The Market Perspective: IG in 04 and Beyond by Barclay T. Blair

Part VI in the Big Picture Predictions and Perspectives Blog Series

The end of the year is an apt time to consider where the information governance (IG) market was in 2014 and to explore where it is headed in the new year. The Information Governance Initiative (IGI) Annual Report 2014: Information Governance Goes to Work provides key insights into the matter.

According to our research, in 2014 the IG community told us that there was not a clearly defined IG market. Only 19% thought otherwise. The lack of clarity around the IG market likely reflects the immaturity of IG as a defined discipline. Even so, while it may not be well defined, an IG market does exist. Specifically, the community is doing work and buying products and services that it considers to be part of IG. Our research also shows that there is a shared understanding within the community of what IG is, the types of projects people are undertaking, and what their priorities are.

Practitioners reported that their organizations are taking on a wide range of IG projects. On average, small-to-mid-sized organizations (SMBs, ie: under 5,000 employees) and large organizations (over 5,000 employees) have four and six IG projects underway, respectively.

When considering these numbers and the more detailed breakdown within the Annual Report, it is important to remember how broadly our community defines IG and its activities and technologies, as well as the breadth of what might be considered an IG project. In addition, when designing our survey, these questions were made optional given that many would have insufficient information to answer them. These results do not predict the overall IG market size. What they do show is that there is a market and that it is moving.

What kinds of IG projects are underway? We asked practitioners and providers what projects they and their customers, respectively, were working on or had planned in the next 12 months. The top three answers for both groups of respondents matched, with updating policies and procedures; data consolidation and cleanup; and migration of unstructured information leading other projects. Big data analytics and creating and filling a senior role for IG ranked at the bottom for both groups.

We also asked where organizations are buying their IG services. According to practitioners, the most common source of IG services by a wide margin (57%, nearly double the next most popular source, boutique IG firms at 27%) is professional services groups at software and hardware providers. . Further, practitioners do not predict much change in their IG services purchasing habits in 2015. Providers, in contrast, reported a more even distribution among service provider options for their customers and predicted greater change, with increased purchasing, in 2015.

Both practitioners and providers are bullish about 2015. Three quarters of practitioners and 83% of providers predict increased IG spend and revenue, respectively, in 2015. Not surprisingly, providers are more optimistic about next year. Forty-two percent of providers versus only 27% of practitioners predicted growth of 30% or more next year.

In sum, the IG market is active-IG projects were underway and organizations were spending on IG products and services in 2014. As the discipline of IG continues to coalesce and mature in the next year, the market will undoubtedly grow.

Join our Twitter Chat: Healthcare IG Predictions & Perspectives

On January 28th at 12:00 pm Eastern, @IronMtnHealth is hosting a Twitter chat using #InfoTalk to further the dialog. If you have been involved in governance-related projects, we'd love to have you join. What IG initiatives have shown success for you? How have you overcome any obstacles? What do you see as the future of IG? Keep the conversation going during our Healthcare IG Predictions & Perspectives #InfoTalk at 12pm Eastern on January 28th.

Hear more voices from the thought leaders of the healthcare industry by reading the rest of the blogs in this series: Big Picture Predictions and Perspectives.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/industry/healthcare-information-man...
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