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20 CHAPTER 2 Definitions and concepts

sheet, but to be certain, if you view IAM in the true business sense, deploying data governance is
a whole lot easier. Metaphors are used to aid in understanding, but metaphors are hard to implement.
To be clear, if you are serious about governance or any of the solutions that require its application, you
are committing to IAM. Think of another corporate or organization asset that can function without:

• Standards of use
• Accurate financial tracking
• Statement of value to the organization
• Assignment of accountability and responsibility
An asset requires standards, tracking, value, and accountability. EIM, DG, MDM, and all of the other
concepts listed earlier, exist to manifest IAM.

SUMMARY

As of the writing of this book, few of the organizations we work with view these concepts and terms as
a uniform discipline. Yet they all want “data governance” to be implemented. They want to manage
information as an asset. We usually discover they do formal IAM in pockets, but never extract
maximum benefit of sustainability. Often the projects related to the various pockets of solutions fail.
We can always tie the failure back to not adopting the right mindset. The organizations doing “pocket
IAM” go through the motions, hire consultants, and buy the right tools. However, they fall short when
it is actually time to change the day-to-day treatment of data, information, and content. The solutions
do not fully work unless you start to think in terms of IAM. Therefore, IAM is the mindsetdthe
overarching philosophy. The elements of EIM and DG provide the framework (remember the V) that
ties the participants together, but clearly delineates a system of checks and balances. What they
accomplish together is truly managing data as an asset.