large number of diverse business needs and issues to be addressed.lack of enterprise-wide definitions for information types and values (no corporate-wide taxonomy).limited resources for deploying, managing or improving information systems.little recognition and support of information management by senior management.poor quality of information, including lack of consistency, duplication, and out-of-date information.limited and patchy adoption of existing information systems by staff.no clear strategic direction for the overall technology environment.direct competition between information management systems.range of legacy systems requiring upgrading or replacement.little integration or coordination between information systems.large number of disparate information management systems.In many ways, the growth of electronic information (rather than information on paper) has only worsened these issues over the last decade or two.Ĭommon information management problems include: Organisations are confronted with many information management problems and issues. Information management therefore encompasses:Įach of these must be addressed if information management projects are to succeed. It is also about the information itself, including the structure of information (‘information architecture’), metadata, content quality, and more. Equally importantly, it is about the business processes and practices that underpin the creation and use of information. Information management is, however, much more than just technology. The wide adoption of platforms such as Office 365 is also bringing a lot of information (in the form of documents or intranet pages) into the light, which highlights how much work is needed to ‘bring order’ to it all. In terms of technology, information management encompasses systems such as: ‘Information management’ is an umbrella term that encompasses all the systems and processes within an organisation that enable the creation and use of corporate information. The key goal of this article is to help information management projects succeed. Rather, it is about the organisational, cultural and strategic factors that must be considered to improve the management of information within organisations. This article draws together a number of critical success factors for information management projects.įrom the outset, it must be emphasised that this is not an article about technology. There are many systems to integrate, a huge range of business needs to meet, and complex organisational (and cultural) issues to address. These projects have a poor track record of success, and most organisations are still struggling to deliver an integrated information management environment.Įffective information management is not easy. In many cases, information management has meant deploying new technology solutions, such as content or document management systems, ERP solutions or platforms such as Office 365.
This is driven by a range of factors, including a need to improve the efficiency of business processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services. Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organisations, across both the public and private sectors.