The Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM) is a widely used framework that makes one essential point visible: information governance is cross-functional, and the groups responsible for information must align rather than work in silos.
What the model shows
The IGRM depicts the stakeholders who all have a claim on an organization’s information, and how they relate across the information lifecycle (create → use → retain → dispose):
- Business units — generate and use information to get work done; they value information for its utility.
- Legal — concerned with duty (preservation, litigation holds) and balancing value vs. risk.
- RIM (records and information management) — defines retention and disposition and keeps records trustworthy.
- IT — provides the systems and executes technical storage, migration, and disposal.
- Privacy & security — protect information according to its sensitivity.
The model’s central message: these groups must govern information together, keeping what has value and disposing of what doesn’t, under unified policy.
Why it’s useful
The IGRM is a communication tool. It helps explain to executives and stakeholders why records management can’t be solved by one department — and why, for example, defensible disposition requires legal (holds), RIM (schedules), IT (execution), and the business (knowing what’s still useful) to act together. It reframes “keeping less” as a shared win: lower cost, lower risk, easier e-discovery.
IGRM and EDRM
The IGRM has a companion, the EDRM (Electronic Discovery Reference Model), which maps the e-discovery process. The connection is direct: good information governance up front (the IGRM) makes downstream e-discovery (the EDRM) smaller, cheaper, and less risky.
Putting it to work
Use the IGRM to structure an information governance program: identify the stakeholders, get them to the table (often via a steering committee), and align their interests around unified retention, privacy, security, and disposition. See the information governance hub for more.
Sources & further reading
Authoritative government and non-profit references.
- The Sedona Conference — information governance commentary — The Sedona Conference
How to cite this page
APA
RM University Editorial Team. (2026). The Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM) Explained. Records Management University. https://www.recordsmgmt.org/articles/the-igrm-explained/
MLA
RM University Editorial Team. "The Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM) Explained." Records Management University, 15 June 2026, www.recordsmgmt.org/articles/the-igrm-explained/.