Information is currently managed by how it is sourced and synthesized into analytic frameworks so that it can be analyzed. The analytic frameworks are generalized and decoupled from the processes that consume information, but it is these processes, particularly those with either significant risks or time pressures, that require information be aligned with them so that it can be digested without delay. The problem is that information is rarely sourced in a way opportune for its consumption. Each process that requires information must gather some from here, some from there and deal with the misalignment of the sources that are used to derive and execute an action plan. No wonder it is difficult for many organizations to use information for much more than business as usual circumstances. The purpose of this writing is to manage information in such a way so that these non-business as usual and disruptive situations could be identified through some mechanism and the valuation of such information could be assigned so that there is measurable benefit to aligning information to the vehicles that identify such situations, facilitate swift action and ensure intended outcomes.

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A better approach to informationmanagement
Introduction
There are a couple of irrefutable factsthatchallengeourapproachto managinginformation
 Informationisworthmore if itis usedinsituationsotherthanbusinessasusual.
 Many organizationsdonothave the wherewithal toidentifythose situationsuntil theyare upon
them,therebylosingthe opportunitytobenefitfromhighvalue information.
 Withsome minoradjustmentstoour approach inmanaginginformation,manymore
organizationscouldbenefitfromthese highvalue informationsituations.
Let’sgive an example of ahighvalue situation. Assume companyXhasa relationshipwith
companyY forthe past three years. Everyweek,approximately$150,000 of productis
shippedfromCompanyXto CompanyY,and CompanyX buysapproximately$300,000 of
servicesfromCompanyYeach quarter.
CompanyX wasable to reduce theirfreightcostsby15% by changingdeliveryservices
approximatelytwomonthsago. CompanyY had twoof theirpastshipmentsshortedby
$10,000 worththe product,and has reducedtheircurrentorderto $75,000 and placedan
orderfor $75,000 withalternate supplier.
Due to the processesusedtomatchordersto shipments,the monthlyactivityisnot
analyzeduntil 3daysafter the final businessdayof the previousmonth.
Giventhe above facts,whatwouldthe informationthatCompanyYis consideringchanging
suppliersbecausetheywere shortedbythe new freightcarriercontractedbyCompanyX?
Clearly,if the informationthatthere wasa problemwiththe new freightcarrierthatis
losingbusiness,andif actioncouldbe takenpriorto customerstestingthe waterswith
alternate suppliers,thereistremendousvalueinthisinformation. Ididnot mentionother
companieswhichalsocouldhave beenshorted,sothe informationismostprobablyworth
much more than the $1.8M annual revenue CompanyXreceivesfromCompanyY.
In the physical marketplace,the eyesandears of the salesforce are there to uncoversuch
activities. Inthe digital marketplace, however, the cluesof suchactivitiesare everywhere,if
theyare accessible. Forexample,theremaybe cluesinsocial media,there maybe cluesin
website trafficand blogs,orotherdigitallyaccessible information. Thisdigital information,
howeverisaccessibletomanyorganizationsatthe same time itisto your organization,
meaningthe windowof opportunityisparticularlyshortwhenitcomestodigital.

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The purpose of thiswritingisto manage informationinsucha wayso that these non-businessasusual
and disruptive situationscouldbe identifiedthroughsome mechanismandthe valuationof such
informationcouldbe assignedsothatthere ismeasurable benefittoaligninginformationtothe vehicles
that identifysuchsituations,facilitate swiftactionandensure intendedoutcomes.
Shifting how informationis managed
Informationiscurrentlymanagedbyhow itissourcedand synthesizedintoanalyticframeworkssothat
it can be analyzed. The analyticframeworksare generalizedanddecoupledfromthe processesthat
consume information,butitisthese processes,particularlythosewitheithersignificantrisksortime
pressures,thatrequire informationbe alignedwiththemsothatit can be digestedwithoutdelay.
The problemisthat informationisrarelysourcedinawayopportune foritsconsumption. Eachprocess
that requiresinformationmustgathersome fromhere,some fromthere anddeal withthe
misalignmentof the sourcesthatare usedto derive andexecute anactionplan. Nowonderitis difficult
for manyorganizationstouse informationformuchmore thanbusinessasusual circumstances.
Today,evenwithadvancedanalytictool (e.g.,R,SAS, etc.),InMemoryanalytictools(e.g., Qlikviewand
Tableau) andcolumnaranalyticenvironments(e.g.,databaseappliances,BigData,etc.) datascientists,
or those whoare specificallyengagedtoprovide analyticsupporttobusinessstakeholders,spend
almost20% of theirtime identifyingthe rightdatato use and approximately60% of theirtime
reorganizingthe informationtofitthe businessquestionsathand(Forbes,March,2016). If there are
trustworthinessorrelevance issuesthatneedtobe factoredoutof the information,itiseasytosee why
our analyticframeworksare goodfordealingwithbusinessasusual situationsandsome highly
repeatable andframednon-businessasusual situations(i.e.,shrinkageinretail,patriotactviolationsin
banking,etc.) butisill suitedtodeal withthe surprisesthatappearonregularlyinthe financial press.
What we hope to unveil inthiswritingisabetterwayof approachingthe situationandbuildinginan
overall frameworkthatincentsthe organization tobe readyforand pounce onthe importantnon-
businessasusual anddisruptive situationswithinformationthatisreadyto digestbythe business
community.
Four Quadrants of informationmanagement
Our analysis,basedonouroriginal researchandinformationavailable elsewhere (BigBangDisruption,
Knowles,2016, The ClaytonRichardsonReader,HarvardBusinessReview,2016, In our analysis,we have
groupedthe practicesof informationmanagementintofourquadrants,thesebeing:
 The technologydriven quadrant,whichisthe legacymodel. Inthismodel,informationis
managedforefficiency,meaningthateachsource of informationismanagedtogetherbecause
there are efficienciestobe gainedbymanaginglike informationtogether. Typical driversfor the
technologydrivenquadrantare initiativeswhichallow the analysisof informationthrougha

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multi-purpose model,andare oftenexposedthroughdataquality,MasterDataManagement
(MDM) and data lineage opportunities. All of these initiativesare focusedonthe sourcingof
informationandidentifyingthe bestsource for data,butnot necessarilyonhow the information
will be consumed. The largestissue withthe technologydrivenquadrantisitisfocusedon
organizingdataalongknownusage patterns,andnon-businessasusual anddisruptivesituations
are notcommonlyassociatedwithknownusage patterns. These organizationsare more likely
to be blindsidedbydisruptions.
 The Chief AnalyticsOfficerdrivenquadrantisfocusedonorganizingdataso that itcan be
combinedandconsumedthroughanintegrationlayermanagedbytechnologistsforexpected
(businessasusual andmodelednon-businessasusual) businesssituationsandbydatascientists
for unexpected(non-businessasusual anddisrupted)businesssituations. Because ittakestime
to organize informationtofitthe currentnon-BAUor disruptive situation,thisquadrantcanbe
commonlydepictedaslate todisruptions. While theyare lessprone tobe blindsidedbyas
manydisruptions,theyare notgoingtobe as effectiveasotherorganizations,particularlyin
those where the businessclimate iseitherhighlydisruptive orthe transactionturntime is
particularlyshort.
 The Opportunisticdrivenquadrantisfocusedoncapturingearlywarningsfromsocial media,log
analyticsandothermeansto identify non-businessasusual anddisruptivesituationsasameans
to give extratime toanalysts. Thisopportunitydrivenmodel isuseful inhighlydisruptive
markets,butis easyto misscluesinmore stable marketsbecause large swingsandtrigger
pointsare not identifiable fromthe watchedtriggersources. Organizationsinthisquadrant
have significantinvestmentsinsocial media,streamingsourcesandothervenueswhichcan
helpdecipherchangestothe statusquo.
 We considerthe targetquadrantone that organizesinformationalongthe processesthat
consume informationratherthanthe sourcingof information. Thisquadrantdemandsan
understandingof howbusinessprocessesalignedtovalue propositionswill consume
informationandhave triggeringmechanismsbakedintothe modelstodecipherwhenone or
more assumptionstothe value propositionhave changed(signalingeithernon-businessasusual
or disruptive situations). Thisquadrantalsois focusedonfacilitatingasclose toimmediate
consumptionof informationaspossibleanderadicatingreasonsfornotusingavailable
information(calledresistance inthe model).

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Figure 1 | The four quadrants of information management, InfoSight Partners, 2016
What does it mean to map information?
The intersectionof processesdevisedtosuccessfullyexecute avalue proposition,eachwhichconsume
informationbyactors(those involvedinthe executionof the processes) haspotential value,inthatif
the informationmappedtothe processisconsumedbythe processasanticipated,then aportionof the
value propositionachievedisattributable tothe consumedinformation.
Informationnotconsumedbythe processesasenvisionedisdescribedasresistance,anderadicating
resistance isthe secondmajorfunctionof the targetquadrant(the firstbeingthe mappingprocess).
There isa thirdmajorfunction,whichisnotperformedinmanyorganizations. Thatisthe processto
recognize value forthe information. Whilethe value canbe mathematicallycomputed,there are many
softcomponentsof the computation,anditisrecommendedthatsomethingmore akintoroyalty
computationsbe utilizedforthe recognitionof informationvalue.

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Figure 2 | Mapping and valuing information, InfoSight Partners, 2016
Organizing torecognize informationvalue
A bigpart of the targetquadrant ismanaginginformationalignedtoitsconsumptionbybusiness
processesalignedtovalue propositionsasopposedtothe more commonapproachusedtoday,whichis
alignedtosourcingof data. Thisis a major shiftandrequiressome new organizationalrolestoachieve
thisshift.
The roleswhichleadthe effortto recognize the value of informationassetsare:
 The ChiefData Officer(CDO),whoisaccountable forarchitectingthe mapthat linksbusiness
models,informationandprocessparticipantsandnegotiatesaroyaltyrate for successfully
utilizedinformation.
 The ChiefRisk Officer,whoisaccountable foridentifyingoperational,opportunisticand
systemicrisks,includingsecurityandprivacyrisks.
 The ChiefInformationOfficer(CIO),whoisaccountable forcreating,maintainingandoperating
the machinerythattransformsdata intoinformationanddevicesthateradicate resistanceto
usinginformation.
 The ChiefAnalyticOfficer(CAO), whois accountable forcreatingmodels,maintainingand
operatingmodelsandalgorithmsutilizedinachievingvalue propositionsandensuring
repeatabilityandtraceabilityof modelsandalgorithmswhentheyare reusable.
 The Data Governance Council (DGC), whoisaccountable foreradicatingresistance tousing
informationinprocessesdevisedtoachievevalue propositions.
 The Data AssetManager (DAM), whoisaccountable formanagingthe organization’s
informationassets.

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Figure 3 | The roles leading the valuation of information, InfoSight Partners, 2016
Why is it important to manage informationdifferently
In the firstof the series,we presentedthe fourthindustrial revolutionandthe relativelylonggestation
periodsforeachof the industrial revolutions. Itisour positionthatwe are at the cusp of the fourth
industrial revolutionandthata highlydisruptiveclimatecanbe anticipatedforthe nextseveral
generations. Whatmakesthisdisruptive perioddifferentthanpastdisruptiveperiodsisthe factthat
the enablerinthisfourthindustrial revolutionisinfact,information,andthose whocanwield
informationwill thriveduringthisperiodof disruption.

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Figure 4 | The four phases of the Industrial Revolution, InfoSight Partners, 2016, The fourth Industrial Revolution, Schwab, 2016
About the Series
InfoSightPartnersispublishingaseriesof writingswhichwill focuson aspectsof the age of disruptionin
whichwe live,andhowto use the informationassetsof anorganizationasa catalystto thrive. Thisis
the secondarticle inthe series.
About the Author
Mark Albala is the President of InfoSight Partners, LLC, a business consultancy which provides
financial and technology advisory services devised to facilitate focus into the value of information
assets. InfoSight Partners is led by Mark Albala, who has served in technology and thought
leadership roles and serves as an advisor to analyst organizations and Lynn Albala, an officer of
the NJ State Society of CPAs (who leads the financial advisory services offered by InfoSight
Partners, LLC). Mark can be reached at mark@infosightpartners.com.