5 Key Components to Information

Management
One of the most crucial tasks in an information management initiative is communicating that
technology on its own is not the silver bullet to all information problems. There are key
components that need to be addressed prior to initiating discussions regarding the technology
that will meet the business needs.
The key components to a successful information management initiative are People, Culture,
Process, Content, and Technology. And success comes when all components are working
together in harmony.

People
Having the right people is key to the success of an information management initiative.
Identifying driven individuals is the first step in ensuring that the initiative can evolve through its
infancy stage to maturity. Some typical examples of actions in the people component are:
Identify key stakeholders and business champions within the organisation
Continuous education on Information Management principles
Establish an Information Management steering group
Identify subject matter experts within each business unit
Having the right people will instil the precise culture required for a successful initiative.

Culture
An organisations culture directly impacts the uptake of the information management initiative.
Ensuring a culture of quality, accuracy and how each and every individual has an impact of the
information value chain is critical; e.g. A call centre representative needs to be aware that the
accuracy at which they capture information off customers can directly impact management
reporting down the chain!
Culture may pose some difficulties to overcome existing information neglect cultures and
subcultures. A method to overcome such obstacles is:
Outline a culture objective: e.g. For people to value and actively participate in
information quality and utilize the accurate information
Understand the culture gap and define a strategy to reach the desired culture
Implement the strategy through the organisations change management process
Having the right culture will ensure the creation of much needed processes to govern the
information management initiative.

Process
Introducing governance processes are key to ensuring the information management initiative is
targeted, measureable and managed effectively. These processes clearly outline what people
must do, when they must do it and how to go about doing it! Some common tasks that are
completed during the process component are:
Define a data governance strategy to include how the information will be managed and
who will be responsible
Identify Data Stewards and clearly state their role and responsibility
Define common business terms through a Data Dictionary
Commence a data audit and data quality initiatives
Establish a structured Communication Strategy to raise the profile of the information
management initiative
Define additional standards and processes regarding the content component
These processes enable quality transformation of data into valuable information that the business
can use.

Content
The content component is all about the what, where, how, when and why of data. It is where data
becomes information. This component involves executing and implementing some of the
processes defined in the previous process component. Some common tasks for the content
are:
Implement standards for information (accessing, manipulating and managing)
Roll out data dictionary
Agree and implement content security
Agree how content will be structured
Agree how content will be stored
Agree on how content will be described (metadata)
It is at this point that an organisation is ready to face the last component, Technology.

Technology
The purpose of the technology component is to simplify the complexity behind the scenes and
empower the business users to answer the question they are asking their content! Once all the t
as crossed and i are dotted, the first step would be to go through a tool selection process to
ensure that the technology is right to meet the current and future requirements of the
organisation. Other aspects that need to considered in the technology component are:
Training and Support
In-house skills or outsource?
Maintain standards and documentation as the solution evolves
Last but definitely not least, the information management initiative is a continuous journey that
matures and improves with time.