Metadata enables the safekeeping of customer data  and unlocking the hidden value of that data, according to Dana Louise Simberkoff in her recent article in CMSWire. To leverage metadata, document classification is essential to a strong and consistent information governance program. Data discovery and tagging needs to be operationalized rather than remain an unimplemented idea. The issues of customer data security are a perennial issue or as the author puts it, “a perpetual impending event.”

Simberkoff also uses a word that has a lot of meaning here at Parascript: context. Contextual metadata is essential to truly describe any organization’s document-based information assets and to effectively manage them.

All of this makes a lot of sense and is well-understood in industry circles that deal with governance and security. What is really not well understood is how to approach these issues and then how to efficiently implement technologies to provide an effective solution.

How do organizations efficiently discover their information? How do they apply consistent policies for describing their document-based information without over-relying on staff?

We recently launched the Ultimate Document Challenge designed to put our technology to the test for qualifying organizations. To put it plainly, there are complex solutions to complex problems. And then, there is the practical approach that we believe will enable organizations large and small to better understand, describe, and manage their document-based information.