Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

The CGEIT Review Manual 8th Edition, in its Governance of Enterprise IT domain, covers the governance of information assets, including their management across the entire lifecycle (creation, storage, use, archival, disposal). A life cycle approach ensures that information assets are managed systematically to align with business needs, reduce risks, and optimize resources.

Option D: Overall costs are optimized is the greatest benefit. By governing information assets through their lifecycle, enterprises can minimize costs associated with storage, maintenance, and compliance (e.g., avoiding penalties for improper data retention). For example, the approach identifies redundant data for deletion, optimizes storage solutions, and ensures cost-effective compliance with regulations. The manual likely references COBIT 2019’s BAI09-Managed Assets, which emphasizes lifecycle management to achieve cost efficiency.

Option A: Information availability is improved is a benefit, but it’s not the greatest, as availability is just one aspect of governance (e.g., via access controls).

Option B: Operational costs are maintained is inaccurate, as the goal is to reduce, not merely maintain, costs.

Option C: Compliance with regulatory requirements is ensured is a significant benefit, but cost optimization encompasses compliance (e.g., avoiding fines) and other savings, making it broader.

Double Verification: The answer aligns with COBIT’s focus on asset management and the CGEIT domain’s emphasis on cost-effective governance. Cost optimization is a recurring theme in ISACA’s frameworks for lifecycle management.

ISACA CGEIT Review Manual 8th Edition, Domain 1: Governance of Enterprise IT (focus on information asset management).

COBIT 2019, BAI09-Managed Assets.

ISACA Glossary (for definitions of lifecycle management), available at https://www.isaca.org/resources/glossary.