What Counts?

2022 Episode 24 – In this episode, we discuss business case development for moving your information governance initiatives forward through your internal process. We include areas where you can find hard and soft costs to use in your return on investment calculations. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about building your information governance business case, including areas to perform efficie...

2022 Episode 23 – In this episode, we talk about our approach to information governance projects resulting from your information governance roadmap and taking into consideration high risk areas and high-level business strategy. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about three to five year information governance projects and how to avoid the pitfalls of point solutions. Learn more by visiting ou...

2022 – In this episode, we break down information governance initiatives into phases to strategically span multiple years and show actionable progress along the way. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about the importance of establishing the appropriate phases for your information governance initiatives so that activities get accomplished, resources are shared, and budget is not wasted. Learn...

2022 – We work with organizations to develop an information governance roadmap to illustrate, at a high-level, how they can go from current state assessment to an improved information governance program end state. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas discuss how to develop a multi-year roadmap/plan that will help guide and track your information governance implementation progress. Learn more by visi...

2022 – How to use a visioning discussion to determine your information governance program’s near, mid, and long-term goals. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas discuss the best way to setup, prepare, and lead a visioning discussion for your information governance program. Learn more by visiting our website, or by sending TrailBlazer an email at info@TrailBlazer.us.com. TrailBlazer Consulting, LLC,...

Business process redesign may be in store for organizations storing records in 3rd Party repositories, SharePoint sites, file shares, or e-mail. It may be best to initiate a business process redesign to drive employees to use the organization’s systems of record. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about the most common records storage locations that organizations use and the risks associated...

Workarounds and manual processes can lead to serious risk for your organization. Two specific risks are discussed in detail in today’s episode. Look out for these specific workaround risks in your organization and learn what to do to keep your organization compliant. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about information governance risks that they have found working at different client organiza...

Information governance risks and solution selection – not a trivial task. Reviewing the list of top risks found after performing an information governance assessment can be overwhelming. Finding a solution to address more than one risk can be a daunting task. In this episode, Maura Dunn and Lee Karas discuss some of the top risks that they have encountered at client organizations and how to select...

This is the final part of this three (3) part series that pertains to a valuable tool called an Enterprise Information Map (EIM). An Enterprise Information Map provides a comprehensive view of all of the information systems throughout your organization and how they interact. In this episode, we discuss how to use the EIM to dive deep into your organization’s systems to support strategic objectives...

This is part two (2) of a three (3) part series that pertains to a valuable tool called an Enterprise Information Map (EIM). An Enterprise Information Map provides a comprehensive view of all of the information systems throughout your organization and how they interact. In this episode, we talk about the beginning steps for creating an EIM and building a basic system profile. Every information gov...

This three part series pertains to a valuable tool called an Enterprise Information Map (EIM). An Enterprise Information Map provides a comprehensive view of all of the information systems throughout your organization and how they interact. An EIM catalogues what systems your company uses, records how information is stored within those systems, and shows how information moves across your organizat...

How do you decide which information governance challenge to tackle first within your organization? In today’s episode, you will learn three key approaches for prioritizing your organization’s information governance challenges that TrailBlazer uses to help sort out the complexity. Learn more by listening to this episode, or by sending TrailBlazer an email at info@TrailBlazer.us.com. TrailBlazer Con...

TrailBlazer’s framework facilitates regulatory compliance and addresses critical aspects of an information governance program. Our framework takes into consideration various components to ensure program implementation is comprehensive. The components of TrailBlazer’s framework consist of governance, policy, process, data|content, applications, and infrastructure. These are all the components neces...

In this episode, we discuss the importance of Sponsors, Champions, Liaisons, Steering and Governance Committees for driving an organization’s Information Governance Program forward. Change management is a large part of moving an organization towards regulatory records compliance. Do you have the correct components together to make an organizational change? Part of your business case for moving peo...

You may find recordkeeping strengths during your data and information management assessment that are worth capitalizing on to use within other departments of your organization. Capitalizing on recordkeeping strengths found within your organization can facilitate change management in other departments. Listen as the owners of TrailBlazer, Maura Dunn and Lee Karas, discuss what to do when you find s...

Finding unexpected data and information governance risks. It is very possible that you may discover unexpected data and information governance risks and vulnerabilities that may cause your organization serious problems. In this episode of What Counts we discuss some examples of hidden risks that we discovered hiding behind the original goal of our assessment. You could be set out to discover and f...

Can workarounds and shadow repositories be putting your organization’s data and information at risk? Do your employees fill gaps in business processes when the systems they use are not convenient? Data and information management workarounds and shadow repositories are serious problems that companies must get a handle on or risk noncompliance. Listen as TrailBlazer’s owners, Maura Dunn and Lee Kara...

You may have a surprise finding from your data and information assessment interviews that cause you to be non-compliant with company policies. If you ask why during a data and information management assessment interview be prepared to get a surprise. You may find out that individuals are avoiding the official records repository, creating workarounds to make their job easier, and developing shadow...

Scheduling strategies for data and information management assessment interviews. Easy process, right? Actually, it’s not as simple as one would think. Should you start with top leaderships positions, should you start with mid-level positions, or should you start in a particular department, for example Information Technology. Listen as the owners of TrailBlazer, Maura Dunn and Lee Karas, discuss sc...

Selecting the right interviewees for your data and information recordkeeping assessment is a critical component to understanding the flow of information throughout the organization. This is not a simple process. Sometimes the interviewees are selected for you, sometimes it’s a different person for each process within a department, sometimes the list of people to interview grows and grows, and some...

If you are planning on performing a data and information management assessment within your organization, consider listening to the information discussed in this episode. Listen as Maura Dunn and Lee Karas discuss the data and information background collection process. The data and information background collection process is an important step in the assessment planning process. Information about y...

In this episode, consultants from TrailBlazer Consulting, LLC, Maura Dunn and Lee Karas talk about how to best structure your information and data assessment questions to get the appropriate results. Sometimes, it might just be best to have a conversation with the person you are interviewing about how they get things accomplished at their organization, because we want to know how do they do their...

When it comes to analyzing your organization's information and data management environment, it is important to establish the appropriate goals and scope for an assessment.

Is it a challenge to find something in your co-worker's office or on their computer?