Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
What Is Information Management?
Data is what you collect and store. When that data is interpreted and used, it
is turned into information. Companies that can effectively transform data into
valuable information that is used to make business decisions are utilizing their
data as an asset. A computer can be considered a corporate asset, yet it does
not provide value until it is used; the same is true for your data. If you look
at a group of competing companies, chances are good that the ones that have
figured out how to turn data into valuable information and act on it are at the
top of their industry.
Sometimes the terms and acronyms used across business and IT can be a
bit overwhelming. Most terms can have multiple definitions depending on the
context and scope of the discussion. Information management is no different.
For this discussion, we'll use Wikipedia's definition:
Information management (IM) is the collection and management of information
from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more
audiences. This sometimes involves those who have a stake in, or a right to,
that information. Management means the organization of and control over the
structure, processing, and delivery of information.
The first step in information management is focusing on the data itself. Data
is the fundamental building block of the entire process, and the core asset.
However, information management poses many challenges beyond simply
sharing data between application systems. Information management also
encompasses the people and business processes that are needed to ensure that
the data is collected and handled properly. Figure 8-1 shows these different
facets of information management, which include the organization's business
applications, the data warehouse, business processes, data governance, data
profiling, and master data management.
Data Warehouse
Data
Profiling
Master Data
Management
High-Quality
Data
Business
Processes
Data
Governance
Business
Applications
Figure 8-1
Facets of information management
