Business services that create value through focused insight from actionable information
As seen by recent economic events, the availability of relevant information that is both actionable and trustworthy is critical for organizational survival. The purpose of this writing is to discuss what companies must have in place and actions they should consider to ensure the ability to make informed decisions both in times of crisis and opportunity.
As seen in the news, it is quite easy for organizations to be blindsided by market events, and too easily rendered incapable of survival. Companies should consider in their operational risk management plans the action-ability of the information possessed within their organization. These plans should include the ability to elevate relevant information from the deluge of noise that most organizations are attempting to deal with.
The problem that is causing a compromise in information action-ability is the sheer volume of information companies have at their disposal and the lack of surety of the accuracy, timeliness and vintage of much of this deluge of data. Add to that the rigidity of applications and processes used to integrate data for analytic use and it’s no wonder that companies have difficulties corralling trustworthy data to synthesize and collaborate fact based decisions in short order.
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To start the on-line version of the Action Ability workbook (sorry, there are no interactive charts in the on-line version, but all information is interactive and available during the on-line session), please click below
Take me to the Action Ability Index Self Assessment Workbook
What is Action-Ability
Action-Ability is defined in this writing as having a process in place that allows organizational stewards to be able to be assured that at all times, but especially in times of organizational crisis, that the data they require to derive scenarios and action plans will be made available in a way as easily digestible as other routine information.
During these compressed decision cycle times, it is extremely important that the information infrastructure depended on as a matter of course can deliver relevant just in time trustworthy information critical to their compressed decision cycle times. With the compressed cycle times, it is extremely important that the trustworthiness of relevant data, whether or not the data required was previously accessed, meet the high quality standards expected by organizational stewards.
It is equally important that organizational stewards and their staffs have a high comfort level through an understanding of the means used to obtain required data that the integrity of information is assured. A facility to ensure the incoming data integrity by comparing it to a baseline that contains expected patterns will in many times of crisis serve as a reasonability test for requested data, with more exhaustive tests executed at a later time. Ensuring the availability of reasonable data as quickly as practicable will make the difference in a time of crisis. Knowing that the information infrastructure employs a process to ensure reasonability will elevate the trustworthiness of required information.
Configuring Actionability
InfoSight Partners offers a Focus Partitioning service, which is based on the processes that enhance the focus of actionable information. Below is a snapshot of the focus partitioning information that is used to tune the configuration of actionable, trustworthy relevant information made available for just in time decision making.
What are some of the attributes of companies possessing action-ability?
By working with several organizations, there seem to be attributes that companies who are action-enabled possess. These are:
· Possess the ability to validate the integrity of data at point of capture, thereby negating the ability for stakeholders to obtain and use faulty information in their decision making processes.
· Possess a flexible information model that is capable of serving up new information quickly when crises and opportunities present themselves which do not share similarities to events previously encountered.
· Possess a technology team that understands how to translate organizational intents into information requirements and has the wherewithal to quickly deliver the required information in a way that fosters self service of this information without specialized technology skills.
· Possess the foresight to discern meaningful relevant data from the deluge of data splayed before those accountable for steering the organization through the opportunities or crises encountered.
· Possess data that has de-facto trustworthy qualities, so that those accountable for steering the organization through crises or opportunities can utilize the information without concerning themselves with the data’s quality, accuracy or vintage.
What should companies do now to shore up their action-abilities?
Information action-ability is not about acquiring the latest and greatest tools to deliver information in a quicker fashion. It is about employing processes armed with the appropriate arsenal of tools so that information action-ability can be assumed by organizational stakeholders. It requires following a high degree of discipline and control around the data used for decision making, but also employing a level of flexibility and management oversight to ensure that relevant, actionable trustworthy information is always at the fingertips of those who need it. In this way, information is an asset armed with a tangible value in both mitigating risk and exploiting opportunities at a moment’s notice.
Companies should review their processes to ensure that their:
· Technical organizations are aware and focused on the strategic and tactical intents of the organization.
· The underlying information structure is sufficiently fluid to allow for, when necessary, rapid integration of new data without a delay required for lengthy analysis, coding and production controls.
· That all data integrated into the organization is subjected to a reasonability test that does not infringe on the accessibility timing of data.
· That processes and controls are in place to ensure and communicate the high degree of quality attained for data integrated for the purpose of analysis and organizational steering.
· That some information lifecycle process is employed to elevate relevant information from historical trivia.
· That the arsenal of tools employed and technical constraints in place do not impinge on the organization’s ability to quickly obtain the right information and conclude the appropriate course of action within the available decision cycles available.
· The underlying architecture is uncluttered with complexities caused by an environment resulting from a large arsenal of software, with each component requiring its own configuration, metadata and programming environment required for operation.
What should companies consider as their initial steps to shore up their action-abilities?
InfoSight Partners believes that the initial step is to have an Action-ability index computed and compared to similar organizations as a basis to compute an action plan of initial focus and low hanging fruit that could deliver immediate value. We believe that this effort should be sufficiently focused and be performed over a sufficiently short timeframe to set the expectations that precious time will not be wasted by those who need to participate.
A rapid assessment which provides a high level comparison to similar organizations should be computed, which provides an assessment of an organization’s ability to serve relevant, actionable, timely trustworthy information through a repeatable process.
Take me to the Action Ability Index Self Assessment Workbook
To get the process going, please call InfoSight Partners at 201 895- 1666 or email us at
benchmark@info-sight-partners.com
