A systematic mapping study of standards and frameworks for information management in the digital era

Abstract

The close links of Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) create an evolving environment of tasks and processes. Management standards are normative descriptions of an agreed-upon set of management tasks and suggested ways of task execution. Certain standards like ITIL and COBIT (both used as a brand only by the owners, Axelos and ISACA respectively) have been popular for a long time in sub-areas of IM including IT governance, IT service management, or IT project management. Driven by digitalization, the number and update frequency of IM-related standards have significantly increased recently, making standard selection and implementation more difficult. This study presents a systematic mapping of the current state of IM standardization with respect to standardization bodies, types of standards, and certifications. Visual maps provide an overview of the IM standard landscape and reveal relevant topics and other categories. The article identifies the most relevant standardization bodies, standard types, and topics of the IM domain based on a full set of 109 IM standards. As a mapping outcome, the correlations of standardization bodies versus standard types, and of the topics versus IM task areas are clearly arranged in diagrams.