May 2006 Information Management Survey: CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value from Their Information

By Allan Alter  |  Posted 05-24-2006

May 2006 Information Management Survey: CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value from Their Information

Information is a resource to be managed for maximum value, be it for the business, or public, good. Unfortunately, according to this month's CIO Insight study on information management and IT governance, corporate America's information resources need much better management. And while many IT executives clearly realize there is room for improvement, some may be in denial. While 65 percent of IT executives say their company excels at processing and using information, far fewer indicate their companies are very effective at collecting and using customer, financial and business process information. Most IT executives say business users frequently complain they are not receiving the information they need. The bottom line: despite the massive investments in information technology and gathering, companies have a long way to go before they gain anything close to full value from information. That creates an enormous opportunity for organizations which can do a better job of managing information than their competitors.

Story Guide:

  • CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value From Their Information
  • Finding 1: Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.
  • Finding 2: How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Finding 3: Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.
  • Finding 4: Only one in three companies has an effective information governance process.
  • Finding 5: Information governance is important in practice, not just in theory.

    Next page: Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.

    Just two

    -thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.">

    Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.
    Given how deeply companies have come to depend on their information systems, that percentage seems low. Clearly, IT executives feel there is room for improvement; they rated making better use of information among their top business priorities in our April "CIO Role" survey. But where are they lagging, and where are they effective?



    Story Guide:

  • CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value From Their Information
  • Finding 1: Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.
  • Finding 2: How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Finding 3: Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.
  • Finding 4: Only one in three companies has an effective information governance process.
  • Finding 5: Information governance is important in practice, not just in theory.

    Next page: How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.

    How do companies benefit

    most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.">
    How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.
    Harnessing information for growth strategies such as cross-selling and improving profitability is much more difficult, as is improving business processes, speeding up time to market and improving supply chains.



    Story Guide:

  • CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value From Their Information
  • Finding 1: Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.
  • Finding 2: How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Finding 3: Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.
  • Finding 4: Only one in three companies has an effective information governance process.
  • Finding 5: Information governance is important in practice, not just in theory.

    Next page: Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.

    Few companies excel across

    the board at producing and using high-quality information.">
    Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.
    Even respondents who claim to be "highly effective" at creating and using information have many areas of weakness—in particular, handling unstructured data. Why? Users feel they don't have access to the information they need, while executives worry about the trustworthiness of the data and what kinds of information actually has value for users. Simply shoving more and more information into the network isn't sufficient. There is much to gain by tightening up information management.



    Story Guide:

  • CIOs Struggle to Generate Full Value From Their Information
  • Finding 1: Just two-thirds of executives say creating and using information is one of their company's strengths.
  • Finding 2: How do companies benefit most from information? By cutting costs and improve customer satisfaction.
  • Finding 3: Few companies excel across the board at producing and using high-quality information.
  • Finding 4: Only one in three companies has an effective information governance process.
  • Finding 5: Information governance is important in practice, not just in theory.