Convince your stakeholders – information is an essential investment
Jinfo Blog

By Stephen Phillips

Abstract

Far from a cost to be contained, licensed information products are in fact essential to core capabilities, leveraging knowledge, strengthening capabilities and enabling faster commercialisation. Jinfo’s next Community session looks at how to translate information ROI into stakeholder-ready language. Remember – without research, there is no R&D.

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Preparations for a new client's kickoff workshop had me reviewing the organisation’s strategy headlines – the top-level view of guiding principles its leaders have laid out for the coming year.

One thing that struck me during this review was the emphasis in the documentation on cost containment, particularly for resources deemed secondary to core capabilities.

Cost containment is a worthy and necessary goal. But too often, senior stakeholders fail to recognise what information licensing professionals know:

"Licensed information products are in fact essential to core capabilities"

There is no R&D without research. The right information investment strategy will:

• Strengthen early-stage discovery in product development
• Leverage prior knowledge
• Foster efficient innovation 
• Commercialise faster, with less risk and higher margins. 

Information professionals must operate as the internal investment advisors to our senior stakeholders. To help them recognise and use us this way, we need to rise to the challenge of simplifying and quantifying ROI in a context they understand.

So, in our next Community session, "Investment philosophies for strategic portfolio management", we'll be looking at two client examples of how to translate information ROI into stakeholder-ready language.

You can join this session if your organisation is a Jinfo client. Click to register, or contact me at stephen.phillips@jinfo.com to learn more about the full range of benefits you get as a Jinfo client.

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