Information Management

Information management is material relating specifically to the management of information in an enterprise. All information technology, by definition, is within this topic, but so too is management processes and techniques.

Two Steps to Ten Principles of Information Management

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I am currently working on developing an information management strategy for a client, and Steptwo’s James Robertson has a good article in his monthly ‘KM Column’ outlining ten principles of effective information management. 

By way of summary the ten principles are:

  1. recognise (and manage) complexity
  2. focus on adoption
  3. deliver tangible & visible benefits
  4. prioritise according to business needs
  5. take a journey of a thousand steps
  6. provide strong leadership
  7. mitigate risks
  8. communicate extensively
  9. aim to deliver a seamless user experience
  10. choose the first project very carefully

James really does know his stuff and the article is very much worth a read if you are interested in things information management.

Portfolio Management of Information

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I note today’s article at www.cio.com that outlines some issues in applying portfolio management to IT projects: Making IT Portfolio Management a Reality. Brings to mind the discussion I had today with a client applying this type of approach to an information management strategy.

Essentially:

An Information Management Portfolio
supported by
Identified Programs of Work
(that address Key Organisational Challenges)
supported by
Activities
supported by
Project Initiatives

This approach allows a very sensible strategy and program of work to be built up that can then provide future direction to the client.

Wham, Bam, Thank you Business Process Monitor

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I note that CIO magazine’s November 2005 edition has an article on business activity monitoring (BAM) which allows the business to respond to the changing environment, and be more responsive to problems in production. Although it can be simply about monitoring stock levels and sending a simple alert, it can be a whole lot more than that, and a lot more closely aligned with data mining and data warehouse techniques.

To find out more, read the article.

Vlogging, Really Simple Syndication, and Finding Out Stuff

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A couple of weeks ago, Rocketboom (an online video show) produced a show designed to demystify the idea of RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It’s how you track blogs and alert readers of your blog when a new post has been entered (‘zackly like this one).

So for that online, 3-minute video introduction of Really Simple Syndication, take it away Rocketboom does RSS.

Personally, I find bloglines the most useful since you can get it over the internet (even, apparently, in Port Moresby).