Financial attributes for the Data and Information Inventory - Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

Financial attributes for the Data and Information Inventory

(Chapter 29 of Data and Information Inventory and Attributes)

Executive Summary: Chapter Overview

IF4IT

The Bottom Line

This chapter defines financial attributes that connect Data and Information types to cost, value, investment, monetization potential, financial risk, and funding considerations. These attributes help leaders understand where information assets create economic value, impose cost, or justify additional governance and technology investment.

Core Concepts

Concept	Definition & Strategic Role
Cost of Ownership	Cost of ownership captures the financial burden of storing, governing, protecting, processing, and maintaining a data type. It supports rationalization and investment decisions.
Information Value	Information value estimates the business or economic benefit produced by the data type. It helps prioritize stewardship and quality improvements for high-value content.
Financial Risk	Financial risk identifies potential loss from poor quality, misuse, non-compliance, breach, or unavailability. It connects data governance decisions to enterprise financial exposure.

Quick Q&A

Question: Why should financial attributes be associated with Data and Information types?

Answer: Information assets create value and cost money to store, protect, govern, and use. Financial attributes help leaders compare investment needs, identify high-value data types, expose hidden cost or risk, and make better decisions about governance funding and technology modernization.

Financial attributes capture the estimated business value of this Data and Information type — enabling data asset valuation and return-on-investment analysis for data governance programs.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Estimated Annual Value

Run

Description — The assessed business value of this Data and Information type — the estimated annual contribution to revenue, cost reduction, risk mitigation, or regulatory compliance, or the estimated cost to the enterprise of losing this type.

Benefit(s) — Enables ROI analysis at the data type level. As data is increasingly recognized as a balance sheet asset, quantifying its value supports investment prioritization in data quality and governance programs.

Source — Manual.

Notes — A rough order of magnitude is more useful than no value. Methodology: estimate revenue attribution, cost avoidance, or replacement cost. Document the estimation methodology alongside the value.

How to cite this page

When referencing this page in academic work, internal standards, or external publications, include the page title, IF4IT as author and publisher (The International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT), LLC), the URL, and your access date.

Example (informal web citation):

The International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT), LLC. Financial attributes for the Data and Information Inventory | Data and Information Inventory and Attributes. https://if4it.org/best-practices/data-and-information-inventory-and-attributes/financial-attributes-for-the-data-and-information-inventory/ (accessed 2026-09-11).

See About Us for content governance and site-wide citation guidance.

Legal Disclaimers