The key to leveraging information technology is breaking it down into two parts, what  and how. What is the goal(s) of the organization and the information critical to achieving them..  Management is concerned about what (information). How is the technology that makes things happen, the leveraging of technology.  Geeks are concerned about how (technology).  When adopting information technology, always keep the two separate.  Unfortunately, most businesses fail to address this issue.  Most people have become enamored of the latest technological paradigms - intranets, extranets, VPNs, calendaring, document sharing, etc.  Management hurriedly adopts these latest technologies believing it will solve their problems, without first understanding what it is they want to achieve.  The focus of this paper will be on how to successfully leverage information technology, first by addressing what, then implementing how.

Before we go further, I would like to define the term "information technology".  This is an extremely loose term, so it must be clearly defined before we proceed.  For the purpose of this white paper, information technology is the Internet (TCP/IP), and its associated communication technologies.  Computers are a marvelous technical accomplishment, but the Internet is what will radically change the world and how your organization leverages information.  With the Internet, people can instantaneously and economically communicate and access information globally, all international barriers are broken.  We have only begun to see the economic, social, and political impact of the Internet.

The key factor in information technology is the word information.  We have always existed with information, there is nothing new about it.  All technology has done is change how we can access and manipulate it.  For the past centuries, we have stored and manipulated information using the same technology, paper. This has radically changed in the past 20 years, this same information is now being stored and manipulated digitally.  With the advent of the Internet, we now have instant, global access to this information.  However, it is still information, the resource has not changed, only the tools have changed.  Organizations must realize this by first deciding what they intend to accomplish with the information, then decide on how to leverage it with the latest technology.  Below is an example.

Intranets are one of the latest informational tools.  Management  decides that an organizational intranet will solve its communication problems.  It is quickly decided that the organization will build an open systems intranet utilizing a web server and the TCP/IP networking protocol.  This way any employee, regardless of time or location, has instantaneous access to critical company  information using a common browser.  The purchase orders are quickly cut, and a web server is thrown up with company information and policies.  Over several weeks, various departments post information on this web site.  Soon, the intranet becomes a complex deposit of unorganized data.  Employees have a difficult time finding data, links become broken, pages are not standardized, there is little security, etc.  The organization ends up having the latest informational tool, but it has no defined purpose or mission, the organization cannot leverage it.  To successfully leverage information technology, the organization must first define what it is they want to accomplish.
 

Part 1:  The What of Leveraging Information

STEP ONE

Webster defines information as "the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence."  You may define information differently.  However it is defined,  the first critical factor is focusing on what  you want to achieve and the information critical to achieving it.  Before you start structuring and manipulating information, you have to have a clearly stated goal that is understood by all.  Information is of no use if employees do not understand why they need it or what they want to achieve.  When an employee accesses information, he/she should know exactly what information they need and what its purpose is.

So, the first step in leveraging information is clearly defining a goal, "what do you want to achieve" and then determining what information is critical.  The key to this is clearly defining the goals, quantifiable deliverables that can be easily assessed.  With a defined deliverable, we can now decide what is and is not critical information.  You want your goals to be as specific as possible so everyone focuses on exactly what needs to be achieved, there is no ambiguity.    People can be easily overwhelmed with information and become lost and confused.   Below is an example of Step One, defining your goals and what information will achieve those goals.

You are the COO of a computer consulting company.  The sales team and the consultants of this company are not communicating well.   The sales team does not know how to sell consulting, they do not know what your consultants are capable of.  Often potential clients are requesting specific services, yet the sales force cannot answer customer's questions.  The sales team cannot ask the consultants in real time, as both consultants and the sales team are often at remote locations.  Also,  your sales force cannot keep up with your consultancies' constantly evolving skills.  Your consultancies' abilities are constantly changing as new consultants are hired or receive the latest training.  How do you fix this?

The first step is Step One, defining what it is you want to achieve.  In this case we need to define your goals.  Once you have identified what the goals are, you specify what information will achieve those goals.  Below we define one goal, then break the goal down into specific deliverables.  Note that these deliverables are the critical information.

• GOAL :  The sales team needs to know what specific skills and services they can sell to potential clients.  They need 24 hr access to this changing information, regardless of location.  Critical information (deliverables) that the sales team needs are:
• Break down the consultancies' skills and services into specific core competencies
• Within each core competency, detail 3-5 key areas that make up that core competency.
• Within each core competency, detail 3-5 generalized pre-packaged Scopes of Work that the sales team can sell to potential clients in real time.  These pre-packaged contracts would not require any prior consultation to the consulting team before selling.

STEP TWO

The second critical factor of  leveraging information is defining who is responsible for what information.  Once the goals and critical information has been identified, a "caretaker" for the information must be identified.  This is probably one of the biggest failings of the business world.  Companies spend millions of dollars on organizational charts, defining who is in charge of whom.  Everybody is concerned about who reports to what department. That is not important.  What is critical is who is responsible for what information.  When management asks a question, who is responsible for the answer?  I recommend businesses do away with standard organizational charts, and develop a system that depicts who is responsible for what information.  This places focus on the critical asset, information, not politics.

This ensures that information is not lost, unfocused, or misdirected.  This individual is responsible for ensuring your critical asset is available to your organization.  Often organizations lose information because different departments believe everyone else is responsible for it.  Or the exact opposite happens, several departments replicate efforts by organizing and controlling the same information.  It becomes the responsibility of your "information caretaker" for managing the information you have determined as critical.

In Step One, we identified your goals and critical information.  Now, in Step Two, we identify who is responsible for that information.  Once again you are the COO of the same small consulting company.  As stated before, you have identified a goals and the information critical to that goal.  Now you have to identify the "caretaker" of the information.

• Identify a Program Manager within consulting who is responsible for the information concerning the consultancies' core competencies are available to the sales team.

Both Step One and Step Two have been completed.  We have identified what information is critical and who is responsible for what.  Note that up to now, no mention of technology or implementation has been discussed.  We now move onto the next phase:

Part 2:  The How of Leveraging Technology

Now that management has decided on the what of information, the geeks can takeover and decide the how.   This is where technology comes in.  For the past several thousand years, information has been collected, manipulated, and accessed in the same fashion, paper.  With the advent of the Internet and its related technologies, this has radically changed.  Information can now be manipulated and globally accessed in ways never dreamed of before.  It is now up to the geeks to leverage these new tools.

As a geek, you start with the deliverables stated above in green, what it is you want to achieve. Your goal is to make these deliverables happen leveraging the latest in technology.   By having clearly defined goals from Part 1, how to leverage technology is relatively simple.  We start with the GOAL :  The sales team needs to know what specific skills and services they can sell to potential clients.

The sales team needs instant access to specific information, regardless of their location.  The sales team is often on the road in hotels or at client's sites around the world, so we need an easy but secure means of remote access.  Also, this information has to be easily updated by the consulting team, so the information is always current.  Now the question is, how?.

Ahh says the geek, this will be easy.  For access to the information, all the sales team will need is a browser.  We will create a website dedicated to the sales team.  This website will contain information on each of the consultancies' core competencies.  Within each core competency will be 3-5 links to key areas and pre-packaged contracts.  The Program Manager of Consulting will be responsible for all information that is uploaded to the website, ensuring it is both accurate and current.  This information will be easy to update utilizing HTTP puts (publishing) capabilities.

Sales team can easily connect to this information via any Internet connection.  Regardless of time and location, the sales force can access the information with a standard web browser.  With SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and logon authentication, this information will be secure, accessible by authorized sales members only.  Once accessed, the sales team can quickly determine what skills and services the consulting team is capable of.  Critical information, such as templated contracts,  can be downloaded and forwarded to potential clients.

Conclusion

We have presented the methodology of leveraging information technology.  One begins by separating the what (information) from the how (technology).  Don't worry about the technology, define what you want first.  The first part involves management, they decide what it is they want to achieve and what information is critical to their goals.  Also, a clearly defined caretaker must be identified to champion the information.  The second part involves the geeks.  Once management has completed part one, the geeks can develop a technological plan that will leverage the latest technologies.  The better management has done their job, the better the geeks can do theirs.  By clearing separating the what and how of information technology, you will be successful in leveraging the latest in technology.