Benchmarking - how Jinfo goes beyond the broad and basic
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

Jinfo's director of research, Robin Neidorf, explains what makes Jinfo's benchmarking research so unique, why it was needed, why it's not available elsewhere, and what getting those unique insights entailed.

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Benchmarking research covering information centres is so scant as to be almost non-existent, even in terms of basic statistical information such as numbers of employees and broad information on budgets. This has long been a frustration for us and our customers. 

When planning our Research Focus, "Benchmark information roles - optimise your structure", we knew we wanted to go beyond those broad and basic parameters to really dig into the more elusive and more strategic elements.

Through our research and consulting work with customers we knew there was a real demand for more insightful benchmarking analysis and tools - not just from those organisations operating at the most strategic end of the spectrum but also from information centres currently operating a more traditional enquiry-based model and seeking to move up the value chain. 

Read our top 3 insights now

Three key insights and a thematic index to all the content published as part of the Research Focus are now available for all site visitors to download in our Insights & Actions report. 

Subscriber value

This year one research involved over 100 hours of work and 18 in-depth individual interviews with information managers, primarily in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and professional services. We supplemented the one-to-one interviews with written surveys to capture quantitative data. 

The individual interviews, lasting between 45 and 80 minutes each, were essential to ensure we were gathering and reporting comparable information from each participant and capturing what makes the most successful information centres thrive. The process, though time-consuming, enabled us to tackle insightful questions such as how to define information services, and to develop practical actions and benchmarking models you can use in your own organisation.

Presented in a 39-page PDF, Jinfo Subscribers can download the full research results today, including our original data.

What's next?

This research is very much the first stage in what we see as an ongoing investigation and modelling of information services and success. Later this year we'll be interviewing a cohort of banking and financial services organisations. 

In 2018 we'll be revisiting the benchmarking research with a fresh approach, building on what we learnt in year one. 

If you're interested in taking part in our research project, contact me on robin.neidorf@jinfo.com.

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