Meru: Story of our Ascent
The path to Governance is a bumpy road filled with obstacles and challenges. While you may believe you know the route well, the actual journey seldom goes as planned.
Meru Data can guide you in this journey and make the road smoother. We are transforming the field of Information Governance (IG) to make things easier for you.
Inspired by the 2015 documentary film about scaling the Himalayan peak “Mount Meru,” we embarked on this journey to Meru Data. What inspired us is that IG is comparable to a mountain expedition in many ways—it is complicated, demanding, and you need a map to guide you. They require training, discipline, and persistence - qualities essential for building an effective Governance system.
Information Governance is an adventure in its own way. While mountaineering is a quest for new routes and overcoming challenges, Governance can help you discover hidden irregularities and create new paths for achieving compliance.
Both these activities pose similar challenges. They appear difficult but are achievable through a systemic plan and, with the right tools, focus on the long term and coordination.
· PLAN: The ideal plan will determine where you want to go (your peak) and which route you should take. You need to draft a plan that is designed with your strengths and weaknesses in mind, and that will help you reach the pinnacle.
· TOOLS: Like how climbers rely on their equipment and gear, the right kind of technology can provide alignment and bring transparency to your program. Investments in the right technology can provide the required scalability for your IG project. Tools such as DataMap can bring transparency and help promote teamwork and trust within the organization.
· GOAL: It is important to understand how the accomplishment of smaller tasks will help the program’s long-term strategy as too much focus on the near-term without any long-term direction can lead to a program that is just going in circles.
· TEAMWORK: An adventure like mountain climbing requires strong teamwork and coordination. In the case of Governance, managing and stewarding data within organizations requires increased collaboration across business units/departments. Data is a key focus for Business, Risk, Privacy, IT, and Security teams, with each team holding critical pieces of the organization’s overall strategy around data.
A successful summit requires a great amount of trust and confidence within the group of climbers. You count on your teammates to be able to help you in the worst-case scenario, and this needs faith in each other’s capabilities and judgments. It is important to know when to take the lead and when to follow. The same goes for Governance―you need a strong team that understands its capabilities and doesn’t shy away from seeking others’ advice. Transparency and trust can help build the required collaboration within the organization.
A robust IG strategy can be achieved through practice and determination. Like a climber charts a distinct path to the top, every organization has its unique path to Governance. As each summit is a milestone for a mountaineer, and then they look for the next challenge, an IG program has to be revised and updated for improving the overall Governance.
You can never truly conquer Governance as its requirements keep evolving over time. But with the right tools and resources, you can achieve the desired level of compliance and Governance. The key is to keep revising your goals with the changing needs of the organization. Each successful expedition inspires us to reach new heights.
Make a plan, pack your tools, and go get Meru!!!.
