The Business Case for Information Strategy and Architecture

9/22/16 www.JKevinParker.com 1
The Business Case for Information
Strategy & Architecture
J. Kevin Parker, CIP

About Me
I am a recognized industry leader in Information
Management and Technology with a unique combination
of technical expertise and business acumen.
My professional mission is to continue advancing
Information Management within the industry and within
organizations.

About This Presentation
Information Management is a meta discipline that combines strategy, architecture,
technology, and governance to get the right information to the right people at the right
times to do the right things in support of an organization’s mission, vision, and values.
Information Management happens at the intersection of people, process, information,
and technology.
Information Management is not universally understood the way project management is
today. I aim to change that.
This presentation provides a simple framework for building a business case for
Information Management with a focus on Strategy and Architecture.
I hope this helps other information professionals move the discipline of Information
Management forward in their organizations.
If this helps you, please like, comment, and share!

Objectives
In this presentation, we will discuss how to:
• Discover ways information chaos is hindering
organizations.
• Define the solution for information chaos.
• Identify key benefits from developing a unified information
strategy and architecture.
• Build a business case for information strategy and
architecture.

How Information Chaos is Hindering
Organizations
The Business Case for Information Strategy & Architecture

Information Volumes Grow Exponentially
90% of the world’s data has been created in the last 2 years. This has been true
for the past 30 years. That means every 2 years we create 10x more data than
previously existed.
For most enterprises, volumes of information typically double at least every 12-
18 months.
World’sDataVolume
Time
Last 2 Years

Information Comes in Many Forms
• Documents
• Emails
• Databases
• Wikis
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Log files
• Tasks
• Texts
• Voicemails
• Service tickets
• Forms
• Reports
• Memos
• Contracts
• And many more…
Gone are the days
when information only
came as documents
and databases. There
are so many different
types and more are
added all the time.

Information is Everywhere
• Databases
• ERP systems
• CRM systems
• File servers
• CMS solutions
• Cloud services
• Websites
• Social media
• Inboxes
• Smartphones
• Disk drives
• Thumb drives
• Vendor systems
• Directory services
• Team sites
• And many more…
Without a solid strategy
and architecture,
organizations tend to
add new systems for
each business
challenge, adding to
chaos.

Information Silos Add Chaos
Directory Services
Accounting
Systems
Payroll System
HR Management
Systems
Procurement
Systems
Inventory Systems CRM System
Vendor & Contract
Management
Systems
Enterprise Content
Management
Systems
Time Management
Systems
File Shares Intranet
Project
Management
Systems
Database Servers
Service Desk
Tickets
Data Warehouses
& Business
Intelligence
Records
Management
Systems
Knowledge
Management
Systems
Quality
Management
Systems
Email Systems
Throwing new servers and applications at every business challenge adds silos
and complexity which increases chaos.

Cloud & Mobile Can Add Chaos
Enterprise File Sync &
Share
SaaS LOB App
Cloud Email
Enterprise Social
Rogue Cloud Drive
Rogue SaaS App
Rogue Email
Rogue Social
Channels
Personal Cloud Drive
Personal SaaS App
Personal Email
Public Social
Networks
On-Prem Systems & Apps Official Cloud Apps Shadow Cloud Apps Personal Cloud Apps
CorporateFirewall
AbilitytoControl
VPN
Directory Services Accounting Systems Payroll System
HR Management
Systems
Procurement
Systems
Inventory Systems CRM System
Vendor & Contract
Management
Systems
Enterprise Content
Management
Systems
Time Management
Systems
File Shares Intranet
Project Management
Systems
Database Servers Service Desk Tickets
Data Warehouses &
Business Intelligence
Records
Management
Systems
Knowledge
Management
Systems
Quality Management
Systems
Email Systems
Without solid strategy,
architecture, and governance
for mobile and cloud, chaos will
increase.

Users Can’t Keep Track
“Where did I file those TPS
reports?”
“Does this document go in the
ECM system or the procurement
server or the Intranet or the
X: drive or the ERP system or
the records center?”
“I’ll just email it. Again.”
Chaos!!

Point-to-Point Connections Add Chaos
Number of potential connections
between systems:
n(n-1)
2
20(20-1)
2
= 190
Connections for 20 systems:
Efforts to integrate systems with point-to-
point connections drastically increase
complexity, dependencies, maintenance,
and chaos.

Bad Metadata Adds Chaos
Bad metadata means:
• Lack of standardized terms & meanings
across systems, business units &
processes
• Lack of interaction between information
systems
• Lack of reusable data services
• Lack of understanding of available data
• Lack of awareness of available data sets
• Inability to log, audit, report & predict
accurately
• Inability to secure & manage information
consistently
System System System System System System System System System System
System System System System System System System System System System
User Interface
Metadata Services
Enterprise Taxonomies & Managed Vocabularies
Organization, Labeling, Navigation & Search Systems
Service & Interface Descriptions
Security Metadata
Logical Data Models
APIs & Data Services
Logging, Auditing, Reporting, Predicting
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
?

Fragmented Information Management
Breeds Chaos
Data
Management
Records
Management
Knowledge
Management
Document
Management
Enterprise
Content
Management
Business
Intelligence &
Analytics
Master Data
Management
Web Content
Management
Customer
Relationship
Management
Email
Management
Mobile Device
Management
Organizations that do not
have all of the different
information management
capabilities under a
unified strategy and
architecture have chaos.
Cybersecurity

Summary: Factors Leading to Chaos
• Increasing information volume, velocity, and variety
• Disparate information silos and systems
• Lack of clear understanding of which information lives in
which SPOT (Single Point Of Truth)
• Poor or immature metadata management
• Fragmented information management practices
• Lack of unified information strategy, architecture, and
governance

Problem Statement
For your business case, create a clear statement of the
problem you are trying to solve. Make it specific to your
organization. For example:
ACME Corp has 20 enterprise systems, many with overlapping
functionality and workloads. There are numerous fragile data
connections between systems, yet the organization has no real
master data management in place. Usability of several systems
is poor, and user adoption of systems has been challenging.
ACME is struggling with information chaos.

The Solution for Information Chaos:

Information Management Mission
• Get the right information
to the right people at the
right times to take the
right actions in support of
the mission.
• Protect information assets
and mitigate information
risks.
Information Management is a
combination of components:
• Information Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Information Technology
• Information Governance
You need all of these working
in concert to be successful.

Information Strategy…
• Defines what you plan to do with information and why
• Begins with an honest information maturity assessment
• Includes a blueprint of what information management
should look like in the organization
• Includes a roadmap of how to get to that future-state
blueprint
• Includes critical success factors for showing progressive
improvements

Information Strategy Asks:
• What does our business do, and what internal and external
information types and processes support our work?
• What information management pain points do we experience,
and what must we excel at to do our work better?
• What is the vision for how our organization uses information
to best support our strategic corporate initiatives, and what
steps must we take to achieve that vision?
• How do we measure our information management successes
(and failures) and practice continuous improvement?

Information Architecture…
• Defines the structures and channels for data, content,
knowledge, records, and analytics in support of the
strategy
• Includes designing schemes for organizing, labeling,
navigating, and searching information
• Takes into account business processes, organizational
goals, regulatory requirements, and other information
management needs

Information Architecture Asks:
• What is our information model with the terms and
relationships that accurately describe our business?
• What categories and labels make sense for organizing our
information for better findability, usability, reporting, and
discovery?
• What logical systems will contain our information, and how do
we ensure each type of important information lives in its
SPOT (single point of truth)?
• How will our staff and customers navigate around our
systems and the information and processes within and
between them?

Architecture is what
connects everything
together, while
Governance and
Technology work as
supports.
Always start with
Strategy. Then do
Architecture.
Governance and
Technology support
the Strategy and
Architecture.
Information Management Components
Architecture
Governance Technology
Strategy

Assess
Information
Maturity
Develop
Strategy
Blueprint
Develop
Strategy
Roadmap
Develop
Architecture
Begin
Continuous
Implementation
High-Level Process
Performed initially,
then repeated
periodically to
measure improvement
Primary effort done initially to
create the foundation for
future improvements, then
improved incrementally
Continuous
implementation
iterations for systems,
services, and solutions
Start with an initial assessment and follow with the primary effort of the strategy
blueprint, roadmap, and architecture. Then repeat with continuous solution
implementation to iteratively improve and measure (i.e., after the foundation is
built, use agile project management).

Key Benefits of a Unified Information

Optimize Business Processes
• Automate workflows
• Eliminate bottlenecks
• Increase efficiency
• Reduce waste

Increase Productivity
• Improve findability
• Improve usability
• Improve accessibility
• Improve portability
• Improve collaboration
• Enable mobile and telework

Increase Quality
• Manage information consistently
• Manage cases cohesively
• Improve information reliability
• Increase information availability
• Leverage automation tools

Improve Customer Service
• Improve response times
• Improve communication
• Improve customer engagement

Reduce Costs
• Reduce complexity and cost of IT
systems
• Reduce storage and maintenance
costs
• Reduce errors
• Reduce eDiscovery costs
• Reduce dependency on products
and vendors

Integrate Enterprise Information
• Eliminate duplication of
information and systems
• Ensure information reliability
• Facilitate enterprise search

Mitigate Risks & Achieve Compliance
• Ensure stronger information
security
• Ensure disaster recovery and
business continuity
• Manage records efficiently and
consistently
• Retain corporate knowledge

Improve Information Leadership
• Consolidate information strategy
and governance
• Improve information quality
• Create actionable business
intelligence

Building a Business Case for Information

The Business Case For…
This is both an initial project and an ongoing program. Your
business case should make this explicit to get approval, funding,
and authority to proceed and succeed.
A Project: Establish
Strategic Blueprint,
Roadmap, and
Infrastructure
A Program: Continue
Improving Information
Management and
Supporting Technology

Should the Business Case Include a
Technology Solution?
It depends!
If you need a technology solution to implement the strategy and architecture,
then go ahead and propose it along with some alternatives (including the
“status quo” option) for comparison.
However, if your strategy and architecture can become reality by realigning
existing investments, don’t propose new ones.
Also, don’t build a business case for a technology without doing strategy and
architecture! The technology isn’t connected to the organization’s strategy
without these (yet so many business cases and projects focus solely on
disconnected technologies—how very un-strategic!).

Major Sections of the Business Case
• Executive summary
• Business drivers, benefits & impacts
• Business risks
• Strategic blueprint
• Implementation roadmap & timeline
• Budget, costs & TCO
• Governance
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Value on investment (VOI)
• Glossary
These are some of the
major sections you can
have in your winning
business case. Follow
your organization’s
standards (if they exist)
and supplement with
these sections as
needed.

Executive Summary
• Problem statement
• Recommended solution summary
• How this solution supports the
organization’s mission, vision,
and strategy
• Business benefits summary
• Next steps
This section is
completed last. It is a
very focused summary
of your business case
that should grab
executives’ attention.
This is all some will
read.

Business Drivers, Benefits, Impacts
• Optimized business processes
• Increased productivity
• Increased quality
• Improved customer experience
• Reduced cost
• Enterprise information integration
• Risk mitigation & compliance
• Improved information leadership
These are the business
benefits described
earlier. Highlight the
ones that are most
closely aligned to your
business strategy and
mission. Align language
and goals with initiatives
that are important and
likely to be funded.

Risks
• Scope creep
• Change and disruption
• Skill limitations of users
• Resource limitations
• User adoption
These are some common
types of identified risks in a
business case.
A lack of user adoption is
always a risk for information
systems, but you can turn this
into an opportunity to
succeed.

Strategic Blueprint
• High-level information
strategy
– Critical success factors (CSFs)
– Information management
standards
• High-level information
architecture model
Strategic blueprints are
a combination of an
information strategy
and a conceptual
enterprise information
architecture map.

Implementation Roadmap & Timeline
• High-level solution
implementation plan
• High-level schedule
• High-level timeline
This is not a detailed
project plan, but should
be a higher-level
estimation of major
milestones.

Budget, Costs & TCO
• Direct & indirect costs
• Fixed & variable costs
• Costs vs. savings
• Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) vs. status quo
These are some typical
ways of looking at costs
in a business case. Use
what is relevant to your
organization and
business case.

Governance
• Implementation project
governance
• Information governance
• Technology governance
Address how governance
will work. Every part of
this needs governance,
which should include
change management,
communication, and
quality management.

Return On Investment (ROI)
• Revenue impact
• Cost reduction
• Regulatory compliance
ROI can be hard to quantify for
information management, but it
can work for things like paper
reductions, space savings,
system consolidations, error
reductions, and time
reductions.
Estimate conservatively!

Value On Investment (VOI)
• Defined key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Process efficiency gains
• Staff productivity gains
• Product & service quality gains
• New or improved capabilities
• Corporate reputation impact
• Knowledge management impact
• Business continuity & disaster recovery impact
VOI shows how IM value is far
beyond ROI measurements. It
fundamentally transforms other
aspects of the organization to
add real value that cannot
always be discretely
quantified.

Glossary
• “Information management is…”
• “Information architecture is…”
• “Knowledge management is…”
• “Records management is…”
• “eDiscovery is…”
• “Business process management is…”
• “Collaboration is…”
• SOA, EII, EAI, ECM, Cloud, etc.
A glossary helps
everyone involved
have the same
definitions for the
same words. It
also models the
value of clarity in
strategy and
architecture.

Summary
In this presentation, we discussed how to:
• Discover ways information chaos is hindering
organizations.
• Define the solution for information chaos.
• Identify key benefits from developing a unified information
strategy and architecture.
• Build a business case for information strategy and
architecture.

Thank you!
twitter.com/JKevinParker
www.linkedin.com/in/jkevinparker
www.JKevinParker.com

The Business Case for Information Strategy and Architecture

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