Enterprise Information Management (EIM): The Hidden Secret to Peak Business PerformanceEnterprise information management (EIM) is a strategic business discipline that combines many
of the key principles of enterprise integration, business intelligence (BI), and content management
to streamline and formalize the activities associated with data storage, access, and handling.
Comprehensive EIM initiatives blend processes and technologies to significantly improve the way
information is managed and leveraged across a company.
With EIM, organizations can boost the value of their corporate information, tapping into it
to increase operational productivity, reduce overhead costs, and gain a substantial
competitive advantage. EIM is particularly important given the current financial climate, as companies struggle to remain
profitable in the face of shrinking revenues. Some of the key business drivers behind today’s EIM
projects include customer service, marketing opportunities, process improvement, regulatory
compliance, and fraud detection.Information BuildersIB_4ee54b26-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdVincent LamCo-AuthorJT TaylorCo-AuthorCompaniesCompanies that embrace EIM can realize tremendous benefits, including improved operational efficiency and enhanced strategic decision-making and planning. EIM’s ability to improve customer service can yield better customer retention. A comprehensive picture of the customer relationship allows for increased revenue opportunity. Vendor interaction costs are reduced through a single view of vendors and contracts. Error detection and correction capabilities improve business process productivity. By formalizing and streamlining the way data is created, stored, used, and administered throughout the enterprise, organizations can overcome the challenges created by today's diverse and complex technology architectures and transform their information into a solid competitive weapon.The Butler GroupOver the past decade, organizations of all types and sizes have experienced significant growth in the volume of business information they generate and maintain. That information and the technology architectures that house it have also become increasingly complex. The Butler Group, a division of Datamonitor, estimates that approximately 80 percent of vital business information is currently stored in unmanaged repositories, making its efficient and effective use a nearly
impossible feat. Smaller OrganizationsAccording to The Butler Group, broad-reaching information management allows smaller organizations to compete with much bigger companies and, when used effectively, enables larger enterprises to manage and maintain growth, scale, and agility.Big CompaniesLarge EnterprisesForrester ResearchThe value of EIM is so profound that analyst firm Forrester Research expects the market for related information management solutions to expand at an annual rate of 8.2 percent, reaching $10.9 billion by 2012. Organizations increase operational productivity, reduce overhead costs, and gain competitive advantage. _4ee54d1a-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdTo empower businesses to better manage their information throughout all phases of its lifecycle. _4ee54e00-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdAccuracyLack of control over how data is created, updated, and stored causes serious information errors.CompletenessAn inability to reach all sources and combine and consolidate the data contained within them hinders the thoroughness of the information that stakeholders use to carry out their day-to-day activities.ConsistencyFragmented business applications often result in multiple versions of the truth and can negatively impact cross-departmental coordination, resulting in misinformed or incorrect business decisions.RelevanceTo be valuable, information must first be useful. If employees cannot access the
relevant, contextual data they need to perform their jobs, they will be less productive.TimelinessManaged information becomes worthless if the information is not delivered in a timely manner when needed.LatencyAllow companies to manage all data, and its quality, via their most preferred method._4ee54ebe-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd1The iWay EIM suite supports multiple levels of latency, such as: * Online -- Users can manage data as they are entering, updating, or interacting with it * Real time -- Information can be validated and handled the moment it is generated in the course of automated events or transactions. For example, content from an EDI message can be either pushed or pulled the moment a supplier sends it * In batch -- Data can be automatically pushed or pulled between sources every hour, day, week, month, or at any other interval.Responsible_4ee54f90-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdAccessProvide unlimited data access._4ee55058-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd2A company's information is often spread out across numerous types of assets, including packaged applications, databases, files, documents, and messages. For EIM to deliver maximum results, it must ensure proper retrieval, use, handling, and management of all information, in all sources and formats from across an entire enterprise. That includes both the structured data that resides in databases and other standardized locations and the unstructured content that exists in free form, such as in electronic documents and files, and the information captured through automated messages and transactions. Additionally, all information must be readily accessible to all users whenever they need it -- whether on a scheduled or recurring basis, or in real time.Responsible_4ee55120-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdManagement & QualitySupport end-to-end data management and quality control._4ee551fc-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd3EIM is about more than just consolidating and centralizing data to make it easier to obtain. It's about ensuring the quality and integrity of that data as well as its relevance and usability for employees, external customers, and business partners across and beyond the enterprise. That's why it is important for an EIM strategy and related solutions to include capabilities for:ResponsibleMaster Data ManagementSupport the global identification, linking, and synchronization of information across multiple heterogeneous sources._4ee552c4-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd1By building repositories holding "golden records" of master data, or registries that allow the creation of Virtual Master Records, organizations can access single versions of the truth across the enterprise on critical master data such as customer, patient, citizen, product, vendor, or employeeData Quality ManagementEnsure the consistency and integrity of information as it flows instream, upstream, and downstream._4ee55396-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd2The more data sources and end-user touch points a company has, the more critical it becomes to have comprehensive data quality managementReachRetrieve, manage, and leverage information for maximum strategic advantage._4ee5547c-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd4Any data in any source and in any format can be directly accessed and seamlessly integrated including: ERP/Financials (JDE, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP) * Industry (ACORD, HL7, SWIFT…) * Legacy Systems (CICS, IMS, VSAM) * SFA/CRM (Amdocs, Siebel, Salesforce.com) * Data Warehouse (DB2, Netezza, Teradata…) * B2B (EDI, MFT) * Unstructured (documents, spreadsheets, e-mail)Responsible_4ee55558-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fdIntegrationLeverage corporate data to support integration initiatives._4ee5562a-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd5Laying the Foundation for Critical Information-Integration Initiatives -- The iWay EIM suite is open and configurable, giving companies the power to leverage their corporate data to support a wide array of integration initiatives including:ResponsibleSOAFacilitate the creation and loose coupling of services and systems._4ee55706-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd5.1As the benefits of service-oriented architectures (SOA) become more apparent, a growing number of organizations are seeking to manage their information via SOA-based methods. SOA is a development and integration approach that addresses issues with interoperability by facilitating the creation and loose coupling of services and systems.EAICreate a view of information that can be shared across systems._4ee557e2-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd5.2For many companies, the need to share data extends beyond people to include applications. Various back-end systems that manage similar types of information, such as help desk systems and accounting packages that both contain customer-related data, must be linked to promote consistency and prevent misleading, false, or outdated information from hindering core business operations.B2BHelp organizations overcome data integrity challenges._4ee558c8-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd5.3B2B-Oriented EIM -- Many broad-reaching information management initiatives encompass business-to-business interactions in some form or another. This can result in new data integrity challenges, since the entities that the company is exchanging data with may not have formal information management and quality control procedures in place. The iWay EIM suite can help organizations overcome these obstacles with powerful features:ETLExtract, transform, and load (ETL) data._4ee55a12-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd5.4The iWay EIM suite includes powerful extract, transform, and load (ETL) tools. So companies that need to migrate data across back-end systems or consolidate it into marts, warehouses, or operational data stores can seamlessly bring together information from multiple sources and locations across the business. The iWay EIM suite offers today’s most advanced ETL functionality, such as:FlexibilityMake data available to support corporate integration initiatives._4ee55b02-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd6This includes B2B; enterprise application integration (EAI); extract, transform, and load (ETL) for creating data warehouses, data marts, and operational data stores; and service-oriented architectures (SOA).Information BuildersResponsible_4ee55bfc-b37d-11e6-bdf4-97fb9e0319fd2016-11-26OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net