Summary

Information is contextualized data – that is, data with some meaning to someone. Ventana Research defines information management as the acquisition, management, organization, dissemination and use of information to create and enhance business value. Information management provides access, relevance, timeliness, quality and security of information. It is the cornerstone of any information technology (IT) organization’s responsibility for delivering value to business. Organizations focused on improving their position in the industry and their results should closely examine their information management efforts.

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The business goal of information management is to improve organizational performance both enterprise-wide and departmentally. Toward this end, organizations should manage information rather than manage information technology. But the daily grind of IT management – which actually is data technology management – has long been a barrier to managing information directly. Faced with a seemingly endless array of technological demands, IT specialists often lack the time and energy to do the work needed to completely understand the operations of the business they support and its needs for information.

Organizations know this is a problem; CIOs and other senior executives complain that they can’t get information they need when they need it. Forward-thinking companies thus are beginning to look toward a new era of information management. Service-oriented architecture (SOA), master data management, data discovery and association, spreadsheet management and search technology are examples of new innovations that promise a better future for information management. But no company should proceed without an understanding of the value proposition that contemporary information management offers to improve performance.

Managing information as an asset is no simple task. The challenges involved in investing in people and processes to ensure proper information quality, consistency, usage and security should not be underestimated. However, organizations that begin to adopt processes like data governance and build teams supported by information management technologies will create the opportunity to benefit from a stronger return on their investment. In addition, building a business and technology blueprint improves the potential value of business intelligence and performance management efforts that rely on high-quality information. Ventana Research recommends that CIOs balance their IT portfolios and priorities to improve their information-centric architectures and technologies, to enable them to deliver on their title’s and organization’s original purpose.

Assessment

Information management tools allow organizations to improve the access, relevance, timeliness and quality of information as well as its security. But many organizations do not invest on an ongoing basis in the people, processes and technology needed. Ventana Research recommends that executive and business management make information management a priority and build business cases for it. CIOs should prioritize this critical information-centric investment to support business intelligence and performance management processes. Organizations that build and improve their programs and investments will find themselves in a better position to make the decisions that can significantly improve outcomes at all levels.

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