Is Your Company Managing The Glut of Data Effectively?

Businesses and organizations of all types, shapes and sizes are managing to function amidst a tremendous glut of data. However, most don't know how, or have the tools to transform this potentially valuable information into knowledge which in the hands of the right people, at the right time, can have a significant positive impact on their core business.

This data may be created by their MIS systems, and in many cases may be duplicated by different workgroups. It may come from the Internet and other networks which are typically accessed through online services and public databases. And, of course, it is available in a variety of formats from these different sources and comes from a myriad of platforms, like UNIX, NT, Novell, and others.

The opportunity now facing thousands of companies in today's ever increasing competitive world - How to wade through these mountains of available data, regardless of format or location, and select those key pieces that, if put in the right hands, can be used to make strategic decisions.

The term for this process is Knowledge Management. In essence, this consists of two key capabilities, each with its own set of enabling technologies:

• Information access and retrieval - finding it
• Collaboration - processing, delivering, formatting and using it effectively

Over the past few years, a number of tools have been developed that can perform one or more of the above mentioned functions. But few, if any, have the capability to bring it all together and turn information into knowledge.

Recently, however, new products have reached the market that now provide the capabilities to retrieve, process, organize, format and deliver the vital information to one user, many users, or an entire organization. Even more important, the delivery mechanisms can include: email, word processing documents, output to pagers and cell phones, spreadsheets, and other applications.

And, the good news is that these can be implemented relatively easily and at costs that may be easily justified for both small and large organizations.

Applications Limited Only by Your Imagination

Here are just a few ways in which companies and organizations are using these new Knowledge Management solutions to impact their businesses:

• Manufacturers or service companies monitor Web and FTP sites for new press releases, product announcements, or price changes and inform key personnel automatically
  
• Risk managers gather highly changeable market, actuary or other information on a regular basis from different sources to make more accurate assessments
  
• Security managers use Custom Web "sentinels" to constantly monitor their web sites and automatically restore it to a previous state in the event of unauthorized changes
  
• Managers get automatic notification of orders taken and shipped, or of customer service requests on particular accounts and transmit them to sales people instantly
  
• Marketing "push" programs automatically contact specified customers with special programs on overstocked items
  
• Financial institutions automatically gather mortgage rates from across the country and drop them into spreadsheets for quick analysis and action
  

Now we have the tools to get critical information into the hands of decision makers who can make an impact on our businesses.

If you're not taking advantage of these new tools to help produce a positive impact on your organization, you should speak with us. Call 732-422-2410. Or, complete the Contact Us Form.

This article, written by Ira Barkoe, President, Innovative Marketing Concepts, appeared in the Middlesex County Business Journal