“Information is an asset, and its effective management can have a direct and lasting impact on achieving business objectives.” – Queensland Government Enterprise Architecture
The definition of information management is in constant flux as technology and business needs evolve over time. According to SmartSheet, “information management can encompass a cycle of organizational activities: gathering data, analyzing, categorizing, contextualizing, and archiving (and in some cases, deleting), in order to support a business’ needs.” Data and information have a story and a lifecycle. It is useful to have, but typically only for a certain length of time.
The DIKAR (Data, Information, Knowledge, Action, and Result) Model is a well-known tool and solution to help businesses manage their information and data to the best of their ability. It measures the success of information management with the five key components, each acting as a catalyst for the next.
First, you have data that must be interpreted in order to extract understandable information. This information is then presented in a way that is understood, so it is considered knowledge. Leadership uses this knowledge to make more efficient and effective decisions in the workplace leading to action, with the ultimate outcome: helpful results.
Finding success in managing, understanding, and presenting information can impact a business in several positive ways, including reducing costs and increasing operation process improvements.
Information management can help track the effectiveness of a project, as well as the productivity of teams. It can help a business identify where changes may need to occur in order to grow and evolve.
With information management implementation generally comes an Information Management System (IMS). An IMS is typically a combination of hardware and software that stores and organizes data in a database and allows that data to be accessible. Examples of these can include Customer Relationship Management System (CRMS), Business Intelligence System (BIS), or Knowledge Management System (KMS).
Having ease-of-use with an IMS is vital in the workplace. If the system is complex and difficult to understand, or team members don’t have proper training, then they may use other, unsecure ways to share data. This could put the company at risk by not properly following internal security protocols. All in all, information management can be vital for business success, when used properly.
Reach out to netlogx today to see how we can help your business with information management!
