Data format management
Data Format Management is the application of a systematic approach to the selection and use of the data formats used to encode information for storage on a computer. The role of Data Format Management within I.T. Governance is the analysis of data formats and their associated technical, legal or economic attributes which can either enhance or detract from the ability of a given information systems to meet specified objectives.
Data Format Management is required as the amount of information and number of people creating it grows. This is especially the case as the information with which users are working is difficult to generate, store, costly to acquire, or to be shared.
Historically individuals, organization and businesses have been categorized by their type of computer or their operating system. Today, however, it is primarily productivity software, such as spreadsheet or word processor programs, and the way these programs store information that defines with whom a person may communicate and exchange information.