'Information Glut' choking Australian organisations: report

By Stephen Withers
Monday, 14 September 2009 18:00

Market

Australian organisations are choking on information, and need to step back and reconsider their processes and procedures, according to the company that sponsored a new piece of research.

The survey was carried out by Sweeney Research on behalf of Hitachi Data Systems Australia and New Zealand (HDS). 400 senior IT decision makers at organisations with more than 100 employees around Australia and New Zealand were interviewed.

The most significant finding, Neville Vincent, managing director for Australia and New Zealand at HDS told iTWire, was that 34% of organisations are suffering from an 'information glut' that is affecting their performance.

If something isn't done about the problem, Australia's ability to grow and innovate out of the current downturn could be limited, he said.

But Vincent warned against the idea that the answer to the problem can be found in throwing more money and people at it. This, he suggested, was the thinking that got us into the situation, and it is unlikely to get us out of it.

Instead, he calls for an "information intervention" that involves three key steps.

Firstly, organisations should review their fundamental business processes and determine exactly what processes must be delivered to the business.

The other two steps are on page 2.