What Data-Driven Businesses Need to Know: A Major New Study from the Association for Intelligent Information Management
Introduction: As a society, we are arguably amid a renaissance of technological advancement, driven by the progress sparked by generative AI. Yet, in this period of technical innovation, it’s key to remember that the success of technology is dependent on humans. AI is successful because it is developed and managed with human ingenuity, ethics, and context setting. For 15 years, AIIM has published regular market research on the state of the information management industry via its Industry Watch series. This year, we wanted to focus on the human drivers behind industry evolution. In this report, we specifically look at information management practitioners who are responsible for unstructured data to better understand the current and future states of the information management industry.
This report is designed to assess the current state of the information management industry and practice. For readers, this report provides an assessment of the current state of the information management industry, but also guidance on how to improve unstructured data management within your own organization.
This report explores the practice and practitioner of information management by highlighting three key areas:
1. The people who practice information management;
2. organizational perception of information management as a practice; and
3. the technology organizations and practitioners are using to advance information management.
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The DAWN OF THE INFORMATION LEADER
By Anne Cornish, CEO, RIMPA Global
The 2024 Industry Watch: State of the Practice Report reveals the emergence of the Information Leader, a critical role in navigating the complex landscape of unstructured data management. These professionals, armed with a diverse skill set and strategic vision, are increasingly recognized as influential figures within organizations, as evidenced by their rising seniority, decision-making authority, and compensation.
There are two types of data – structured and unstructured. Structured data is in a tabular format, like a database. Unstructured data is nontabular and is data without a predefined data model. It goes by many names, like dark data, ugly data, or content. It’s the documents, invoices, contracts, images, videos, text messages, social posts, and more.
At AIIM, we simply call that unstructured data “information.” Importantly, information is vital for success with artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. Think about generative AI applications, like ChatGPT, that use documents and text scaped from the internet.
High-quality unstructured data is vital to success with artificial intelligence (AI) and automation because it makes up a significant portion of all data generated; provides unique insights; and contributes to growth of large datasets required for AI models.
Information Management: A Universal Priority
This report also highlights the universal prioritization of information management across industries and organization sizes. No longer confined to large, regulated entities, effective information management has become a crucial driver of success for businesses of all types and scales. Key motivators for investing in this practice include compliance and risk mitigation, digital transformation, and cost and productivity optimization. Organizations are actively seeking ways to integrate and customize information management within their unique structures and designs.
Finally, this report sheds light on the evolving technology stack employed by information management practitioners. As the toolkit expands, the adoption of AI and automation technologies is on the rise, with workflow and process automation, generative AI, and machine learning emerging as the most sought-after solutions. However, there are significant challenges associated with AI implementation, such as poor data quality and lack of interoperability between systems.
This year’s report underscores the vital role of information leaders in driving organizational success, the universal prioritization of information management, and the ongoing evolution of the technology stack. Seventy-two percent (72 percent) of respondents agreed that information management will become more important in the next twelve months. As businesses navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by unstructured data, investing in skilled professionals and robust information management practices will be essential for achieving strategic objectives and maintaining a competitive edge.
Information management is the management of unstructured data. This report is focused on the intelligent information management industry, which is a systematic approach to unstructured data management that integrates people, processes, information, and technology to achieve better business outcomes. Information management practitioners manage and leverage information throughout its lifecycle, from the point of creation to disposal.
Our survey results show that the importance of information management or unstructured data management will continue to be incredibly important within organizations. Seventy-two percent (72 percent) of respondents agreed that information management will become more important over the next 12 months (N=282).
The best way to understand the industry is by looking at the people who make the industry possible.
Who is practicing information management? Who is taking responsibility for managing and, more importantly, leveraging the asset that is unstructured data within organizations? From this year’s data, it’s clear that the scope of responsibilities of information management practitioners is increasing as well as their level of responsibility within organizations. The practitioner is becoming increasingly hard to define and identify by traditional job titles, like Information Manager, Information Governance Manager, or Records Manager.
What’s also clear is that traditional information management professionals are no longer the only ones practicing information management and the responsibilities of information management are
no longer allocated to specific, niche roles, organizations of a certain size, or specific industries.
Information management practices are evolving beyond a single profession as the practice of information management becomes a key responsibility for knowledge workers.
The data indicates a new breed of information management practitioner has emerged – the Information Leader. Information Leaders are practitioners who are leading the management and use of unstructured data. More than just practitioners of information management, these individuals possess the skillset to understand, govern, and use invaluable unstructured data as well as the ability to effectively guide or lead change. They are not defined by job titles or traditional definitions of professions in information management, but rather by their skillsets and responsibilities within their organizations.
The respondents of this survey are largely practitioners in information management. However, as we will see in the next section, respondents are diverse and work in a variety of industries, departments, and organizations of all sizes.
A Crucial Skill
In the age of AI, information management has become a crucial skill for most knowledge workers. Information literacy and data literacy are essentially interchangeable concepts, as both involve the ability to collect, analyze, interpret, and manage data effectively.
The importance of these skills is increasingly recognized by business leaders, with 90 percent of them citing data literacy as a key factor in company success, according to Harvard Business Review.
As the volume of data increases and technology stacks expand, information management will become a critical responsibility for a growing number of knowledge workers. Ultimately, it is essential for everyone to develop information literacy and become Information Leaders.
AIIM Chairman 2023-2024 Karen Hobert summarized this evolution of the role when she said, “information management is not a role –it’s a need.”
Need for a Multifaceted Skill Set
Last year, AIIM interviewed an information and records management lead for a UK government agency. When discussing how AI is changing the role of information managers, who shared that modern information managers need new skillsets on top of old skillsets. They are still managing paper records, but now also automation, AI, intelligent document processing, and more.
The lines are blurring between information management and information technology. Information management practitioners are being asked to provide technical application training and assist with AI initiatives in addition to information governance.
The role of an information management practitioner today requires a diverse range of skills and expertise across multiple domains. The data suggests that the most critical skills for this position include:
1. Information Lifecycle Management: A significant majority (73.24 percent) of professionals are very or extremely involved in this area, highlighting its importance in the field.
2. Information Governance: 66.85 percent of professionals are very or extremely involved in this practice, indicating its centrality to the role.
3. Data Management: Over half (57.39 percent) of the professionals are very or extremely involved in data management, showcasing its significance.
4. Data Governance: 54.26 percent of professionals are very or extremely involved in this area, reflecting its growing importance in the industry.
5. Content Classification: 53.28 percent of professionals are very or extremely involved in this practice, suggesting its relevance to the role.
Other notable skills that are moderately to highly relevant include:
• Metadata/Taxonomy Development and Management
• Retention Schedule Development
• Physical Records Management and Storage Solutions
• Policy Development
• Change Management
• Business Process Management
• Information Architecture
• Security/Data Privacy
• Employee Information Management Training and Awareness
Skills such as Project Management, Business Analysis, Audit and Compliance Monitoring and Reporting, and Information Security Strategy and administration are also relevant, with moderate involvement from professionals. Emerging areas like AI Governance are gaining traction, with 41.48 percent of professionals being moderately to extremely involved. Less emphasized skills include Software Development and Vendor Management, with lower levels of involvement.
Seniority and Influence Expand
As information management practitioner roles expand, it’s interesting to note their level of involvement in system selections for information management systems.
Information management practitioners are often involved in purchasing decisions for systems and applications in their organizations. The data shows that 64.9 percent of professionals have either shared involvement as part of an evaluation team or serve as the primary decision-maker. Over half (51.53 percent) are part of a collaborative evaluation team, while 10.58 percent have final approval authority. Only 11.14 percent reported no involvement, and 23.96 percent have light involvement without decision-making authority.
This highlights the significant role these practitioners play in influencing and shaping the selection of critical tools for effective information management within their companies.
What is your typical level of involvement in the decision-making process when purchasing information management systems or applications for your organizations?
Comparing the seniority of information management practitioners between 2023 and 2024 reveals a notable shift towards higher level positions. In 2023, 49 percent held mid-level executive roles, 39 percent were in non-managerial staff positions, and only 7 percent were senior executives. However, the 2024 data shows a significant increase in senior executives (14.88 percent) and mid-level executives (54.16 percent), while non-managerial positions decreased to 30.95 percent. This trend highlights the growing recognition of information management’s strategic importance and the elevation of its practitioners to roles with greater decision-making authority, underscoring the rising prominence of information management professionals within organizations.
Diversification of Departments
Today, information management practitioners work in a variety of departments, hold a range of different job titles, and operate at various levels of seniority. Indeed, without the title of “Information Manager” or “Record Manager”, it is becoming challenging to discern if someone is an information management professional.
Only 41 percent of respondents hold titles associated with traditional information management professionals, such as Records Manager, Information Governance Manager, and Information Manager. Titles such as IT Director (7 percent), Chief Data Officer (4 percent), Information Analyst (4 percent), and Project Manager (4 percent) were also popular. Notably, 19 percent of respondents said, “None of the above”.
The annual salary for information management practitioners is reflective of the breadth of skills, decision-making authority, and seniority required for information leaders. Fifty-one (51 percent) of respondents earn above $100,000 annually. The compensation range for information management practitioners is higher than the average salary of knowledge workers in the United States, which are generally in the range of $70,000-90,000 per year. With an above average annual salary, information management is a lucrative profession that attracts wages that reflect the specific, advanced skillset required to effectively manage unstructured data.
While a career in information management is worthwhile, there is still a problem with the aging population. The median age of information management practitioners continues to rise. Seventy-six (76 percent) of respondents are over the age of 45.
Conclusion
As organizations navigate the AI era, data and information is a vital part of enterprise success. This year’s report shows the increasing prioritization of high quality and accessible data and information, which is only possible through the practice of information management. More organizations are investing in information management. Underscored by the expertise and skills of information management practitioners, these positions are increasingly senior, play a role in key strategic decisions and competitive advantage. Information management as a practice is becoming more prevalent, but the practitioner is becoming harder to define by any singular job title or job skill analysis. We are finding that information management as a practice is becoming a part of diverse roles across the organization alongside information management professionals taking on more and more diverse responsibilities within their organizations. Contemporary information management professionals have capabilities that frequently blur the lines of technology, information, literacy, ethics, crisis management and leadership.
While the growth of information management and expansion of responsibilities makes it challenging to define the professional of today, this trends also presents opportunities. It has created opportunities for increased influence, collaboration and interdisciplinary work. When information managers are embedded in other teams or working on cross-departmental projects, they can curate a more successful information management program by leveraging their deeper understanding of line of business needs, ethical data and information practices and desired business outcomes. It has also made the profession more accessible by introducing the practice of information management to professionals in other fields. This diversity of perspectives can spark innovation and new processes for managing information alongside an appreciation of the deep and complex responsibility for information trust, transparency and stewardship.
Anne Cornish is the CEO of RIMPA Global. RIMPA is a leading organisation that represents Records and Information Management Practitioners worldwide.
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