transfer governance
ITAR / SOX / FISMA

ITAR, SOX & FISMA Compliance

Cross-regulatory requirements governing information handling in defense, financial services, and federal environments — each with distinct IG obligations addressed across my programs.

  • ITAR data residency and sovereignty controls
  • SOX records retention and financial data controls
  • FISMA continuous monitoring and reporting
Measurable Outcomes
IG Program Results
1.2PB
Unstructured data estate governed with classification, DLP, legal holds, and lifecycle controls for 40,000 users
Fortune 500 · 2022–2025
T1 → T3
Enterprise legal risk reduced from Tier 1 critical to Tier 3 through structured IG controls and lifecycle governance
Risk Reduction · Fortune 500
Zero
Compliance failures in CMMC external audit reviews — defensible legal hold management and controls documentation
Compliance Assurance · Fortune 500
40K
Users reached with IG compliance training — measurable behavior change tracked through DLP incident reduction
Training & Adoption · Fortune 500
$11M
Federal IG and PMO advisory program grown from $400K engagement at HHS OCIO through disciplined delivery
Management Consulting · HHS OCIO
IGRM
Fully IGRM-aligned enterprise IG frameworks deployed — with NIST 800-53/171, CMMC, SOX, and Sedona Principles alignment
Framework Deployment

Continue Exploring

AI Governance → GRC & Risk Management Enterprise IT Operations Digital Transformation ← Back to Home