INFONOMICS: THE ECONOMICS OF INFORMATION
7 Key factors for information asset management BY DR HANLIE SMUTS Although information assets may not formally be recognised on a balance sheet, it is good practice for organisations to begin valuing their information assets so that it can be managed and wielded more effectively. Here are 7 key factors for information asset management: 1. Recognise and manage complexity Organisations are complex environments with access to big data datasets. With access to so much data and information, it is sometimes difficult to identify the useful data; it is not an information gathering problem, it is a filtering problem. The starting point is to create a clear information asset vision with the desired outcomes of the information management strategy. This describes and communicates how the organisation will operate and manage its information assets. In addition, it enables each department in the organisation to align themselves to the ultimate information asset
management objective, and to make informed decisions about the best approaches. 2. Focus on adoption Successful information asset management is about organisational and cultural change, as information management systems need the active participation of employees throughout the organisation. The level of participation is based on achieving sufficient adoption to ensure that required information is captured. Through change management programmes the organisation can ensure a critical mass of usage, ensuring that the systems that are deployed are useful and usable for employees. Effort must then be put into generating a sufficient sense of urgency to drive the deployment and adoption of new systems and processes. Stakeholders must all be engaged and involved in the information asset drive to ensure that there is support at all levels in the organisation.
3. Understand and measure information ROI It is not enough to only improve information management “in the background”. While such improvement may deliver advantages, focus must be on demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of information asset management, and how it delivers tangible and visible benefits such as the ROI that information delivers before and after investment in information technology. Understanding the value of information associated with organisational contracts, may assist to better assess a contract’s value and risks in order to set damage limits. Therefore, map the data application to business processes, technologies and organisational projects in order to create a basis from where ROI may be calculated. In fact, organisations that plan to become more information-centric and implement information-based business models, should make it a critical function to audit the actual and potential value of their information assets.
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