Information is money, so don't let it go to waste

With profits declining and stocks and shares falling, it is becoming increasingly difficult to calculate the value of an organisation in pounds. A company’s worth is no longer dependent on the amount of money it brings in every month; you need instead to look at the factors that will drive growth in the long term.

Together with its staff, the most valuable asset a company owns is the data it has accumulated over the years. Whether this is a customer database, history of a project, or people’s ideas, an organisation’s intellectual property is key to its survival in a tough climate.

But it’s no good just having this data ­ the information only becomes valuable if you know how to unlock its potential. And not everyone does. A recent survey by an information risk specialist found that UK companies waste nearly £3m searching for information each year and are consequently missing out on vital business opportunities. This vast sum of money is easily quantifiable in terms of revenues lost, market share missed out on, or unnecessary staff costs incurred.

The Charity Commission recently changed the way it gathers and stores the data it collects from more than 169,000 charities’ returns submissions. Ditching a paper-based system that was a drain on resources, slowed down the submission of information and ultimately affected the accuracy of data, it moved everything online. The organisation reported immediate efficiency gains of £425,000 per annum and saved the charity sector 18,000 man-hours per year.

Business efficiency and optimisation is important at any time, but during tough trading conditions and increasing customer service expectations it becomes critical. Right now, businesses need to become slicker, and staff need to work smarter: re-organised, re-structured, automated systems will help organisations outgrow the competition rather than just stay in business.