Information services - adding value
Jinfo Blog

4th March 2009

By Diana Nutting

Item

A recent survey (http://bir.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/26/1/10) suggests that if information services are to survive in the recession they must be able to demonstrate that they add value to the organisation. Information professionals, who traditionally do not market themselves well, and are sometimes perceived as separate from the mainstream of the organisation, can adopt a number of strategies in order to safeguard their budgets and their staffing, while adding value to the organisation, it suggests. These include: developing internal transparency, delivering information more smartly, strengthening the position of the Information unit, using sophisticated metrics to track and assess costs and return on investment, concentrating on core competencies and outsourcing, increasing use of social technologies, particularly blogging. I would add one more, which is to be very close to the strategic decision making in the organisation, so that the information unit can be pro-active in offering solutions to business problems. The survey also discovered that there is a real urgency among senior information managers to establish a better regime for value for purchasing information products, through greater co-ordination and management of global corporate information management networks, flexibility in vendor relationships, and regularly reviewing the information products portfolio. Although information budget reductions in the light of the recession have been relatively modest so far – 50 per cent of respondents have experienced cuts of 10 per cent and upwards – most predict more substantial reductions in their 2009 budgets.

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