News Slideshow: Information Governance Strategies in the Cloud

A November report from the Leadership Council for Information Advantage identifies four emerging conditions that can complicate the flow and value of information in hybrid (private/public) and public clouds. The report, titled "Creating Information Advantage in a Cloudy World: Intelligent Governance Strategies for Cloud Agility," provides seven governance best practices for organizations looking to offset some of the risks in enterprise cloud computing. These include: unchecked proliferation of incompatible cloud platforms and services; fragmentation of an enterprise's information architecture through isolated data and content within the clouds; escalating potential for vendor lock-in; and complex chains of custody for information management and security. The Leadership Council for Information Advantage is an advisory group convened in January 2010 by EMC, a developer and provider of information infrastructure and technology solutions. Council members include: William Awad Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, The Hartford Financial Services Group; Dave Blue Senior Manager, Enterprise Data Services, The Boeing Company; Guy Chiarello CIO, JPMorgan Chase; John Chickering Vice President, Fidelity Investments; Dimitris Mavroyiannis General Manager - Group CIO, Eurobank EFG Group; Sanjay Mirchandani Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, EMC Corporation; Joe Solimando Senior Vice President, Global Operations and Technology, CIO, Disney Consumer Products; and Deirdre Woods Associate Dean and CIO, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Here are the highlights of their recommendations for sound information governance practices in cloud environments.