New Economist Intelligence Unit Survey Reveals Information Governance Gap Among Global...

New Economist Intelligence Unit Survey Reveals Information Governance Gap
Among Global Corporations

EMC(R)-sponsored Research Report Urges Remedy for Organizations Lacking Formal
Policies Governing How Business Information is Controlled, Accessed and Used;
Report Highlights Significant Business Benefits for Organizations that Have
Implemented Information Governance Initiatives

HOPKINTON, Mass., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), the
world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced the
release of a new EMC(R)-sponsored research paper by the Economist Intelligence
Unit that urges organizations' senior leadership to accelerate implementation
of companywide information governance programs that can help increase the
strategic value of information throughout its lifecycle, while minimizing
costs and risks.

Available immediately on EMC.com, The Future of Enterprise Information
Governance is an EMC-sponsored survey and briefing paper compiled by the
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), spotlighting the strategic importance of
managing vital corporate information assets, and the formal policies and
processes that define how information is to be controlled, shared and
leveraged among employees and stakeholders.

The briefing paper is based on an EIU research survey of senior executives
from leading companies around the world about the benefits, challenges and
risks associated with developing an enterprise-wide information governance
strategy. Seventy-seven percent of respondents expect information governance
to be important to their company's success through 2011, while 68% also expect
the complexity of their company's information governance issues will grow
during that same time period. Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds (62%) of
respondents indicated their companies had no formal information governance
program in place, a concerning trend that may leave many corporations
unprepared for new compliance mandates and open to preventable risks to
sensitive information.

"Even though the standards for good governance are rising, we find that much
of today's focus around corporate governance leaves information out of the
discussion," said Frank Hauck, EMC Executive Vice President, Global Marketing
and Customer Quality. "Carefully managing the relentlessly growing volume of
information carries both risk and opportunity for the enterprise. At EMC we
believe that senior corporate leaders need to be active stewards of their
companies' information and should know as much about their information assets
as their CFO knows about their company's financial assets. Implementing a
companywide information governance initiative is one of the most valuable
moves corporate leaders can make to create and enforce policies that help
ensure information quality, compliance, and protection while increasing its
business value."

"As firms large and small begin to think more strategically about how
information is used and conveyed, creating a standard set of policies and
procedures for governing information protection, use and distribution inside
and outside the firm will be extremely important," said Debra D'Agostino,
Deputy Director in the Americas, Industry and Management Research, at the
Economist Intelligence Unit.

The 2008 EIU research survey includes responses from senior business
executives from leading companies, almost half with annual revenues more than
US$1 billion and headquartered in North America, Europe, the Middle East,
Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Survey results revealed key differences
between the 62% of respondents that do not have formal information governance
programs and the 38% of respondents that do:
-- For firms without a governance strategy, the risks may be significant.
Only 51% of respondents at companies that do not have a formal
information governance strategy rate their firms' overall ability
to protect sensitive data as good or very good compared with 85% for
those whose companies have a formal strategy.
-- 40% of overall respondents say their firm does not regularly review
and
revise information backup and retention policies.
-- Only 43% of respondents rate their firms' ability to integrate and
share information across departments and necessary third parties as
good
or very good; 21% say that it is poor or very poor.
-- 92% of respondents at firms with information governance strategies
rate
their company's ability to provide access to critical business
information when it is needed as good or very good, compared with only
57% of companies that do not have governance in place.
-- 57% of respondents admit they do not have a single view of the
customer.
-- 81% of firms with information governance programs report that
"information can be better shared between departments, allowing for
better decision-making."

Information Governance Best Practices

Enterprise information has typically been siloed around lines of business or
specific business applications but when properly integrated, can benefit the
rest of the organization. To effectively leverage and share that information
across the enterprise while managing the associated costs and risks, EMC
recommends implementing enterprise-wide information governance programs. The
most effective programs engage key leadership and information stakeholders
across the organization to gain their input and to help prepare the
organization for change. Both EMC and the authors of the EIU briefing paper
advocate that executive sponsorship across lines of business can also help to
ensure key business drivers such as cost management, security, and business
value as core metrics in measuring program success. The most successful
programs take an incremental approach and don't attempt sweeping changes all
at once. These programs should define master information standards along with
the policies, privileges, and responsibilities of information owners and users
in order to ensure required levels of quality and risk management.

"Good information governance can help companies solve a fundamental challenge
within their organizations - how to balance the costs, risks and value of
information assets across the enterprise," said Chuck Hollis, EMC Global
Marketing CTO. "As the EIU research indicates, implementing an information
governance program can result in companies seeing improved operations and cost
control, increased visibility of information flows across the enterprise and
an overall better organizational preparedness for meeting compliance mandates.
The senior leadership at corporations worldwide should make this a key
business priority."

EIU Briefing Paper Availability

The Future of Enterprise Information Governance is an Economist Intelligence
Unit briefing paper sponsored by EMC. The paper is available for free download
at:
http://www.emc.com/leadership/business-view/future-information-governance.htm

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of
information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations
of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their
information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at
www.EMC.com.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation and its subsidiaries. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE EMC Corporation

Kevin Kempskie of EMC Corporation, +1-508-293-6278, kempskie_kevin@emc.com; or
Heather Milne of OutCast Communications, +1-215-875-8138, emc@outcastpr.com