What is information management?

Information management (IM) is the optimized and appropriate use, capture, retrieval, and storage of information that may be organizational or personal. It can involve disseminating, collecting, extracting, archiving, and destroying data in all its forms, including documents, videos, images, audio, and drawings. Organizations adopt IM guidelines and procedures to communicate and distribute information to those who need it. Information management for organizations can involve various people, such as those responsible for accessibility, quality, compliance, safe storage, utility, distribution, deleting, changing, and disposal, and those who use it for decision making.

To help your company support its business processes and use its resources effectively, you may need to build a dedicated information management system (IMS). An IMS generally focuses on the control a company has over the data it produces, including whether the format is physical or digital and if the medium is a website, computer, mobile device, server, social media, or application.

Information management processes

Project teams typically rely on timely and accurate data to make informed decisions for cost-efficient and effective results. The IM processes can include:

• Collection: Gathering all forms of information as reasonably needed to ensure quality.
• Curation: Organizing relevant information to add value to other processes.
• Storage: Proper storage can help with analysis, developing ideas, identifying historical trends, and satisfying regulatory requirements.
• Dissemination: Distribution of information can involve various considerations, including:
  • Who gets what information?
  • Under which circumstances?
  • Which format?
  • How often?
  • Using which security protocols?
• Archiving: Reasons for archiving might be a combination of company policy, regulatory compliance, or anticipation for future use.
• Destruction: This stage involves destroying information that’s no longer important or needed or when a prescribed period lapses due to privacy laws or other legislation. This stage helps you keep storage costs down and stay compliant.

IM benefits in the workplace

Information management makes it easier to achieve your business goals. Here’s how it can help:

Document and record control

Effective information management can help your organization control the creation of documents and records by having a defined strategy. Excessive papers and records can increase retrieval times and management costs. IM protocols can set limits for destruction and creation to help maintain a reasonable balance.

Cost reduction

Businesses collect large amounts of information, and the bigger the organization, the more data there is. Information management can help prioritize important and necessary records to reduce operational expenses.

Regulatory compliance

Handling client customer and business data typically requires working within regulations. You can avoid financial and legal penalties from accidental breaches by having effective IM processes that enforce compliance with rules and laws.

Adoption of new technologies

When your business uses information management, it can provide capabilities to adopt new and more efficient technologies, such as enterprise solutions, artificial intelligence, automation, or other technological services or products that can help you benefit more from your information.

Risk reduction

IM has well-defined processes for storing, recording, destroying, and disseminating data to reduce the risk of accidental breaches.

Improved efficiency and productivity

When you improve how you retrieve and store data with information management, you also improve collaboration and communication between departments and teams, boosting efficiency and productivity.

Information security

Protect your trade secrets and your customers’ information from bad actors, natural disasters, or system failures with effective information management.

What is an information management system?

An information management system is a comprehensive framework for organizing, storing, and retrieving data. It can encompass processes, technologies, and policies facilitating effective data control. An IMS can ensure data accuracy, accessibility, and security, promoting efficient decision making. This system typically involves databases, document management, and data warehousing to streamline information flow. An IMS turns data into a strategic asset that helps your business enhance collaboration and comply with regulatory requirements.

IMS features

The IMS framework’s main features are:

• Information collection: This can involve gathering and measuring four categories of data, including:
  • Engagement data: The various touch points your customers interact with—for example, e-mail openings, website visits, downloads, and registered attendees at an event.
  • Personal data: This can include any information identifying a customer, such as name, address, and telephone or social insurance number.
  • Attitudinal data: This can involve customer satisfaction and product desirability and relevance.
  • Behavioural data: This data generally refers to any transaction detail between a customer and your business—for example, information on product usage or purchase history.
• Data storage: Your IMS can store data in several areas and make it accessible to users. Hard drives or servers with databases are typical storage units that the IMS can use to store business information. The other option is cloud storage, which provides access through the internet. With cloud storage, you can better ensure data security, make it accessible globally, and quickly recover it if required.
• Information processing: Processing or manipulating information to produce valuable data can give you insights into daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly transactions and help you make informed decisions. Organizing, disseminating, acquiring, and displaying are forms of information processing.
• Data distribution: People involved in a company’s business, including owners, managers, executives, workers, clients, and investors, interact differently with data. For example, workers may use data to ensure usability, quality, and accessibility, while clients and investors might use it for purchasing or investing decisions.
• Information accessibility: Your IMS displays data where everyone involved can access the content. Most content is typically available to all, but there are controls within the system that the administrator can use to separate more sensitive information to only allow some people to view it, like executives or the owner.

How to create an effective IMS

You can create an effective management system for your business, regardless of the size or industry, using the following steps:

Identify data requirements

What information do you need for your company to be successful? You can ask your workers, management, and executives what data they require to exceed in their roles. You can also send out a mandatory, company-wide survey to help determine the scope of the IMS relevant to the business, its operations, the people involved, and regulatory requirements.

Outline your goals and objectives

Define your goals and objectives by forming protocols, guidelines, and controls to help navigate IMS implementation. Your management principles can serve as a user manual to guide personnel once the system is operational.

Define the source of your data

Your goals and objectives often determine the source of data. You can gather your information from various sources, such as:

• internal departments;
• market research;
• employees;
• competitor research;
• target audience research;
• regulatory agencies.

Collection methodologies and classification

Collecting methods can involve determining the amount of data, frequency, time, and location. Classification typically involves understanding which data is qualitative, quantitative, financial, technical, or legal to categorize efficiently. Storage of current, relevant, and obsolete information can require specific collection methods and classification.

Dissemination methods

Who has access to specific data, and in which format? Identify the recipients and distribution channels and provide control measures and data access procedures to prevent breaches.

Perform a total cost-benefit analysis

Your goal with a cost-benefit analysis is to show that the benefits outweigh the costs. To find the total cost of your information management system, include expenses for building the infrastructure, employee training, daily operations, and required maintenance.

Implement the IMS and evaluate

If your cost-benefit analysis shows positive results, you can begin the system setup and provide operational guidelines and adequate training. Your aim is to have the IMS improve your employees’ productivity and efficiency. Evaluate and assess the system performance after a couple of months to determine if it’s meeting objectives and if the benefits continue to outweigh the costs. A promising sign that the IMS works well is the increased use of information for decision making and shorter periods for retrieving and recording data. The IMS can evaluate and identify any lapses in your information management strategies and help improve the system’s effectiveness.

Maintenance and improvements

During your information management system evaluations, you can identify areas for improvement, increase effectiveness, and provide opportunities to help retain staff and upgrade infrastructure. Continuous improvements to your IMS can help your business achieve its goals.