Information Asset
An information asset is information that has business value and should be protected because it supports operations, decision-making, compliance, or regulatory obligations.
Information assets can include customer records, financial data, employee information, business documents, intellectual property, and other information that helps an organization operate, serve customers, meet regulatory requirements, or deliver services.
Under DORA, financial entities must identify, classify, and document the information assets, ICT assets, and dependencies that support ICT-enabled business functions.
What is an Information Asset?
An information asset is information in any form that has value to an organization. This includes documents, records, databases, reports, customer data, financial data, intellectual property, and digital files stored across business systems.
Information assets matter because organizations rely on them to operate, serve customers, and meet compliance obligations. If information becomes unavailable, inaccurate, corrupted, altered, or exposed, the impact can be just as serious as a technology outage.
Why Information Assets Matter Under DORA
Organizations depend on information to deliver services, make decisions, meet regulatory requirements, and support daily operations. Under DORA, financial entities are expected to understand the information that supports ICT-enabled business functions and the technology those functions depend on.
As part of an organization’s ICT risk management framework, DORA requires financial entities to identify and document information assets, ICT assets, ICT-supported business functions, and the dependencies between them. Organizations are also expected to continuously assess ICT risks and review scenarios that could affect critical functions and supporting assets.
When information assets are not properly identified or governed, organizations may struggle to protect sensitive information, demonstrate compliance, respond to incidents, recover critical operations, assess operational risk, or understand the impact of disruptions.
Information asset visibility helps organizations understand what information they have, where it resides, and who is responsible for it. This visibility supports operational resilience, ICT risk management, dependency mapping, impact analysis, recovery planning, and recovery prioritization under DORA.
Information Assets and Dependencies
Information assets rarely exist in isolation. They depend on ICT assets, applications, databases, cloud services, third-party providers, and business processes to remain available and usable.
For example, customer transaction records may depend on:
- A payment processing platform
- A cloud hosting provider
- A database platform
- Supporting network infrastructure
- Third-party service providers
Understanding these relationships helps organizations assess operational risk, evaluate the impact of disruptions, and prioritize recovery efforts.
Information Assets and Third-Party Risk
Many information assets are stored, processed, transmitted, or backed up through third-party services such as cloud providers, software vendors, payment processors, and managed service providers.
As organizations rely on external providers, disruptions, security incidents, or service failures at those providers can affect access to important information assets and the business functions that depend on them.
Under DORA, financial entities are expected to understand and document these dependencies as part of their ICT risk management framework. This includes understanding which third-party providers support critical business functions and which information assets may be affected if those providers experience a disruption.
Visibility into third-party relationships can help organizations assess risk, support operational resilience planning, prioritize recovery efforts, and meet DORA’s requirements for ICT third-party risk management.
Information Assets and Operational Resilience
Information assets support operational resilience because critical business services often depend on information that is accurate, available, and protected. Understanding which information assets support critical services, where they reside, which ICT assets support them, who is responsible for them, and how they can be recovered following a disruption helps organizations assess business impact, prioritize recovery efforts, and support DORA’s ICT risk management requirements.
Examples of Information Assets
Information assets can exist across many business areas. Each one may carry business, legal, operational, or regulatory value.
Customer Information
- Customer profiles
- Customer account information
- Transaction histories
- Customer communications
Financial Information
- Financial statements
- Payment processing data
- Trading records
- Accounting records
Employee Information
- Personnel records
- Payroll information
- Training records
- Performance documentation
Operational Information
- Policies and procedures
- Business process documentation
- Service records
- Project documentation
Risk and Compliance Information
- Risk assessments
- Regulatory reporting data
- Audit evidence
- Compliance documentation
Intellectual Property
- Product designs
- Research data
- Proprietary methodologies
- Strategic planning documents
Information Assets vs ICT Assets
Information assets and ICT assets are related, but they are not the same.
| Information Assets | ICT Assets |
| The information itself that has value | The technology used to store, process, or transmit information |
| Examples: customer records, contracts, reports, transaction data | Examples: laptops, servers, software, databases, networks, cloud services |
| Focuses on governance, protection, classification, and retention | Focuses on management, security, maintenance, and operational support |
| Supports business processes and decision-making | Supports the delivery and operation of technology services |
A customer database provides a useful example. The customer records stored inside the database are information assets. The database software, server infrastructure, cloud platform, and supporting network services are ICT assets.
Both are important for operational resilience, but they are managed differently.
Information Asset Governance
Information asset governance focuses on managing information throughout its lifecycle.
Common governance activities include:
- Identifying important information assets
- Assigning ownership and accountability
- Classifying information based on sensitivity and business impact
- Controlling access
- Monitoring usage
- Retaining information according to policy and regulatory requirements
- Protecting information from loss, corruption, or unauthorized access
- Disposing of information securely when no longer needed
Strong governance helps ensure information assets are properly documented, protected, retained, and securely disposed of when no longer needed.
Information Assets and ITAM
Information asset management and IT Asset Management (ITAM) are different disciplines. Information asset management focuses on the information itself, including how it is owned, classified, protected, retained, and governed throughout its lifecycle.
ITAM focuses on the ICT assets that support or interact with that information. While information assets are typically managed through data governance, security, compliance, and records management programs, platforms such as Teqtivity can help organizations maintain visibility into the ICT assets that store, process, or transmit those information assets.
For example, an ITAM platform may track the laptop storing business information, the application used to access it, the cloud service hosting it, the user responsible for the device, and the lifecycle and ownership of the supporting ICT assets.
This visibility helps organizations better understand the technology environment that supports their information assets, identify dependencies, assess risk, and determine which technology resources may be affected by an incident or disruption.
For organizations subject to DORA, strong ITAM practices can support broader operational resilience efforts by improving visibility into the ICT assets that information assets depend on.
Frequently Asked Questions About Information Assets
What is an information asset?
An information asset is information that has business value and supports an organization’s operations, decision-making, compliance, or regulatory obligations. Examples include customer records, financial data, employee information, business documents, reports, and intellectual property.
Does DORA require organizations to maintain an inventory of information assets?
DORA requires financial entities to identify and document the information assets, ICT assets, business functions, and dependencies that support their operations. Maintaining an inventory can help organizations understand what information they have, where it resides, and how it supports critical business functions.
Who owns an information asset?
An information asset should have a designated owner responsible for decisions regarding its use, classification, protection, retention, and access. Ownership helps establish accountability and ensures information assets are managed appropriately.
How do organizations identify information assets?
Organizations typically identify information assets by reviewing business processes, applications, data repositories, records, and workflows to determine what information is being created, stored, processed, or shared. Ownership, business value, and supporting dependencies are then documented as part of governance and risk management activities.
Can an information asset depend on third-party services?
Yes. Many information assets are stored, processed, transmitted, or backed up through third-party services such as cloud providers, software vendors, payment processors, and managed service providers. Understanding these dependencies is an important part of risk management and operational resilience under DORA.
Is a database an information asset?
The information stored within a database is considered an information asset. The database software, infrastructure, and supporting technology are ICT assets.
What are the risks of poor information asset management?
Poor visibility and governance can make it more difficult to protect sensitive information, respond to incidents, recover critical operations, assess risk, and demonstrate compliance. It can also increase the impact of disruptions affecting important business functions.
Does Teqtivity manage information assets?
No. Teqtivity is an IT Asset Management (ITAM) platform that helps organizations manage ICT assets such as hardware, software, cloud services, and related technology resources. While Teqtivity can help provide visibility into the technology that supports information assets, it does not manage the information itself.