This week, the first EMEA based Information On Demand (IOD) conference was held in The Hague (Den Haag) in the Netherlands. There were around 2,000 people from across all of Europe, and even some countries in the Middle East and Africa, who made the trip to hear more about how companies are driving more value from their information.
One of the main messages heard at the event was the need for companies to start thinking about their Information Agenda - how they can better leverage information across their organization to drive more business value, the infrastructure they need in place to support this, and a roadmap for how to get there. Ambuj Goyal, General Manager of the Information Management Software division at IBM, encouraged people to take information to the next level, and to use it as a strategic asset. He indicated that organizations who establish trusted information will be able to unlock the business value of information for competitive advantage...and those who do not run the risk of being left behind.
René Carayol, international business guru and media personality, invited customers to the stage to share their experiences in implementing their own Information Agendas. Jacqui Leggetter, from the Department for Work & Pensions in the UK, spearheaded an effort to integrate enterprise content management (ECM) with customer relationship management (CRM). As a result, the Department reduced a five day paper-intensive process to one, enhancing the customer experience.
Markus Bayha, from Fiducia, the largest IT service provider to the financial services community in Germany, garnered C-level sponsorship to implement a solution that now effectively serves 800 banks. With its new-found capabilities, Fiducia is able to help customers increase revenue through the sales of new banking products and services, and can now monitor, control and analyze information to drive its future sales and marketing strategy.
In addition, Nick Donofrio, IBM's Vice President of Innovation and Technology, spoke to the attendees, reminding them that harnessing information is an essential element of innovation that matters, which delivers client value, creates new business models, and spurs growth. He encouraged people to combine technology with business insight, and to lead change versus enduring or tolerating it - only with change comes innovation.
Overall, it was a great event that demonstrated the enthusiasm and interest of companies all over EMEA in driving increased business value from their information. One of the biggest questions this leaves everyone to take away is, what's YOUR Information Agenda? Do you have one?
