---
title: The Cost of Not Knowing what Content you have (FOI Requests)
description: Tasks like responding to FOIA requests shouldn't be chaotic. Learn why aligning content to business needs saves time, money, and frustration.
---

[blog](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog)

# [The Cost of Not Knowing what Content you have (FOI Requests)](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-poor-content-alignment)

 Written by [Jason W. D. Cassidy](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/author/jason-w-d-cassidy) | May 06, 2025

Last week, we made the case for becoming [metrics-driven in information management](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/information-management-be-metrics-driven). Not just for the sake of measurement, but to bring clarity to complexity.

[*Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.*](https://shinydocs.com/request-meeting)

Here’s a quick recap of what we found: there are ~ 16 key metrics worth paying attention to.

That’s...A LOT! But, it's not about chasing them all.

These metrics exist so you can benchmark where you stand against best practices. 

A score enables you to speak the language of your stakeholders.

## Aligning Content with Business Need FIRST

This week, let’s explore the first two measurables on our list:

1. **Content should be aligned with business need first — not IT convenience**
2. **Users access content the same way, no matter where it lives — on-prem, cloud, desktop, mobile**

Focusing on business need and user access first is dramatically more cost-effective than IT convenience... Here's why.

## Example: FOI Requests (Freedom of Information) 

Let’s look at an example I see a lot of information and records professionals struggling with: FOI requests.

When a request comes in, how QUICKLY AND COMPLETELY can you respond?

If your content is scattered across systems and difficult to surface, your process might look something like this:

- FOI request comes in
- Staff reach out to people they think can help identify where the information is for a "quick chat", teams call, or asking them to respond via email (sometimes this can be dozens of people)
- The "quick chat" may be 20 mins and totally hit or miss on whether it's actually helpful in fulfilling the request
- Then, staff pulls together what they can, usually a patchwork of documents for the request

This is an example of a 1/10 score (i.e. you're failing).

The time and cost of this inefficient process add up quickly. Especially when it's repeated every time a FOI request comes in.

Plus, it's not a great experience for the end user - [something that should be a key focus in Government](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/ei-episode-39-trevor-banks).

Time has a value.   
Cost has a value.  
Accuracy of service has a value.

When you add it all up, you’re fighting against poor data and it's costing you more - in time and reputation - than the few dollars it would take to make it better.

When you give yourself a score (1/10 in our FOI example), [you now have a clear story to tell stakeholders](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/ei-episode-20-nick-inglis) to gather budget to improve:

- When you focus on the ability to know what you have and FIND information... it AUTOMATICLLY makes FOI easier and more complete.
- If you can do a simple search across all document systems (e-mail, file shares, teams, SharePoint, others) then you can find the FOI information without bugging anyone.

That's what a 10/10 looks like.  So why don't you do it?

 

<https://shinydocs.com/request-meeting>

 

[View full post](https://jasonwdcassidy.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-poor-content-alignment)

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