Agoria Interview: How Can We Restore Order in Information Chaos?

This interview was written by Sibylle Dechamps (Agoria) and was also published on Agoria’s website.

We are all drowning in information. Teams, SharePoint, emails, servers, chat boxes, archives, business tools…Modern work has become a navigation exercise in an ocean of data. We store it, share it, duplicate it, search for it , sometimes in vain. We lose hours trying to retrieve a document. And sometimes end up recreating it because we no longer know which version is the right one.

This is the daily reality of organisations, small or large. Perhaps it is your daily reality too?

It is, in any case, the symptom of a deeper disorder: information chaos.

This is precisely the problem Exquando, an Agoria member company specialised in information management, has been tackling for more than 16 years. At its head: Marc Ansoult, a bioengineer and PhD in science, who previously worked in Brussels Airport’s IT department, at Capgemini and even in the space sector.

He explains, simply and convincingly, what leads an organisation to eventually say: “we can’t cope anymore.”

 

When do companies call Exquando?

“When someone reaches breaking point”, Marc Ansoult says. The tipping point is clear: everything works… until it doesn’t. Lost documents, wrong versions, contradictory procedures, poorly used tools, leading to wrong decisions and sometimes even accidents.

The trigger often comes painfully:

“Basically, when there is too much information, people can’t find it anymore, they recreate it, they lose time. That’s when they realise: we have a problem.” — Marc Ansoult

Surprising but revealing: organisations do not lack technological tools. They lack organisation. In many structures, information is a common good with no owner. “Everyone uses it. No one manages it” Marc explains.

 

Exquando does not install software; it puts information back at the centre

“There are already enough software tools on the market”, Marc says. The goal is not to sell one more. It is to learn how to use the ones already available, and above all, to organise and define who manages what.

To do this, Exquando’s offer relies on three pillars:

• EIM (Enterprise Information Management): Governance, processes, glossaries, roles and change management
• AEC (Architecture, Engineering, Construction): Document control on technical and industrial projects
• IAP (Information Asset Preservation): Long-term archiving and preservation

 

These three domains cover the entire lifecycle of a document, from creation to final archiving.

 

The company works with major groups (Elia, UCB, GSK, BESIX), but also municipalities, NGOs and organisations of various sizes. Everywhere, the same conclusion emerges: technology is not enough.

 

The infoSystem: a holistic view of the information ecosystem

Instead of starting from tools, Exquando starts from information. Its approach is based on the infoSystem Model Canvas, a canvas inspired by the Business Model Canvas (BMC), with trustworthy information placed at the centre.

An ecosystem based on information, human, living, and interconnected, with:

• information stored and managed in software
• digitalisation (processes, tools) as support
• change management as the link to individuals
• governance to build trust
• laws & shared vocabulary as cultural and identity foundations

 

The idea is simple but powerful: a document only has value if the organisation knows where it is, who owns it, and whether it is reliable.

 

What if information were a natural resource?

This is Marc’s foundational metaphor. Like groundwater or fish in a river, information is a common resource. Without rules, it depletes, dilutes or disappears.

To govern it sustainably, he draws on the work of Nobel Prize laureate Elinor Ostrom, based on three essential principles:

 

1. Involve users: No governance works without active users.
2. Put in place control & supervision: Measure whether information becomes easier to find and whether quality improves.
3. Interlock governances: Department-level governance must converge into organisational governance.

 

These three principles act as a compass: information is not the responsibility of a single department but of the entire organisation.

 

Key skills at Exquando: more human than technical

Contrary to stereotypes about document management, Exquando does not primarily look for developers. It seeks profiles capable of dialogue, pedagogy, listening and assertiveness.

These include:

• Archivists
• Document controllers & lead document controllers
• Certified Information Management consultants

 

Some come from library sciences, others from engineering. All play a key role: enabling information flow, creating buy-in, supporting change. Because a process only exists if it is known, respected and used.

 

“Our document controllers are people-oriented. There is no school or diploma for this; we train them ourselves in our academy. One colleague used to be a nurse, another a social worker.”

— Marc Ansoult

 

Why do so many digital projects fail?

 

Because they forget the human factor. Money is spent on technology, sometimes a bit on change. But almost never on governance. The result: SharePoint trainings followed… then forgotten. Migrations launched… then bypassed. Tools purchased with large budgets… used at 15%. Without governance, a tool is an empty shell.

 

“Often, organisations think the problem is technological. But it comes from a lack of rules, roles and shared decisions.”

— Marc Ansoult

 

A Systemic Thinking : seeing the organisation as a whole

 

For Marc, the essential point is systemic thinking.

“Understanding that information, tools, individuals and the organisation form one single system seems obvious. Yet this systemic vision is largely absent from many digital transformation projects.”

 

We focus too often on technology — the tool, the platform, the migration — without recognising the time, energy and discipline required to establish true governance.

 

Add to this the notion of limited rationality: everyone sees the system from their own perimeter, with their own constraints, priorities and practices. No one has the full picture. One department optimises locally, ignoring impacts elsewhere. A tool solves a local need but creates global complexity. What solves a problem here… creates a new one there.

This is how today’s solutions become tomorrow’s problems: we treated the symptom, not the system.

 

Conclusion: Governing information is governing the organisation

Information governance cannot be bought. It is built progressively. It takes time (a lot of time!), clarity, patience and listening. It is a profoundly human endeavour.

Exquando does not sell tools. It helps organisations regain control — to turn information from a source of chaos into a strategic asset. A true common good to be protected and strengthened together.