What is the Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM)?

The Information Governance Reference Model (IGRM) is a widely referenced framework that illustrates how an organization should govern its information across the full lifecycle. Rather than treating records, legal, IT, privacy, and business needs as separate concerns, the IGRM presents them as interlocking responsibilities that must work together. It is a conceptual map, not a software product or a legal mandate.

What the Model Depicts

The IGRM is typically drawn as a diagram with two complementary views.

• Stakeholders. It identifies the groups with a stake in information: business units that create and use information, legal and compliance functions, records and information management (RIM), privacy and security, and IT, which stores and protects the systems. The model emphasizes that these stakeholders share duties and must coordinate.
• The information lifecycle. It shows information moving through stages such as creation, use and retention, and ultimately disposition or archiving. Governance decisions, value, and duties are applied at each stage.

By connecting “who is responsible” to “what happens to the information over time,” the model encourages a unified, organization-wide approach instead of siloed decision-making.

Why It Matters

Organizations face competing pressures: keep information that has business value or legal significance, but defensibly dispose of what is no longer needed. The IGRM helps stakeholders align around shared principles so that retention, security, privacy, and disposition decisions are made deliberately and consistently.

Common benefits of applying the model include:

• Clarity of roles. Each stakeholder understands its duties and how they intersect with others.
• Defensible disposition. Information is kept while it has value and disposed of consistently when it does not.
• Reduced risk and cost. Coordinated governance limits over-retention, security exposure, and discovery burden.

How to Use It

Treat the IGRM as a reference for designing or assessing an information governance program. Use it to confirm that every stakeholder group is represented, that lifecycle stages are accounted for, and that policies connect responsibility to action. It pairs naturally with records management standards and retention scheduling practices.

To explore related concepts and frameworks, visit the information governance topic hub.