---
sourceDocument: Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance
sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/yokohama/governance-risk-compliance

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ft:locale :

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ft:publication_title :

    - Yokohama Governance, Risk, and Compliance

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---

# Information objects

# Information objects {#ariaid-title1}

* Release version: Yokohama
* 
* Updated January 30, 2025
* 
* ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read

Information objects are a part of the information portfolio management capability in
the Application Portfolio Management application.
An information object is a configuration item that displays information in an organized
form. The purpose of the information object is to logically describe the type of data that
is exchanged between the application and the database. After information objects are
created, they are mapped to business applications. For a given business application, the
information objects determine if information can be created, updated, deleted, or read in
that business application. This ability allows application owners to efficiently manage
information. From an information security management perspective, this ability enables the
risk and compliance function to define the right level of controls that must be applied.

The following figure shows an example of information objects. There are two applications:
Workday and Now HR. Both applications store employee information. Employee information is an
information object. The Now HR application can only read employee information, while the
Workday application has more permissions. The risks and controls that apply to the
applications are similar. However, Workday not only reads, but also creates, updates, and
deletes the employee information. This means that the risks associated with Workday are
higher, and so the controls applied to Workday are more stringent.  
Figure 1. Example of information objects