Chapter 21`
Review chapter 21 in the course text.
In your own words,discuss the future of information delivery.
Need this in strict APA formatting with a minimum of 5 references.
Need 2 pages with an introduction and conclusion
310
C h a p t e r
21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role1
It wasnt so long ago that IT was called data processing (DP) and information delivery consisted of printing out massive computer listings full of transaction data. If DP was particularly enlightened, business got summary reports, which might or
might not contain useful information. The advent of online systems made data margin-
ally easier to use, but it was still mostly datathat is, facts with very little context or
analysis applied to them. Usability was talked about, but this aspect of information
delivery was largely ignored. As a result, it was not unusual to find customer service
representatives switching between ten or more different screens (each representing
a different organizational data silo) to get the information they needed to do their job.
But with the advent of the Internet, organizations realized thatdespite the fact that
they could force their employees to wend their way through an enterprises Byzantine
organizational structure and bits and bytes of datacustomers were not going to go
searching for the data they needed. Data had to be meaningful, provide an integrated
picture of their interactions, and generally be significantly easier to interpret and under-
stand. In other words, data had to become information, and it had to be delivered in
ways customers could use.
While information delivery channels and practices were evolving, so too were
organizations needs for information. Many firms now realize that rather than simply
processing transactions, they can mine what they collect to uncover new insights,
often leading to substantial savings and/or revenue growth opportunities. Until recently,
however, investments in information analysis and decision support languished as compa-
nies undertook higher-priority projects with more direct and immediate impact on their
bottom lines. Today the success of how some companies use information for competitive
advantage and operational effectiveness is causing business leaders to look more care-
fully at how well their firms are leveraging information (Lavalle et al. 2011).
Both the Internet and cloud technologies have dramatically changed the ease
with which information can be stored, integrated, and delivered on an ad hoc basis.
1 This chapter is based on the authors previously published article, Smith, H. A., and J. D. McKeen.
Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role. Communications of the Association for Information Systems 15, no. 11
(February 2005): 197210. Reproduced by permission of the Association for Information Systems.
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role 311
Today it is both technically and financially feasible to deliver literally millions of pages
of text to data delivery devices (i.e., personal computers, tablets, and smartphones) as
needed. Aswell, the technologies available to manage different types of information
are improving rapidly and converging. Traditionally, different software has been used
to manage documents, records, and other information assets (Kaplan 2002). Now the
lines of demarcation between them are blurring. Software, although still imperfect, is
opening the door to a host of new possibilities for information management and deliv-
ery. All these factors are placing new pressures on IT to focus more thoughtfully on the
information component of its function.
This chapter first surveys the expanding world of information and technology
and why information delivery has become so important so rapidly. Then it discusses
the value proposition of information in organizations. Next it describes the important
components of an effective information delivery function in IT. Finally, it looks at how
information delivery will likely evolve over the next five to ten years and what this will
mean for IT and organizations.
InformatIon and It: Why noW?
In the late 1990s, information management and delivery were barely on the radar
screens of most IT managers (McKeen and Smith 2003). Today it is consuming a
considerable amount of IT effort and has blossomed into a number of multifaceted,
high-value IT activities (Laney and White 2014). Of course, IT organizations have had
some data management functions for many years, but these have been largely limited
to data warehouse and database design and administration. As one participant claimed,
Weve been talking around the subject of information for a long time, but it hasnt
really been critically important until recently.
A number of reasons account for this new attention to information. First, there is
no doubt that organizations are overwhelmed by all sorts of information. The number
of documents, reports, Web pages, data items, and digital assets has literally grown
exponentially in recent years. Unfortunately, our ability to store and protect informa-
tion has far outstripped our ability to extract and present it (Beath et al. 2012). Research
shows that the average knowledge worker now spends about a quarter of his or her day
looking for information either internally or externally (Kontzer 2003).
Second, companies are now recognizing that information and how it is used has
considerable value. Almost all organizations believe they could be doing more with the
information they already have (Korsten 2011; Kruschwitz 2011). This is coupled with a
new understanding of how value is derived from IT. Traditionally, organizations have
expected to deliver value from their information systems alone (often through greater
efficiencies in transaction processing), yet research shows that improved information
stemming from good information management practices, in combination with excellent
systems, is a stronger driver of financial performance (Kettinger and Marchand 2011).
Participants noted that information is being used in their organizations for much more
than transactional decisions. We are using all sorts of information in new ways, said
one. We are trying to understand the data drivers of our business and use it to manage
our processes more effectively. We are also using data analytics to uncover strategic
new business opportunities. Another noted, In the past we sent reports to executives
312 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management
who would consider the information they contained and issue directives to their staff.
Now we are sending information directly to frontline staff so they can take action
immediately.
In addition to recognizing the value of transactional, operational, and strategic
information, companies are also coming to realize that embedding information in their
workflowsincluding information from external sourcescan be extremely valuable.
A firms ability to extract and leverage explicit knowledge from its employees by formal-
izing it in systems and procedures directly contributes to its structural capital (Holmes
2011; Smith et al. 2009). Some companies have already realized significant benefits from
standardizing their information as structural capital and distributing it appropriately
(Kettinger et al. 2003; Ross 2012).
Third, new laws governing what can and cannot be done with information are
also leading to greater awareness in IT about what information is collected and how it
is used and protected. Addressing privacy concerns, for example, requires the develop-
ment of more sophisticated methods of user identification and authorization, permis-
sion management, controls over information flows, and greater attention to accuracy
and analysis of where and how individual items of information can be used (McKeen
and Smith 2012). No longer can huge customer records be sent from system to system,
for example, simply because some of their data elements are needed. Companies risk
not only contravening the law but also embarrassment in the marketplace. Financial
accountability legislation is also driving greater attention to the integrity of information
at every step in its collection. Requiring senior officers to guarantee the accuracy of the
firms financial statements is changing many previously laissez-faire attitudes toward
information.
Finally, information possibilities are rapidly expanding. New technologies are cre-
ating different types of information, opening up innovative channels of information
delivery, and providing new ways of organizing and accessing information. Just a few
years ago, e-mail, social media, mobile computing, texting, and the Internet simply
didnt exist. Today they are all major sources of new information and new delivery chan-
nels. Navigation tools, mobile technology, and vastly improved storage media (toname
just a few) are driving new information applications that were not possible in the recent
past. As the pace of new technology innovation ramps up, information delivery chal-
lenges and possibilities are, therefore, also escalating. In short, today IT personnel are
finding that information delivery is a key element of almost every aspect of their work
as well as a fundamental part of their ability to derive value from technology.
delIverIng value through InformatIon
Information delivery plays a critical role in several new areas in delivering value in
organizations:
More effective business operations. Although information has long been used to run
organizations, in the past it was largely paper and transaction based. Today executives
have access to online dashboards that combine a wide variety of transaction,
process, and supply-chain metrics to give them a much broader and more detailed
picture of their operations. Typically, dashboards are designed differently for dif-
ferent needs (e.g., sales, logistics), functions (e.g., HR, accounting), and/or processes
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role 313
(e.g.,inventory management) and for different spans of control. They usually include
drill-down capabilities, highlight problem areas, and integrate information from
several systems. Other types of operational information that are available to organiza-
tions include predictive analysis (e.g., trends, timelines), benchmarks (both internal
and external), quality measures (e.g., defects, stock-outs), and scorecard informa-
tion (e.g., financial, internal business, customer, and learning and growth). Whats
also significant is that these types of information are now being given to frontline
staff so they can better manage their own areas of responsibility, identify and avoid
exceptions, and take action before problems arise. Operational information may be
integrated with guidelines that direct courses of action so staff will better understand
how to use it effectively.
Mobile and E-business (Virtual Business). These new virtual channels are having
considerable impact on how organizations present information about their products
and services to customers. In the past, customers would often get conflicting
information depending on which door they entered (i.e., which part of the busi-
ness they contacted). Virtual business has forced organizations to confront their own
internal inconsistencies, identify information gaps and inaccuracies, and deal with
inadequacies in their offerings, which are much more apparent when presented in
these mediums. IT and senior executives often have to take a hard line with line-of-
business leaders who tend to have a function-specific perspective on information.
As one manager noted, Taking the customers point of view in virtual business
development cuts across our established lines of business and organizational dis-
tinctions. Often there are political issues about information ownership, organization,
and presentation. These must be nipped in the bud and everyone forced to put the
customers needs first.
These channels have also become a significant driver of interactions among
companies, enabling them to transact business in new ways, manage their roles
in different supply chains, and offer new services to business clients that didnt
previously exist. In both the B2C and B2B spheres, virtual business is largely about
how information is integrated and presented to improve products and services.
However, these are also changing the competitive landscape by making it consid-
erably easier to comparison shop online. In the past, companies were able to be
competitive by offering complex combinations of products and services, which
discouraged one-to-one comparisons. Today, whole new businesses have grown
up to facilitate comparison shopping. These firms are placing themselves as
intermediaries between a company and its customers (e.g., online travel, insurance
quotes). Thus, companies that continue to use information to obfuscate their
services, rather than inform their customers, could easily find themselves disinter-
mediated and at a strategic disadvantage.
Internal self-service. Virtual information channels are driving significant internal
change as well. They are being used to simplify employee access to human resources
materials and procedures, streamline procurement, manage approvals, provide
information on benefits and entitlements, and maintain telephone numbers, to name
just a few types of information that are now routinely accessible online. Companies
now make millions of documents available to their staff through content manage-
ment systems. As with virtual business, however, internal self-service is driving
a complete reanalysis of what information is collected and how it is presented,
314 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management
navigated, and used. Portals and online self-service make administrative problem
areas more visible. They also force managers to simplify policies and procedures,
said one manager.
Unstructured information delivery. Increasingly, organizations want to be able
to access all their information online, including that which has traditionally been
retained as paper documents. New software, navigation, and storage technologies
are leading to the convergence of the records management, library management,
and electronic document management functions in organizations (Kaplan 2002;
Laney and White 2014). In the past IT has had very little to do with unstructured
information. Now IT must develop taxonomies, navigation, and access methods for
unstructured information and even to integrate structured and unstructured infor-
mation into work processes delivered where needed.
Another major source of unstructured information in which IT is involved
is e-mail, video, text messaging, and social media comments. These technologies
have captured the organizational imagination so rapidly that policies and best
practices in this area are still catching up. Jurisprudence has recognized that these
interchanges are corporate records. In response, organizations are developing
procedures for managing these more effectively. The barrage of messages from
outside corporate boundaries in combination with personal use of corporate e-mail
and the vulnerability of corporate information to external hackers are giving IT
managers severe migraines. Archiving e-mail, filtering spam, coping with viruses
that tag along with messages, building sophisticated firewalls, and creating busi-
ness cases for messaging technologies are all new IT activities that have sprung up
to better manage these new forms of wanted and unwanted information.
IT is also working to incorporate collaborative technologies that help capture
and leverage the work of teams and groups. These technologies are being effectively
used in such endeavors as providing the means whereby knowledge workers
can share information about what they are doing, capturing best practices, brain-
storming, tracking key decisions, and documenting a projects history. Often IT
workers themselves are the first users of these technologies, bearing the brunt of the
learning involved before they are rolled out to the rest of the organization.
Business intelligence. This is a function that is currently well developed in some
organizations and not in others. However, the arena of business intelligence is
growing rapidly in importance in organizations due to increased competition and
the speed with which organizations must respond to competitive threats. Business
intelligence includes both internal intelligence gathering (often known as data
mining) and external intelligence gathering about trends, competitors, and indus-
tries. IT organizations are, at minimum, expected to design an effective internal
information environment (aka a data warehouse) developed from their business
information systems, within which users of a variety of skill levels can operate.
Typically this requires an understanding of the context in which information will
be used, modeling how data will be represented, and providing appropriate tools
for different types of users. End users can access this information in a variety of
ways ranging from ad hoc queries to generating predesigned reports. More sophis-
ticated organizations have full-time data analysts on staff whose jobs can range
from answering questions for users to exploring the data in order to uncover new
opportunities (Brohman and Boudreau 2004; Marchand and Peppard 2013).
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role 315
A key IT concern in the design and management of internal data warehouses
is the speed with which inquiries can be answered. It is not unusual for a user to
build an inquiry that will bring a modern computer system to its knees. Therefore,
protecting operational systems and optimizing routine queries is of paramount
importance. Many IT organizations design parallel universes in which data ware-
houses can operate without affecting the production environment.
External business intelligence gathering is a relatively new field. For some
companies, this simply means providing access to news wires and online clipping
services. Other organizations, however, are designing sophisticated criteria that
can be used to crawl the Internet, monitor external data feeds from social media
and other sources, and organize information about competitors products and ser-
vices. In companies where product innovation is an important function, access to
external research services is important. Many IT organizations now have librarians
whose job is to assist users to find external information electronically. However, the
future ideal will be to integrate external information more seamlessly into work
processes and present it to users when needed.
Behavior change. Organizations already recognize that people pay more atten-
tion to what is measured. As a result, organizations have become increasingly more
sophisticated about designing the metrics and scorecards they use to monitor both
individual and corporate performance (see Kaplan and Norton 1996). It is less well
recognized that information can both drive and inhibit certain behaviors in individ-
uals. One participant explained, More and more, our job is less about technology
and more about behavior change. How we present information plays a big part in
driving the behaviors the organization is looking for.
Promoting information-positive behavior means ensuring the information
that is available is trustworthy and of high quality and information about the busi-
ness is widely available to all levels of employees to help shape their behavior
(Kettinger and Marchand 2011):
People can sense information effectively only when they understand a com-
panys business performance and how they personally can help to improve
performance. . . . This common sense of purpose fosters an environment in
which people begin to look beyond their own jobs and become concerned
about the information needs of others. Sensing is enhanced and information
valuation assessments become more precise. (Marchand et al. 2000)
Some companies have begun to use greater information transparency to
modify and guide staff behavior with extremely positive results (Smith et al. 2009),
but organizations have just scratched the surface of what is possible in leverag-
ing the complex linkages between information and behavior. In general, informa-
tion transparency highlights both strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures.
Identifying key information helps staff to focus their efforts in areas that are of con-
cern to management. For example, publishing infection statistics by specialty unit
in a hospital can change staff hand-washing habits. Similarly, stressing overall file
completion information can help customer service staff solve holistic customer
problems, rather than processing the individual transactions involved, and thus
provide more effective customer service.
316 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management
effectIve InformatIon delIvery
The explosion of new information delivery opportunities in organizations has left IT
departments scrambling to organize themselves appropriately and develop new skills,
roles, practices, and strategies. Even more than with systems development, effective
information delivery involves careful attention to the social and behavioral dimen-
sions of how work is done. Politics is a huge dimension of information delivery,
said a participant. Defining data means establishing one version of the truth and one
owner. As we move to standardized definitions, single master files for corporate data
items, and common presentation, we get into major battles. In the past we have had
ten systems for ten nuances of information. Everyone built their own thing. Another
said, Information integration is very difficult to achieve on a large scale. This problem
becomes even more difficult and important in global enterprises and with strategic
alliances.
new Information Skills
Better information delivery means clarifying and making visible the knowledge
frameworks and mental models that have been applied to create both data and
information (Li and Kettinger 2004). Business and IT practitioners must recognize the
existence of these frameworks and make appropriate judgments about how they affect
the information that is delivered. Although IT staff have been doing this for years
when designing reports and screen layouts, the organizations increasing reliance
on structured information for decision making means that it is critical to consciously
make appropriate decisions about how information is designed and presented. IT staff,
therefore, not only need new skills in thinking about information, but they also need
better training in analyzing how it will be accessed and used. Furthermore, with more
integrated data, it is now essential that business rules be applied to who gets to see
what information. Our systems serve a number of different types of users, said an
IT manager at a major pharmaceutical firm. It is essential that we know who they are.
Salespeople, doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, regulatory agencies, and patients all have
different information needs and rights. We cannot afford to put the information into
the wrong hands. Finally, as already pointed out, navigation and usability have long
been afterthoughts of systems analysis and design. Today this must be an integral part
of every IT deliverable.
New Information Skills Within IT
Political judgment
Information analytics
Workflow analysis
Information access
Business rules for information use
Usability
Information navigation
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role 317
new Information roles
IT has a number of new or enhanced roles for managing the logistics of information
delivery as well. ITs information responsibilities now include the following:
Data custodianship
Storage
Integration
Presentation
Security
Administration
Personalization and multilingual presentations
Document indexing and searching
Unstructured content management and workflow
Team and collaboration software
Network and server infrastructure for information hosting/staging.
In addition, IT often hosts several key information management functions. Examples
include library and information services, records and information management (e.g., archi-
ving, regulatory compliance), information solutions delivery (including portal design), and
data architecture and modeling.
Business responsibilities for information include ownership, quality, and currency.
However, even here IT must sometimes establish and enforce the procedures and poli-
cies within which business will exercise these responsibilities. For example, some orga-
nizations have a formal system of information expiry dates for non-system-generated
information, and reminders are sent to owners to ensure appropriate review and updating.
new Information Practices
Effective information delivery involves developing practices to manage different forms
of information over their life cycles (see Figure 21.1). For each type of information, strat-
egies, processes, and business rules must be established to address each of the four life
cycle stages.
1. Capture. This includes all activities involved in identifying (i.e., analyzing and inte-
grating) information for possible use. Typically, gaps appear at the borders between
silos of information and when trying to connect structured and unstructured informa-
tion. Capture may also involve digitizing information that is currently in paper format
(e.g., documents). At present few organizations formally capture external business
intelligence information such as economic, social, and political changes; competitive
innovations; and potential problems with partners and suppliers, although many
have begun to capture social media content. In the future, however, such informa-
tion will be captured from an increasingly wide range of sources from both outside
and inside the organization (Kettinger and Marchand 2011). Furthermore, users will
increasingly demand real-time or near-real-time information, and this will require
further refinement of information-capture practices.
2. Organize. Organizing information involves indexing, classifying, and linking
together sources. At the highest level, this involves creating a taxonomythat is,
a systematic categorization by keyword or term (Corcoran 2002). This provides an
318 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management
organizing framework for information that facilitates ease of access. A second layer
of organization involves creating metadatathat is, information about content
and location. Metadata provide a roadmap to information, much as a card catalog
points to the location and information about a book (Lee et al. 2001). Metadata are
especially important for workflow design, the overall management of information,
and information exchange among enterprises or different software applications.
A third layer of organization is provided by processes that identify information
ownership and ensure that it meets the necessary corporate, legal, and linguistic
standards. These processes also manage activities such as authorship, versioning,
and access. A final component of organization involves information presentation.
Many organizations have developed a common look and feel for their materials,
such as mobile, Internet, or portal pages, to enable ease of navigation and interoper-
ability among platforms.
3. Process. As already noted, organizations have only begun to leverage the value
of their information. New information-delivery technologies and channels as well
as the recognition of the business value of information are driving the develop-
ment of new organizational capabilities based on information and technology. IT
plays a significant role in the analysis of information and its capture in the form of
structural capital. However, organizations also need businesspeople with deeper
analytic skills who can combine their knowledge of business with knowledge of
data. Statistical modeling and analytic skills will also be increasingly needed to
identify opportunities and make sense of huge amounts of data.
4. Maintain. Different types of information must be maintained differently (Williams
2001). For unstructured content, such as documents, social media content, and Web
sites, maintenance involves keeping information up to date. All information needs
to be regularly assessed as to how well it is meeting the businesss needs. Finally,
principles and standards must be established for information retention and preser-
vation and for its disposal.
new Information Strategies
A final element of effective information delivery involves strategy. All organizations
have a generic vision of delivering the right information to the right person at the
right time. However, achieving this goal involves careful consideration of what an
M
ai
nta
in Capture
P
rocess
Org
an
iz
e
fIgure 21.1 The Information Management Lifecycle
Chapter 21 Information Delivery: ITs Evolving Role 319
organization wants to accomplish with information and how it proposes to derive busi-
ness value from it. Interestingly, many organizations are currently placing their highest
priority on using information for internal management and administration. Employee
self-service cuts out much administrative overhead in human resources management,
procurement, and accounting. There are huge savings to be gained by delivering bet-
ter information on our operational processes and using information to better manage
workflows and approvals, said a participant.
Some firms are also developing microstrategies for particular areas of the busi-
ness or types of user. These small-scale initiatives often involve giving users sub-
sets of data containing the specific information they need and appropriate analysis
tools. One company has developed an information-access architecture that provides
different types of tools to users depending on their abilities to use them to mine
data. Basic users are given canned inquiries with drill-down capabilities and the
ability to export information into an Excel spreadsheet. More skilled users are given
basic analytic tools and access to metadata, and expert users are given professional
analytic tools.
At the other end of the strategy scale are companies such as UPS, CEMEX, and
Monsanto that have made information a strategic priority. Each of these companies has
an enterprisewide strategy for using information. UPS collects information about every
element of the delivery process (Watson et al. 2010). CEMEX uses information to control
every aspect of its cement production and delivery logistics worldwide (Kettinger and
Marchand 2004). Monsanto improved the accuracy of its sales forecasting by routinely
testing assumptions about prices and trends (Holmes 2011).
the future of InformatIon delIvery
Organizations have begun to discover the power of information, but they have barely
scratched the surface of what will be possible over the next decade. Already new tech-
nologies are beginning widespread implementation that will have as big an impact on
Information Delivery Best Practices
Approach information delivery as an iterative development project. No one gets it right
the first time.
Separate data from function to create greater flexibility.
Buy data models and enhance them. This will save many person-years of effort.
Use middleware to translate data from one system to another. This is especially important
for companies using several different packaged systems, each of which contains its own
embedded data model.
Evolve toward a real-time customer information file. These files are notoriously difficult to
build all at once; however, having a single source of customer information makes man-
aging customer privacy much easier and also makes it possible to offer new integrated
products and services.
Design information delivery from the end user (whether external customer, employee, or
supplier) backward. This substantially reduces internal infighting and focuses attention on
what is really important.
320 Section IV IT Portfolio Development and Management
information delivery as the Internet has had over the past de
