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Got information? Get an information agenda

July 9, 2008

Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the IBM White Paper, The new information agenda: do you have one? Download the PDF

The cost and complexity of managing increasing volumes of data and content – combined with the need to provide trusted information to every user for every transaction – is driving CIOs to rethink their approach to information delivery.

They now have access to a new strategy, planning and implementation approach for turning trusted information from vision to reality: the information agenda. An information agenda is a proven, effective method for creating, delivering and exploiting trusted information.

The potential benefits? They range from protecting existing technology investments to new abilities to meet corporate and regulatory requirements.

A new approach

An information agenda is a comprehensive, enterprise-wide plan that the CIO creates and implements to achieve both short-term tactical and longer-term strategic changes. The goal is to transform the organization and unlock the business value of information across data and content silos.

Why has it proven to be so effective for organizations looking to create and maintain trusted information? The answer is simple: it integrates information strategy, governance and enterprise information infrastructure with an implementation roadmap.

• The information strategy provides an end-to-end vision for all components of the information agenda. It is driven by an organization's business strategy and operating framework.



• Information governance enhances the quality, availability, and integrity of a company's information by fostering cross-organizational collaboration and policymaking. A crucial component is the establishment of a special committee responsible for defining information policies and practices.



• An enterprise information infrastructure identifies the technology required to integrate current investments with future technologies, helping to optimize ROI. Information integration, master data management, dynamic warehousing, and enterprise content and data management all play a role in this portion of the agenda.



• The information agenda includes a deployment roadmap for both the near and long term. For the roadmap to be most effective, the CIO needs to show where the organization stands now in terms of maturity of its information use and where it wants to go in the future.

Vision to reality

IBM has developed an accelerated approach that can help an organization develop its own information agenda in a matter of weeks.

To develop an effective, business-aligned information agenda, CIOs are going to need assistance from the rest of the organization. It is thus important that they obtain an executive sponsor who can position the agenda as a strategic corporate initiative.

This will help the CIO enlist line-of-business colleagues to participate in the development process and ensure successful implementation.

With strong executive sponsorship and a team of committed colleagues, CIOs can begin the accelerated path to an information agenda.

The five stages

Using the process IBM has defined, formulating an information agenda proceeds in six stages:

• Vision lock. Stage one of the process establishes a shared set of expectations and guiding principles. Among them: there should be one version of the truth for critical business information; data quality and compliance using common standards should be built in at the source.



• Business strategy and drivers review. In this stage, participants identify the current business, organizational and process models; define key customers; and determine the types of information needed to support them.



• Baseline assessment for maturity and capabilities. Stage three defines the current state of the people, processes and technology that make up the information agenda.



• Future state development, opportunity identification and prioritization. For this task, IT leadership works with business leaders to agree on the desired future state of the information infrastructure and the key projects required to get there.



• Integrated roadmap development and implementation planning. This step delineates the gaps in the current information state and creates a phased execution plan to transform the organization and move to the targeted information state.



• Kick-start project. Step six selects a quick-start first project and creates the project's execution plan.

IBM can help

IBM Information on Demand solutions are uniquely suited to aid CIOs in addressing their organization's trusted information needs – allowing them to deploy and manage an enterprise-wide information infrastructure.

CIOs also gain the advantage of IBM's industry-specific accelerators and extensive knowledge of technology best practices that can provide a cost-efficient, tailored set of trusted information solutions.

Conclusion

CIOs can use an information agenda to deliver trusted information using an orchestrated combination of people, proven processes and technology.

Such an agenda can greatly improve their organization's ability to identify and manage risk, meet regulatory requirements, speed new products and services to market and enhance customer service.

Find Out More CIOs can enlist IBM's assistance in creating their own information agendas via special two- to-three-day kick-start workshops. To learn more, contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner or visit the IBM Web site.

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