The key issues in information management in the mid-1990s. Back to business basics through the commercialisation of the ISD

Abstract

This paper takes a business or commercial perspective of the key issues in Information Management for the mid-1990s. It focuses on how organisations may use information systems to improve their efficiency and effectiveness as well as how these systems may be used directly in the process of wealth creation. This is referred to as bringing the ISD back to business basics. In this context the paper looks at the major concerns which exercise the minds of senior information managers and information technology directors as they proceed into the mid-1990s. This paper expounds the view that the next few years will see a greater emphasis on the business aspects of information systems i.e. their commercialisation rather than a simple concern for the employment of the technology itself. Although the issues specially addressed in this paper have been drawn from research in the business area the same principles are relevant to other organisations in the government, in educational institutions and other not-for-profit enterprises.