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Information resource management
019X-971j~X3~010021-03sO3.04.0 Pergamon PressLtd
INFORMATION
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
THOMASL. MCGOVERN Computer
Services and Information Systems, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
Dade County,
TNFORMA'TION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT embodies the concept that information should be looked at as a corporate resource and managed accordingly. Most of the advocates of this concept come from the information-processing community primarily because of the impact of the emerging new technologies on this field. The concept has not gained wide acceptance because it is difficult to quantify, it is theoretical in nature and top management has to a considerable degree expressed skepticism. Regardless of this, information resource maI~agemetlt has merit because information is an important resource to any organization and a little reflection will show the enormous costs that every management organization of consequence is willing to accept in order to have information available so that management of all other resources can be controlled and directed. All elements of information, and the systems used to manipulate that data, should come under management scrutiny. There are many aspects of information management and the distinctions between and among them are becoming blurred by new information technologies making more and more information available to managers directly from the machinery upon which this information resides. Two developments have revolutionized the world of information technology: First. the developments resulting from successful exploitation of large-scale int~~ratioll, which has led to a steady and rapidly declining price for hardware to the point where lnini-~microprocessors with enormous power are available at extremely low cost; and the second is the development of sophisticated capabilities to interconnect different machinery through teleprocessing networking. The era of the 1960s and 1970s saw the dominance of large computers being used to support the information needs of most organizations. Orderliness, structure and tight control were the bywords of this time frame. Applications were those which crossed most of the boundaries within the corporate structure, for example, payroll, accounting, personnel and cost-accounting systems where large data bases being manipulated by relatively large machines were the order of the day. The advent of large-scale integration led to a proliferation of mini- and microcomputers in the early to late 1970s which had the effect of many organizations rethinking the centralizatio~l theme. Distributed processing became an accepted method of operation with equipment distributed outward from the central complex and connected by various techniques of networking. There was resistance on the part of some DP professionals during this period, but progress in the implementation of distribution of function and power was inevitable. At the same time, during this period, many new systems were developed. Most had increasing amounts of complexity and organizations became increasingly dependent upon their proper functioning. This was just the beginning, for success of both the large-scale integration movement and networking brought with it attendant problems. Backlogs developed in applications areas. Many requirements were so small and so far down the priority list that they would never be addressed by the DP department. At the same time many other uses of the minicomputer became commonplace. Extraordinary numbers of lninicomputers became available with well-developed libraries of applications wherein a user could very quickly bring the application up and become “independent” of
22
THOMASL. MCGOVEKN
the central complex at very low cost. Of course, there were fallacies of composition in his in that most minis of that time frame could not support large-scale operations, but thty did indeed provide for the user an ability to cope with many smaller probiems very effectively. Minicomputer capability began appearing in equipment, now called word processors, in the late 1970s along with micrographic equipment, personal computers and a host of other devices. Each has a place. Communications capabilities are available, and these devices lend themselves to networking. In fact, some manufacturer’s forte is the networking of these devices into a system of support which can challenge the most powerful central-processing capability with their ability to manipulate information. In the micrographics area, computer output on microfilm~fiche (COM) operations are routinely a part of DP functions as data processors continued to use this output media to reduce the cost of producing the enormous number of reports routinely a part of their daily operation. Computer-assisted retrieval systems (CAR) make these COM media a viable afternative to magnetic storage, and CAR systems are becoming increasingly commonplace. The impact of these changes and others associated with ofice automation is traumatic. Many DP professionals find it difficult to cope with the idea that “computers” are no longer the sole or premiere office technology available for information management. The facts are, there are many emerging technologies capable of playing a very significant role in information management. If there is not a coherent management scheme for managing and controlling the information these systems handle as well as some management control over the systems themselves. chaos can result. Networking may help to solve some of the problems in integrating this tech~lology and the creation of an information-management plan within the organization that defines the roles of each of these capabilities, and makes possible their efficient use, will undoubtedly assist in solving many of the problems involved. Is this the role of the information resource manager of the future or is the role broader or more restricted? Should the information resource manager be the DP manager’? What arguments exist that can be used persuasively to overcome the skepticism of management? One of the most difficult ideas for DP professionals to come to grips with is the one supporting the concept that a user should be able to interact directly with his data without going through professionals in the DP business, that is, doing his own programming. The fundamenta1 idea of the infor~natioll center is to put the user in direct control of his data, accessing information stored on the central computer as well as on the machines distributed within his own environment with the ability to extract and manipulate that data as desired and to produce personalized reports while at the same time protecting the integrity of the corporate data base. This capability has extraordinary potentials. Normally a manager has to describe his requirements to a computer professional who then translates these requirements into a program to access the files and produce the resulting report. The information center would give that manager access to the computer-based files directly, allow him to find the information desired and used it as they see fit. A proliferation of tools is available in today’s marketplace to make this happen. These are the so called 4th-generation languages that James Martin talks so glowingly about as part of his programmeriess society. Tools, such as SAS, FOCUS, RAMUS, QBE. STAIRS, APL, ADRS, OLE, INQUIRE, EASYTRIEVE, CULPRIT, ROSCOE, UFO and a host of others, make this concept a possibility. There is one inescapable fact: responding rapidly to the types of requests which can be handled by these tools takes a considerable amount of resources. We generally categorize this effort as maintenance, and estimates of the amount of resources required to support maintanance activities range from 40% to as high as 70 or 80% of total effort. This is an expenditure that should be examined carefully because we are using highlyskilled, scarce, expensive resources to accomplish what can be readily done by alternative
Information
resource
management
23
soLrces of manpower, which in some cases may be more efficient and perhaps less erpensive. By using an information center concept and the tools mentioned above it appears that we can accomplish the objective in less time. If we do not address the idea of “information resource management and establish ways to deal with the increasing demands of users and the proliferation of low-cost equipment which can be easily used, we will be bypassed by the operational support of information processing needs of our organization. Will we in effect be left to feed the dinosaurs of Aalborg, that is, the payroll, accounting, personnel systems etc.‘? It seems one answer lies in organizing to exploit the ability of this proliferation of low-cost equipment that is available, designing a role for it within our organization, then getting about the business of creating the networks and management structures needed to support it. Ready access to information is paramount and we should be looking to the tools currently available to facilitate our user’s ability to access his data and use it without having to “wait on professional data processing resource availability.” The “information center concept” is another tool that DP managers must examine as an overall part of information resource management as well as a partial answer to larger and more general issues facing local government.
INFORMATION
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
THOMASL. MCGOVERN Computer
Services and Information Systems, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
Dade County,
TNFORMA'TION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT embodies the concept that information should be looked at as a corporate resource and managed accordingly. Most of the advocates of this concept come from the information-processing community primarily because of the impact of the emerging new technologies on this field. The concept has not gained wide acceptance because it is difficult to quantify, it is theoretical in nature and top management has to a considerable degree expressed skepticism. Regardless of this, information resource maI~agemetlt has merit because information is an important resource to any organization and a little reflection will show the enormous costs that every management organization of consequence is willing to accept in order to have information available so that management of all other resources can be controlled and directed. All elements of information, and the systems used to manipulate that data, should come under management scrutiny. There are many aspects of information management and the distinctions between and among them are becoming blurred by new information technologies making more and more information available to managers directly from the machinery upon which this information resides. Two developments have revolutionized the world of information technology: First. the developments resulting from successful exploitation of large-scale int~~ratioll, which has led to a steady and rapidly declining price for hardware to the point where lnini-~microprocessors with enormous power are available at extremely low cost; and the second is the development of sophisticated capabilities to interconnect different machinery through teleprocessing networking. The era of the 1960s and 1970s saw the dominance of large computers being used to support the information needs of most organizations. Orderliness, structure and tight control were the bywords of this time frame. Applications were those which crossed most of the boundaries within the corporate structure, for example, payroll, accounting, personnel and cost-accounting systems where large data bases being manipulated by relatively large machines were the order of the day. The advent of large-scale integration led to a proliferation of mini- and microcomputers in the early to late 1970s which had the effect of many organizations rethinking the centralizatio~l theme. Distributed processing became an accepted method of operation with equipment distributed outward from the central complex and connected by various techniques of networking. There was resistance on the part of some DP professionals during this period, but progress in the implementation of distribution of function and power was inevitable. At the same time, during this period, many new systems were developed. Most had increasing amounts of complexity and organizations became increasingly dependent upon their proper functioning. This was just the beginning, for success of both the large-scale integration movement and networking brought with it attendant problems. Backlogs developed in applications areas. Many requirements were so small and so far down the priority list that they would never be addressed by the DP department. At the same time many other uses of the minicomputer became commonplace. Extraordinary numbers of lninicomputers became available with well-developed libraries of applications wherein a user could very quickly bring the application up and become “independent” of
22
THOMASL. MCGOVEKN
the central complex at very low cost. Of course, there were fallacies of composition in his in that most minis of that time frame could not support large-scale operations, but thty did indeed provide for the user an ability to cope with many smaller probiems very effectively. Minicomputer capability began appearing in equipment, now called word processors, in the late 1970s along with micrographic equipment, personal computers and a host of other devices. Each has a place. Communications capabilities are available, and these devices lend themselves to networking. In fact, some manufacturer’s forte is the networking of these devices into a system of support which can challenge the most powerful central-processing capability with their ability to manipulate information. In the micrographics area, computer output on microfilm~fiche (COM) operations are routinely a part of DP functions as data processors continued to use this output media to reduce the cost of producing the enormous number of reports routinely a part of their daily operation. Computer-assisted retrieval systems (CAR) make these COM media a viable afternative to magnetic storage, and CAR systems are becoming increasingly commonplace. The impact of these changes and others associated with ofice automation is traumatic. Many DP professionals find it difficult to cope with the idea that “computers” are no longer the sole or premiere office technology available for information management. The facts are, there are many emerging technologies capable of playing a very significant role in information management. If there is not a coherent management scheme for managing and controlling the information these systems handle as well as some management control over the systems themselves. chaos can result. Networking may help to solve some of the problems in integrating this tech~lology and the creation of an information-management plan within the organization that defines the roles of each of these capabilities, and makes possible their efficient use, will undoubtedly assist in solving many of the problems involved. Is this the role of the information resource manager of the future or is the role broader or more restricted? Should the information resource manager be the DP manager’? What arguments exist that can be used persuasively to overcome the skepticism of management? One of the most difficult ideas for DP professionals to come to grips with is the one supporting the concept that a user should be able to interact directly with his data without going through professionals in the DP business, that is, doing his own programming. The fundamenta1 idea of the infor~natioll center is to put the user in direct control of his data, accessing information stored on the central computer as well as on the machines distributed within his own environment with the ability to extract and manipulate that data as desired and to produce personalized reports while at the same time protecting the integrity of the corporate data base. This capability has extraordinary potentials. Normally a manager has to describe his requirements to a computer professional who then translates these requirements into a program to access the files and produce the resulting report. The information center would give that manager access to the computer-based files directly, allow him to find the information desired and used it as they see fit. A proliferation of tools is available in today’s marketplace to make this happen. These are the so called 4th-generation languages that James Martin talks so glowingly about as part of his programmeriess society. Tools, such as SAS, FOCUS, RAMUS, QBE. STAIRS, APL, ADRS, OLE, INQUIRE, EASYTRIEVE, CULPRIT, ROSCOE, UFO and a host of others, make this concept a possibility. There is one inescapable fact: responding rapidly to the types of requests which can be handled by these tools takes a considerable amount of resources. We generally categorize this effort as maintenance, and estimates of the amount of resources required to support maintanance activities range from 40% to as high as 70 or 80% of total effort. This is an expenditure that should be examined carefully because we are using highlyskilled, scarce, expensive resources to accomplish what can be readily done by alternative
Information
resource
management
23
soLrces of manpower, which in some cases may be more efficient and perhaps less erpensive. By using an information center concept and the tools mentioned above it appears that we can accomplish the objective in less time. If we do not address the idea of “information resource management and establish ways to deal with the increasing demands of users and the proliferation of low-cost equipment which can be easily used, we will be bypassed by the operational support of information processing needs of our organization. Will we in effect be left to feed the dinosaurs of Aalborg, that is, the payroll, accounting, personnel systems etc.‘? It seems one answer lies in organizing to exploit the ability of this proliferation of low-cost equipment that is available, designing a role for it within our organization, then getting about the business of creating the networks and management structures needed to support it. Ready access to information is paramount and we should be looking to the tools currently available to facilitate our user’s ability to access his data and use it without having to “wait on professional data processing resource availability.” The “information center concept” is another tool that DP managers must examine as an overall part of information resource management as well as a partial answer to larger and more general issues facing local government.