An end to speculation

The ability to peer into the future is every businessperson`s dream. If only we could have predicted the crash in Asia, the fall of the rand, the rise of the Reich. All of these economic and political movements have repercussions for businesses. While it`s not often possible to predict the macro events that can sweep a country off its feet, it`s possible to predict the future direction of a business based on the information gathered on a daily basis.

Knowledge on its own is useless unless it is correctly applied.

All too often companies make the mistake of "flying" their companies by trial and error. When a pilot learns to fly it`s a serious business. They`re first put into a simulation environment where they learn to navigate at night, through cloudy weather or gale-force winds. Those companies that take a similar simulation approach, but use information to create models, forecasts and predictions, can test out every eventuality.

When they then fly into a storm they`re better prepared than those companies that have never flown in difficult conditions, even under simulation. In the oil business, Shell will not build a new platform without first building a model of the platform. The company "plays" with this model and tries to imagine everything that could possibly happen to an oil platform located for example in the Gulf of Mexico.

Companies should be able to play more with their information. But this kind of playing, and learning that results can only be done if you have enough information and if it`s easy to manipulate. It`s also only really possible with a full understanding of the information value chain.

So, what is information delivery? It is the creation and delivery of the right information for the right people in the right place at the right time and, of course, at the right cost. The means to achieve this is a "chain" of well-defined processes. Essentially, each process in the chain must add value to its inputs (predominantly data). Such a chain is referred to as the information value chain:

The information value chain consists of a series of processes where, at each stage, value is added to the data.

The chain starts with the collection of both internal and external raw data (or transactions) which are then intelligently organised and stored (and, hence, adding value) in the company`s operational databases (ie order, supplier, customer, product, etc databases). This is commonly referred to as the operational environment of the organisation. Further value is added through the process of transforming this raw data into useful business information (ie daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly sales) and then organising and storing it in a form that can be understood and used by those who need it.

The next process in the chain is to use human intelligence to exploit this information, and in doing so, turn it into knowledge (ie who are our top 10 customers, what do they buy and where are they located?) that can be used to make effective decisions, again adding value.

This process of turning information into knowledge is often referred to as business intelligence. Knowledge on its own is useless unless it is correctly applied and, hence, the final process in the chain focuses on how the resulting knowledge can be effectively applied to ensure that the organisation remains competitive. It is the last three central processes in the information value chain that contribute to a successful information delivery strategy.

Technology is a key ingredient in making all the processes of the information value chain possible. Once technology has become a core part of the business it can become the backbone of everything that a company does and can deliver on the investment made. One of the possible benefits is to move a company from being an educated mass marketer to a sophisticated mass customisation operation that conducts its business on fact-based decisions, the result of the application of technologies to support the information value chain. Essentially the information delivery makes it possible to deliver the right information to the right people in the right place and at the right time.