Information management critical for King III corporate governance

The accurate management of information and content is critical in all private sector and government establishments, including large corporate organisations  listed or not, state run enterprises, local- or provincial governments and national government departments. The precise control of these intelligent assets has become particularly relevant since the King III Governance initiative became effective on 1 March 2010.

“Information and content needs to be effectively managed,” says Derek Weatherall, enterprise content management (ECM) service delivery manager at Datacentrix, a black empowered information technology (IT) company providing computing power, business value and information management solutions to corporate and government sectors.

Weatherall adds that information and content management has become a priority for businesses endeavouring to achieve and adhere to the corporate governance principles contained in King III – the collective name for the two King Reports on governance and the practice notes to King III issued by the Institute of Directors.

“In current environments, ECM is a means by which corporate and government entities can successfully implement and benefit from correct governance of IT. This provides a springboard from which to achieve the essential governance elements of King III.”

Weatherall defines IT Governance as executive management’s ability to manage, measure and evaluate the use of an organisation’s IT resources and assets to facilitate and enable the achievement of its strategic objectives.

“Resources can be deployed effectively to manage the required information and content and drive the alignment of IT governance with strategic objectives. Measurable value will be delivered, risk managed, and the use and performance of corporate resources optimised.”

The bottom line is that information, resident in the IT solutions and resources of any organisation, has become a critical asset for companies and needs to be managed accordingly.

“ECM is not a means to an end,” says Weatherall. “It is a journey to adopt the principles and governance compliance of King III, over the medium to long term. We have the resources, the know-how and the technology to assist companies through the phases of compliance with King III.”

Datacentrix believes that free enterprise prospers in an environment of “good and balanced” corporate governance. Weatherall says while the company understands that achieving good governance is a complex task, it also believes that sound governance practices offer many practical benefits.

“Organisations should integrate such practices into their daily operational processes and this can be achieved with a sound, well implemented ECM solution and programme.”