Photo of Jim Merrifield

Jim Merrifield is Robinson+Cole’s Director of Information Governance & Business Intake, a member of the Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Team, and a non-attorney contributor to the Data Privacy + Security Insider blog. He has spent nearly 20 years helping organizations of all sizes, including law firms and Fortune 500 companies, develop and implement practical information governance strategies, policies, and best practices. Jim is a well-respected expert in the information governance industry. With an extensive background in policy development and enforcement, enterprise program deployment, and technology solutions, he has earned a strong reputation as a knowledgeable practitioner and reliable consultant. His deep understanding of the space is reflected by his many publications, lectures, and consulting services for top-tier companies and law firms. Jim holds a bachelor degree in Legal Studies from Quinnipiac University and is a certified information governance professional (IGP).

Jim's innovative thinking and commitment for the industry has enabled him to create the popular podcast, InfoGov Hot Seat, a platform for candid conversations featuring practitioners, consultants and solution providers - offering valuable perspectives to listeners about legal technology and managing information as an asset.

 

A recent report entitled “Information Strategy 2017”, published by the Information Coalition finds that information security remains a top priority for over 90 percent of organizations. Given that the number of data breach activity continues to rise, these finds are not very surprising.

What is surprising, however, is many organizations continue to increase their spend

Information is every organization’s greatest asset. It makes up intellectual property, trade secrets and many other vital corporate assets. It’s how we in corporate America conduct business. With that said, governing and protecting that information is critical. Therefore, we expect information governance efforts to continue to rise in 2017.

Prediction #1 – Data Breaches will

The cloud-based file-sharing and collaboration business continues to grow, inspiring competition between two heavy weights: Microsoft and Box.  Last week, Box announced over $100 million in third quarter revenue growth despite competing with Microsoft’s OneDrive file share for SharePoint.

Aaron Levie, Box CEO and co-founder, believes that “the need for Box is clear; today, business

Now more than ever before there is an increased demand for employees to share and collaborate on documents with people inside and outside of their respective organizations. For this reason, organizations of all shapes and sizes are turning to enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) solutions to provide secure cloud-based file sharing.

A recent survey

A recent Advice from Counsel study sponsored by FTI Technology, entitled “The State of Information Governance in Corporations,” found data security to be the top driver for information governance initiatives. The purpose of the study was to better understand the health and success of information governance programs within corporations. The respondents included approximately 25 in-house

In an information governance model, there are business-focused components and aspects, and there are technology-focused components and aspects. Information Governance isn’t just technology driven, nor is it solely business driven. It is a partnership between business and technology. Both must be present in the program.

The Business Side

Diving into the business side, the first

Many organizations are considering an update to their existing SharePoint environment in 2016. This is largely due to new functionalities being offered with SharePoint 2016, especially if the organization is still running SharePoint 2010 or later. With that said, a well thought out migration strategy is key to the success of this project.

Let’s consider

The purpose of an information governance program is to provide insight into information that is the most valuable to the organization, while minimizing associated risks and costs. Until recently, organizations focused less on the latter and heavily on gaining insight into the most valuable information. The reason for this change is largely due to the