In the new world of work, a free flow of information can keep your organization healthy. Anyone who’s ever taken a science class knows how valuable blood is to our continued existence. And just as blood keeps us going day after day, so too does information keep your organization going.
The information must flow
A modern organization relies on the free flow of information to be successful. In order to provide quality customer service, your customer-facing reps must have the information customers need — and if you want to keep them as customers, they better have it quickly. Your workforce needs to be able to use and share information with their colleagues in order to make better business decisions, no matter if they’re sitting next to each other in the office or if they’re half a world apart. Middle management needs immediate access to information in order to be more agile and respond better to business challenges, while the executive team needs to understand the information flowing into the organization in order to steer the ship the right way and avoid dangers.
Stemming the flow of information in an organization can have drastic consequences. If your IT team doesn’t have real-time information about network security and potential threats, you could end up the victim of a major data breach. If a bottleneck is preventing information from being shared between different departments, the entire organization suffers. And if your risk and compliance teams don’t have immediate access to vital information, your organization could even find itself on the wrong side of the law.
Why you should care
This is why we spend so much time at Ricoh talking about this idea of information mobility — the ability for an organization to capture, transform, use and share information without impediment. No matter what business you’re in, what separates successful organizations from those that aren’t is the level of information mobility within the organization. According to a Ricoh-commissioned survey conducted by IDC, just 17 percent of companies were at the highest level of information mobility — what IDC called information mobility champions or organizations that stood out from the pack. Information mobility champions:
Had an annual average revenue increase of $7,210 per employee
Reduced costs by more than $16,000 for each worker
Saw an average net productivity increase of 28 percent
Of course, if 17 percent of companies are at the highest level of information mobility, that means that more than 4 in 5 organizations have a way to go to get these benefits. And getting there can be a challenge. You need a plan that can provide a holistic view of the entire organization in order to promote key business goals, but can also address individual challenges within every department across the organization — or to put it succinctly, you need depth and breadth.
How to get healthy
To be sure, not every information problem demands an outside solution. You don’t go to the doctor for a minor cut, and most organizations don’t look to a partner to help when they encounter a single information challenge. The problem comes when you have many cuts or a major wound — or even worse, a blockage preventing blood from getting to where it needs to go.
It’s the same way with information in the business world. If your organization is suffering from dozens of minor information challenges, a large information leak or bottlenecks that keep your information from getting where it needs to go, it may be time to get an outside opinion.
And that’s where we can help.
Want to know more?
Our experienced systems experts would be happy to answer your questions, help you explore your options and develop a customized plan for you. Learn more at stratixsystems.com or call us toll-free 1-800-444-2943.