Information Management Is About Generating Revenue Not Crunching Numbers

One might argue that we are in a world ripe with potential for information overload. In fact, I often ask whether we are too connected? I don’t think any would argue content is being created at a breakneck pace and demographic information is being harvested by companies across the globe. If you have any question, just look to how ingrained in our culture services such as Google (a marketing company not a search company),  Facebook and LinkedIn have become.

With all that being said, data is nice, but whether – and how – you use it is the key. Data points and metrics are coming out of the woodwork; so whether you are utilizing the correct tools to distill data into information should always be in the front of your mind and on the tip of your tongue when phrasing questions about how to get to that meat.

As an overarching guideline, there are a few types of tools each us should have access to in our businesses

1) Productivity Tools

These are tools that help us do our job better, faster, cleaner. Period. End of story. With these unglamorous tools, our day would be mired in the drudgery of how we can get our job done instead of how we can get our job done better.

Think of the leap from postal mail to facsimile (FAX) technology – and then to e-mail. Think of life without your office suite of choice. How would you generate proposals and budgets without word processing and spreadsheet applications? (I think we all might be able to live with a little less presentation software.)

2) Operational Management Tools

With catch phrases like ERP, SCM, SFA/CRM, and BI, operational management tools allow us the opportunity to enforce specific business processes and quickly analyze a wide variety of data points to help us understand where our business has been based upon empirical data. By overlaying where our business has been against where our goals tell we need to be, we can often pinpoint weak spots in our strategies and tactics before they become a systemic failure.

3) Interactivity and Feedback Tools

Many people will instantly jump to a conclusion I’m referencing “social media”. While these valuable tools offer a crucial piece of how our customers want to talk with us, it goes beyond that simplistic facet and into what they are asking of us – what they need us to provide.

Extracting useful information from tools like Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, wikis, collaboration sites and interactivity widgets can be a daunting task. However, determining the best course to harvesting this valuable feedback is quite simple – ask where your customers are and interact with them on the medium of their choice; don’t force them to come to you.

Use It or Lose It:

It goes without saying that if you are not tending your data and focused on where it can yield new and as yet unseen perceptions about your business you are missing out. As the saying goes, use it or lose it.

Put bluntly, many business simply think of information management as a chore – as overhead. Your information is the most valuable link to your customers you have, so it should be making you money. Sadly, the reality is that it is costing many of you money in your business each and every day because you don’t view information management as a revenue source.

So the choice is yours. Ask how you can make your business stronger by getting more mileage out of the same old data that keeps passing by your desktop each day on its way to the recycle bin. Hey, look on the bright side. At least you are being green right?

Image courtesy of BY-YOUR

Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. Ken is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.