Information Management
Background/Introduction
When: Q1 2012 Customer: Drilling Company
Due to rapid growth, the company experienced issues around information management. It was no longer possible to rely on personal communication as the main carrier of information as new employees didn’t know who to contact. Failure to provide correct information had been identified as a root cause of several costly non-conformances.
The company had decided to implement an intranet solution to enable tailored dashboards, securing access to relevant information for all employees, but struggled in defining the content for the dashboards as well as where to find the information.
Project:
Avito was consulted to prepare an information architecture enabling stepwise implementation of a tailored intranet. Avito chose a 5 step approach:
Establish an overview of the company’s processes
Establish an overview of where information was stored
Identify the roles involved in each process and establish their information need (detailed, system level or overview) at each process step
Prepare information work packages for implementation. In order to show quick results from the project, a general Intranet homepage was established and tailored information packages were developed and implemented for one process at a time, providing tailored information for each role involved in the process. The first process implemented was the “Approval for expenditure” process
Establish “user forums”, thus allowing a dynamic, yet controlled development of the presentation of information
The first 3 steps were developed in just over three months, so that the company had got a full overview of the information architecture. Based on this architecture, it was easy for the company to see “who needs what information when” based on the roles and process mapping. The first implementation package was delivered one month after project kick-off, ensuring measurable results early in the project.
Deliveries/results
Avito delivered:
An information architecture showing who needs what information when and from where. This helped prioritizing implementation packages, identified information gaps in the organization and clarified master data storage
Implementation packages for the intranet implementation project
User forums for the key information processes
The result for the company was:
Improved information flow as intended
In some cases, more efficient processes
Improved quality of information
Improved informal information flow through user forums causing a more holistic process view.
Lessons Learned
Mapping processes, roles and information need give a valuable total overview of the information flow in the company, and by adopting Avito’s structured approach it is less time consuming and more productive than one should think.
Implementation of information systems can be managed best by focusing on roles, processes or a combination of these. A technology focus alone will not give the intended value.
A stepwise implementation of information systems gives fast results and provides a valuable pilot for the technical solution
A defined scope is beneficial to ensure a controlled delivery
User forums are essential, not only to ensure a dynamic technical information flow, but also to improve the informal information flow.
