1. Information Planning – Key to Business Growth
A wholesaler’s ability to grow revenue and participate in a fragmented, competitive
environment is closely correlated with their organization’s ability to use information for
competitive advantage. To grow market share a successful wholesaler must have access to:
• External information concerning the marketplace
• Operating information that assists in measuring productivity and performance
• Financial information that compares operating results to prior years and plan
• Sales information to determine effectiveness of sales strategies
• Human resource information that promotes quality of life and employee
development
• Summarized information that enables management decision making
Many wholesalers are faced with major information system decisions. Areas of concern
include:
• Upgrading existing hardware and software
• Understanding organizational information requirements
• Streamlining operations
• Identifying functional requirements
• Developing a standardized approach to managing their information environment
• Selecting software that meets organization and marketplace requirements
Information is “power” – the power to compete locally, nationally, and internationally.
Frequently a wholesaler’s reaction time and decision-making ability are negatively impacted by
the absence of appropriate information, access to information, or inability to use available
information effectively. Information helps remove guesswork from decision-making. Since
information is fact based, excuses, conjecture, gut feeling, and other subjective factors that
comprise the operating environment are reduced.
Enabling the effective capture and use of information requires an information plan. A useful
information plan contains the following components:
• Information Vision – Where do we want to take our business over the next five years
and how can information assist us in doing that?
• Information Plan development – What are the key information components that
must be put into place to facilitate the Information Vision? What reporting does
senior management, mid-management, etc., require?
• Existing Information Infrastructure – What information is available today and how
do we use that information? What information do we need that is missing? What
new information must we generate to meet our vision?
• Existing Data Structure – What data exists today, what are the sources of that data?
What relationships exist among the data? What are the data characteristics? Where
does the data reside?
• Information Architecture – What will the future data structure look like? What data
elements are required that do not exist? Where will these new elements be
captured? What are the characteristics of these elements? How will data be
captured, stored, and used?
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2. Information Planning – Key to Business Growth
• Functional Specifications – What are the functional requirements for meeting the
business and information visions? What processes require modification? What new
processes are required? What types of reporting is required, how often and in what
form?
• Technical Architecture – What types of hardware, software & communications
technology are necessary to meet the information requirements and functional
specifications?
• Software Evaluation – Based on the Information Architecture, function
specifications and Technical Architecture, what software and hardware are available
in the marketplace that will best enable us to accomplish our vision?
• Organization – What organizational changes will be required to manage our new
information environment?
• Training Plan – Design and development of information does little good if personnel
are not adequately trained in the use, interpretation, and source of the information
they are presented. What changes will require training? How do we train? How
often do we train? How do we measure training?
• Implementation Initiatives Development and Priority – What are the key initiatives,
activities, and tasks required to develop and implement an Information Plan? What
are the timing and dependencies of these initiatives? What are the cost estimates for
each initiative?
Information planning cannot be a one-time activity. Organization effectiveness must be
evaluated continuously and information needs measured against the resources of the
organization. Managing information effectively involves organizational processes for
identifying new requirements, prioritizing and budgeting for them, and implementing them.
A successful Information Plan considers the culture of an organization. For example some
organizations may be very sensitive to the availability of information at various levels of the
organization. Some organizations may prefer centralized information management while
others prefer end-user initiation and implementation.
Careful consideration must be given to centralized information development versus end-user
design and development. Organizations may adopt an approach that uses elements of
centralized information planning with end-user report development. Whatever the final
approach, information design and use must be shared with all users. Redundant efforts cost
more than centralized efforts and users of information more readily accept change when
everyone is involved.
The GARR Consulting Group is prepared to assist your organization in developing a suitable
and cost effective Information Plan. Please contact Pat Jones at 256-682-3510 or Rosalie Bates at
281-393-1385.
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