The CIO as “Chief Innovation Officer” & Information Master: Information Management vs. Innovation Management

Information Management makes information available and useful to providing innovative ideas for either growing the business or delighting customers.

The abundance of information brings both unprecedented opportunities and risks to businesses today. Information is the lifeblood of the enterprise, but if not properly managed, it becomes at worst case a liability and at best case an underutilized asset. Information Management is all about having the right people to have the right information to make right decisions at the right time. Information is one of the most critical pieces in innovation puzzle. Given this assertion, there is no limit to the value of information in running a high mature digital organization. CIOs as “Chief Innovation Officer”: How can you connect the dots between information management and innovation management?

Information-enabled innovation management is more science than art: IT is the key element of business innovation. Information brings about business ideas; business ideas generate lots of information. Information and technology catalyze today's digital businesses. Information Systems are the backbone and provide valuable information for business growth and improve the organizational responsiveness. Companies today can abstract business and customer insight from explosive information, and bring to the table innovative solutions that meet customers’ needs and fit the growth perspective of the organization. Innovations happen at the intersection of people and IT, business and customers. Therefore, information is one of the most time-sensitive pieces to the digital innovation puzzle. How well the organization manages innovation is based on the varying factors, such as the speed of decision-making, the attitude toward risk, how effective for the allocation of resources; what’s the altitude of innovation impact and the aptitude to manage innovation; how efficient of the innovation processes or lack thereof. IT is the linchpin to connect all necessary business elements to implement great ideas and achieve their commercial business value. The science of innovation management is to manage innovation lifecycle and executes in a systematic manner that provides sustained competitive advantage.

Information is the key ingredient of innovative solutions to today’s complex business problems: Digital organizations must manage information effectively, and bring to the table innovative solutions that meet customers’ needs while reducing the cost to market. Information Management is the overall process of aligning the use of information through the management practices: What data you have, in what format and the location and method it is held? Information Management is the management with knowledge as a focus, involves the use of technologies and processes with the aim of optimizing the business value that is generated. The art and science of information management are to optimize its usage, how to refine information into knowledge and business insight and achieve its value and full potential. Information Management is to connect people with the right information at the right time and location, to ensure that accurate information is accessible and shared within relevant business units, brainstorm innovative solutions to either existing or emerging business problems. The potential value of information also depends on how the information will be used again in the future for either running business or managing innovation in a structural way. Information Management is, in fact, becoming the core digital capability of the business.

Running IT as an innovation hub, Information Technology should be seen by any business as the growth engine: IT needs will only expand. It’s simply not sufficient for IT to “keep the lights on” only. To reinvent IT as an innovation hub, IT leaders need to be proactive and get really creative on how they architect and implement changes, to ensure IT is strategically positioned to be ahead of where the business is moving now. Information Management is about how to achieve the value of information which is defined uniquely, qualitatively, and, measurable. CIO should focus on the information content and context; how that information can be tapped from the underlying data and be utilized to turn it into valuable business foresight and customer insight and come up with innovative solutions. CIOs need to be the creative leaders who can make an influence and shape the culture of innovation via leveraging the powerful digital platforms and tools for enforcing idea sharing and creative communication. IT can play even bigger role in re-framing of business planning processes in order, allowing creativity and innovation to flow, identifying technology as well as business risks, etc, along with re-framing of in-place processes that filter and fund investments.As a result, innovation becomes a persistent, shared reality, even across silos and geographies. CIOs have to advocate their organizations as the innovation hub because the penetration of information enables the business to refine the business foresight, prepare for changes, and execute business strategy solidly. and IT value has to be driven, indicated, and understood at all levels of the organization.

Information Management makes information available and useful to providing innovative ideas for either growing the business or delighting customers. Innovation is not just about the intuitive interface to enchant customers; behind the scenes, information management is the crucial piece of solving the innovation puzzle via optimizing the value of information while minimizing risks. The art and science of Information Management are to optimize its usage and achieve its value as well as its full potential and get the entire business ready for opening the new chapter of digital innovation.

Posted in: CIO Leadership,CIO Master