2021-22 IMMAP Report now available

The Information Management Maturity Assessment Program (IMMAP) takes place every two years. IMMAP requires departments and key agencies to undertake a survey assessment of their information management practices. This helps PROV and participating agencies determine areas for improvement and informs the strategic direction and priorities for information management decision makers across government. 

Eleven organisations participated in the latest round of the program, each addressing 17 questions regarding information and data management maturity. Questions spanned the four dimensions of people, organisation, information lifecycle and quality, and business systems and processes.

The 2021-22 IMMAP Report covers a period of significant change and challenge for the sector. For example: 

• the impact of COVID-19 on managing information and data
• the centralisation of Microsoft 365 and its suite of products and its resulting impact on managing information and data
• the separation of data management from information management as a profession, a set of practices and their associated tools, and how they are implemented in relation to each other.

IMMAP report findings

Findings of the analysis conducted include the following:

• IMMAP results appear to be in tune with a four-year cycle, which suggests they are aligned with implementation cycles for information and data management and associated corporate plans and strategies.
• High scores in this round were achieved by organisations who were sufficiently resourced, had visible information and data management specialists engaged across the organisation, had active implementation programs, and who were aware of their gaps and strengths through strong compliance monitoring programs.
• Lower scores were held by organisations with little or no government committees or structures, ad hoc reactive implementations with insufficient resources to undertake required work, lacked visibility, collaboration, and active engagement, and had no compliance or monitoring programs. 

IMMAP responses also reflected how COVID-19 has changed the way we work, bringing through swift transitions to digital workplaces including working in cloud environments. Prior to the pandemic, some organisations had already transitioned to a digital workplace and had effective remote working practices in place. Those organisations yet to transition found themselves negotiating information and data management as best they could. Sometimes this meant implementing information and data management practices retrospectively.

We also found that Microsoft 365 / Office 365, changes to the way data is managed, and machinery of government changes have had an impact on results:

• Microsoft 365 / Office 365 has become a central platform for organisations to both enable and control remote working. In some instances, information and data is being managed through integration between Microsoft 365 and EDRMS or other systems. In other instances, information and data management occurs within Microsoft 365 itself.
• Data is increasingly being managed as a separate body of knowledge to information. These separations can cause competing priorities, resources, and areas of work across organisations, or can be done in collaboration with each other as part of an overarching strategy. How data is managed in an organisation has impacted IMMAP ratings in this round, causing some scores to decrease and others to increase.
• Machinery of government change continues to impact effective management of information and data, primarily through requiring resources to incorporate systems into existing processes and practices.

Recommendations for improvement

• Information management and data management within an organisation should be coordinated so that strategies, plans, and practices are aligned.
• Information and data management should be designed into new systems and processes and actively maintained.
• Sufficient and ongoing resources should be provided to enable information and data to be managed well, in line with legislative and regulatory requirements, and business needs.

View the full report

The full 2021-22 IMMAP Report can be downloaded here.