Chart your destiny

One of our analysts was working last week with an information team that is starting to develop its vision as a Centre of Excellence. The head of the team took the opportunity to blow off a little steam about all the piddly things that pull her away from high-value work.

It's a theme we hear again and again: less valuable activities eat up the time we promise ourselves we'll dedicate to strategy and things that only information experts can do.

We get great satisfaction from guiding teams through the activities that enable them to tailor the Centre of Excellence to their environment. In the words of one information manager:

"There is a huge return on this work. It allows us to chart our own destiny."

You can get started right now with the detailed guidance available to our clients through the Focus on Centre of Excellence. Each of the five articles walks you through an activity, and the accompanying webinar recordings provide further guidance.

Rebecca Brizi
Senior Analyst

Closing the value gap in portfolio management

New "aha" moments happen all the time in Jinfo's practice. Last week's "aha" came during a strategic conversation with an information team working within R&D digitisation initiatives for a manufacturing company.

The challenge on the table was the disconnect between how content suppliers report (and price) their value and how organisations can measure and manage that value.

In sharing an overview of Jinfo's methodology for strategic portfolio management, we said something we've probably said dozens of times before... but this time it struck like a lightning bolt:

When licensing teams define and measure their definition of value, buyers and suppliers both benefit. Both sides of the relationship need this insight: what actually makes a difference to business outcomes?

Invest in strategic portfolio management driven by your definition of value, and you'll deepen the partnerships that will drive the whole information ecosystem forward. Ultimately, this makes for better information products, right-sized contracts, appropriate terms and successful outcomes.

I'd love to have an "aha" moment with you. Contact me at stephen.phillips@jinfo.com to share your questions and challenges – Jinfo's Focus on Content Portfolio can be your foundation for the future.

Stephen Phillips
Senior Analyst

You know more than you think you do

Last month I ran a workshop with a client who recently completed their first draft Value Chain analysis.

Like many of the teams Jinfo works with, they found one part of the analysis particularly challenging: "Describe what stakeholders actually do to make decisions, design products, sell services, or manage risk."

Here's the secret we share with teams like this one: you know more than you think you do.

Analysing the Value Chain doesn't require you to know every process in a user's world. But it does invite you to create hypotheses – and then validate them – regarding what it takes to generate revenue, achieve innovation, or create other business outcomes.

By drawing on their insight, knowledge and research skills, every team we have worked with discovers just how much they already know. From there, they can create a Value Chain analysis that transforms relationships with stakeholders, their negotiations, and department operations.

If you're ready to do the same, contact us today. Complete the enquiry form to request time with a Jinfo analyst and tick the box for "Focus on Value Chain" to get started.

Robin Neidorf
Director of Research