Optimize Your Information Value Chain

Every day, companies participate in a value-adding chain of information processing activities. They take orders, interact with customers, transmit orders to suppliers, track accounts receivable, etc. Information technology can make this value chain more efficient and yield new business intelligence.

However to achieve benefits from IT, there must be a match between the IT chosen and the company's business processes. The match is achieved by both selecting appropriate technology and changing the underlying business process.

Tracking information technology and determining how to apply it to a business's information value chain is a full time job in and of itself. Bud Gibson and company help managers through this process by:

• Determining the critical information processes in strategic activities.
• Determining high-value technology interventions and necessary business process changes.
• Prioritizing interventions by most likely to enhance business value.
• Sourcing IT vendors.
• Assisting with implementation.

Create High Value Information Products

The arrival of the Internet and other publically available network technologies has created the opportunity for businesses to perform more of their activities electronically. The resulting information can be turned into unique, high-value products.

These information products may be sold separately, for instance access to real-time stock quotes. Or, they might be bundled as value-adding components into other products, for instance customer product recommendations. Further, information products are not just limited to a company's own data. They might also include data collected from third parties, for instance Internet market research.

The essential principle is that the information must include some element of proprietary data or analysis that is hard to duplicate and of unique value to customers. The required combination of business and technical expertise makes these products hard to create. Bud Gibson have extensive business and technical experience and regularly consult on information products. Bud Gibson and company help companies at all stages of creating and launching potential information products by:

• Defining product value propositions.
• Identifying and prioritizing markets for these products.
• Developing and refining the information products themselves.
• Prioritizing product delivery channels.
• Identifying beta and launch customers.
• Assisting with implementation.