My attention was brought today on a column called « Embrassing information management as a discipline« , which dates back from March 2013. However, the content is still up-to-date.

I was pleased to read that information management must be considered by company as something important, as too many HR manager, when recruiting employees, present information management and online data collection, which is the core of information management, as a task among others. Which it is not.

Information management includes the four steps of the information cycle. Something most employees are not even aware of. How many times did the poor marketing manager receive an e-mail saying « hey, this is something for you« ‘ ? Did the person who send the mail know that his mail is the fifteenth the marketing manager received concerning this specific data ? Most of the time, no. And for a simple reason : no one knew which information the marketing manager was looking for. No one, except maybe the person or Department in charge of the information management, who could have received the e-mail and transmit it (or not ! ) to the appropriate person. Because maybe a close reading of the data would have pointed out that the R&D Department was concerned as well. Unfortunately, there is no information management process in this organisation.

This little chronicle of information management dysfunctioning in the ordinary life of the organisation, be it a Company, an administration or even an association, clearly shows how important information management is, and why it should be a mission, and not only a task, dealt with by skilled people. Would you walk the street with your eyes closed ?

Sometimes, I hear people saying « information management is everyone’s concern« . Well, it’s true. And so is accountancy. Each Department has a budget to manage, and each of them must be careful when spending the organisation’s money. But think about one thing : who declares the tax services the Company’s turnover ? And who will be held liable in case a mistake is committed on this declaration ? Obviously, the accountancy Department and its manager. The same applies to information management.

Which is why it is important to help organisations setting up an information management process and teaching students as well as employees how to do it properly. This is my discipline.