[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.5″ z_index_tablet=”500″]The term ‘monetisation’\u00a0 is thrown around like confetti at a wedding. It almost always refers in one way or another to the process of squeezing money out of information of some sort. The real key to monetisation success is to identify who may have value created for them by\u00a0 the access to, and use of, the information and the outcomes it can bring.<\/p>\n
Think about the differences between an X-ray and a CT scan.<\/p>\n
An X-ray is a one dimensional \u2018picture\u2019, and you only see the bones with any clarity. It is the ‘first port of call’ in a diagnosis, offering a limited view of the location and orientation of a skeletal injury. By contrast, a CT (computed tomography<\/a> ) scan is multidimensional. You see not just the bones, but the soft tissue as well, and you can see it from a variety of perspectives. it is a far more complete picture.<\/p>\n This is a fine analogy for the value of information.<\/p>\n Financial information is just like an x-ray. It cannot tell you much beyond a one dimensional analysis of a current situation, and it is incomplete. A strategic analysis of information is more like a CT scan, you can see a dramatically increased information set, and examine it from a range of perspectives. This depth of information can deliver understanding and insight about the connections and interrelationships that exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n An x-ray capability is relatively simple and cheap, whereas a CT scan is more complex and requires a far greater commitment of resources to deliver that far more detailed picture.\u00a0 CT scanning equipment costs in the region of 3 times as much as an X-ray set up, and in use, delivers perhaps 100 times the radiation of an x-ray. Not something to\u00a0 be undertaken without due consideration. A CT scan also requires a far better trained staff than an x-ray, generating greater operational and fixed costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n So it is with the information you gather and analyse in your business.<\/p>\n Information is the currency of success these days. Various studies identify in excess of\u00a0 80%<\/a> of the market valuation of listed companies coming from intangible assets. Considering this fact,\u00a0 it makes sense to have an information strategy.<\/p>\n Leaving the IT department to develop such a strategy fails to recognise the importance of information as an essential foundation of success.<\/p>\n Our standard accounting processes include an asset register, on which all assets are recorded, often down to the pens and pencils in the stationary cupboard, but I have yet to see one that puts a rationally articulated value on the information held in the data files of an enterprise. Is it just because it is hard to do, or is it because there is\u00a0 no place for it on our balance sheets and in our statutory accounts?<\/p>\n There appears to me to be 4 parameters for considering the value of your data.<\/p>\n Creating metrics for each of these is challenging.<\/p>\n Metrics are usually financial, and then usually only one dimensional, based entirely on the costs incurred as recorded. This data is available in some form in every business, but only tells a part of the story. There are opportunities to record and measure costs in other ways.<\/p>\n\n