InfoSight Partners

http://www.info-sight-partners.com/Actionability_Index.html

The workbench contains three interactive dashboards which are used for deriving action plans to improve the action ability of information used by your organization.

There are five parts to complete in this workbench, the strategic dimension pages, the part 2 of the strategic workbench page, the SWOT analysis, and the potential initiatives page. Each of these are factored into the InfoSight Partners Action Ability Index (ISPAA)TM.

The workbench is comprised of two components. The dimensions of Information strategy are used for scoring your focus and image when dealing with actionable information. The second part is used to determine which information receives greater attention.

Return the spreadsheets to benchmark@info-sight-partners.com as a pre-cursor to discuss:

Next steps we have derived from your responses

The results we have obtained from your responses

A comparison to what we have heard from similar organizations

What best practices we found to work best for responses similar to yours

An explanation of the information perception attributes and how they were cast in this workbench

We look forward to hearing from you

InfoSight Partners, LLC

Mark Albala, President

Lynn Albala, CPA, CMA, Chief Financial Officer

Upon request, we will provide you a desktop version of the workbench

which you can work on at your leisure and return to InfoSight Partners upon completion.

To request the desktop version, email mark@info-sight-partners.com.

InfoSight icon.png,ActionAbilityWorkbookLabel2.png

Complete the Strategic Insight Workbench and return to InfoSight Partners at

benchmark@info-sight-partners.com.

The results of the completed workbench will be reviewed and the results will be shared with you.

The interactive dashboard will be updated as the assessment is completed.

Ideally, the workbench should be completed by both technical and non-technical personnel.

Respondent

Please fill in information below

There are a number of Tabs to be completed, each representing one dimension of providing focused actionable information

Name

Strategic Insight, or the ability to integrate and synthesize organizational strategies into focused relevant data that is actionable for the strategies of the organization

Title

Transition into Programs, or the ability to derive a valid business case and corral the people, processes and technologies necessary to deliver focused, relevant, actionable information

Company

Trustworthiness, or the ability to garner the trust of organizational stakeholders to the point where they feel totally comfortable using provided information for critical time sensitive decisions

Location

Focus, or the ability to provide focus on data pertinent to current day issues requiring the attention of organizational stewards

Why you are completing this worksheet

Repeatable Process, or having a well honed process that is both extremely flexible and auditable, resulting in the publication of trustworthy, relevant, focused information

Date

Business Case Insight, or the ability to quickly derive a business case that will garner the necessary attention and funding of organizational stewards required to maintain momentum and relevance

email address

Possessing a sufficiently nimble business and technical architecture that is both comprehensive and flexible

Phone Number

Possessing a well honed team providing the appropriate management, delivery and operations capabilities necessary to deliver trustworthy, relevant focused information at the convenience of organizational stewards

Industry (per SIC Codes)

Best Time to Contact You


Business Strategy Insight	1=Low, 5=High
There is a formal process to ensure that information is aligned with the key intents of the organization
There is executive guidance to ensure that the published data is relevant to the strategic intents of the organization
The information published is relevant for strategic, tactical and operational use
The bidirectional communications necessary for alignment of published data with opportunities in the marketplace are functional
The bidirectional communications necessary to ensure relevance of published data is functional
The bidirectional communication necessary for effective input into the business plan is functional
The management of the information life cycle is integrated into the organizational strategies
The management of the information centric resources of the organization are effective		Strategy Scoring		Your Score	Group Score
The contribution of strategically aligned initiatives are measured and factored into management bonuses			Business Strategy Input into Information Strategy
The momentum of information centric activities is sufficient to ensure vibrant adoption and refinement of relevant trustworthy information			Business Strategy Score
InfoSight Comments

						a
Translation into Programs	1=Low, 5=High
A proactive training strategy is formulated and budgeted to ensure the skills available are sufficient for identified programs
The critical factors for the program are identified, measurable and integrated into a communication plan
The strategic intents of the organization are translated into the sponsored and funded program
The key performance indicators to be used for monitoring success are defined and widely accepted
The metrics identified are integrated into a well accepted metric communication model
The alignment of the program objectives to the top drivers of the organization is widely accepted by organizational stewards and program stakeholders
The deployment plan is defined and approved with key deliverables occurring no less frequently than every 90 days
The deployment plan is followed and deviations to the plan are documented and integrated into a change management program
The output and expected outcomes of the program are clearly defined
The communication plan for the program is devised and widely accepted
The mechanism for identifying, prioritizing and dispensing with issues is defined, clearly documented and widely accepted
The risk mitigation plans for the program are clearly defined and integrated into the program plan, well documented and widely accepted		Program Scoring		Your Score	Group Score
The budgeting implications of the program have been addressed			Business Strategy Input into Information Strategy
The resources to be applied to the program are identified and address all the skills required to be successful in the implementation of this program			Business Strategy Score
InfoSight Comments
a











Trustworthiness	1=Low, 5=High
The data published to organizational stewards is universally accepted as a trustworthy single version of the truth
A well formulated active data quality stewardship program is in place that has active participation and sponsorship of organizational stewards
Models utilized for predicting opportunity outcomes have provisions for accurately measuring confidence levels of expected outcomes
Models utilized for predicting opportunity outcomes are highly comprehensive and generally accepted as the basis for collaboration within the organization
The integration of information is devised in such a way so organizational stewards need not become or engage technicians to obtain the information they need
Simple secured access to just in time data is provided to organizational stewards			Information Trustworthiness Input into Information Strategy
Information access is mated to the needs and styles of organizational stewards			Trustworthiness Score
Single Version of the Truth	1=Low, 5=High	Overall Trustworthiness Scoring		Your Score	Group Score
The clear identification and self service availability of "Gold Record" information is universally accepted			Information versioning input into Information Strategy
There is a universally accepted single version of the truth available in published information made available to organizational stewards			Single Version of the Truth Score
There is an underlying generally accepted uniformity of the hierarchies used to navigate documents and text
There is a high degree of integration between the process, data and document taxonomy models used for serving information to organizational stakeholders
InfoSight Comments

Focus

1=Low, 5=High

A well formulated life cycle management program is in place to prioritize information serving top of mind organizational intents

There is a highly responsive process in place for the detection of information issues and a similarly proactive process to resolve identified potential data issues

Data is protected and valued as one of the assets of the organization using generally accepted and emerging accounting practices for data asset valuation

There is a high degree of adoption of the data models, business processes and document taxonomies used to represent the data assets of the organization

The information published is relevant to the strategic intents of the organization

Scenarios utilized for predicting opportunity outcomes are sufficiently nimble to be useful when unfamiliar opportunities arise

Models utilized for predicting opportunity outcomes has provisions for proactive administration

There is an underlying generally accepted uniformity of the models utilized to represent the processes of the organization

Information Focus Input into Information Strategy

There is an underlying generally accepted uniformity to the models representing the data of the organization

Information Focus Score

Just in Time

1=Low, 5=High

Overall Focus Score

Your Score

Group Score

There is rarely a question as to the vintage of published information

Just in Time Information Delivery Input into Information Strategy

There is little or no lag between when new or reorganized information is published and its proper placement in published information is available

Just in Time Score

The information published is sufficiently fresh to be used for opportunities exposed in the marketplace

Stakeholders are confident that the models employed for representing processes, data and document navigation are of the proper vintage and are highly relevant

InfoSight Comments

					a
Methods and Repeatable Processes	1=Low, 5=High
Information access is mated to the needs and styles of organizational stewards
The methods deployed foster a high degree of alignment of business intents, the business processes employed and the technologies utilized to facilitate the employed processes
The methods employed foster a high degree of repeatable success
Metrics used to measure the successful alignment to strategic intents are engrained in the employed methods
The methods prioritize initiatives based on valuation of data assets touched by the methods
The methods employed have an engrained governance process accountable to organizational stakeholders impacted by planned and ongoing initiatives		Repeatable Process Scoring	Your Score	Group Score
The methods documented are strictly adhered to and have provisions for strategically time sensitive, minor and major deliverables		Repeatable Process Input into Information Strategy
The methods employed are sufficiently nimble to allow the organization to identify and exploit opportunities before global information transparency is achieved		Operational Readiness Score
InfoSight Comments
a

Justification and Framing of a Business Case

1=Low, 5=High

The top drivers of the organization are well understood, collaborated and codified through metrics

The strategic benefits of a business case are identified, communicated and acknowledged by those approving the business case

The intents of business cases are mapped through program deliverables to the organizational drivers

Stakeholders, not technologists are driving the definition and communication of business cases

The funding model used for business cases are largely driven by successful alignment to organizational drivers

The ROI model used for deriving business case financial justification is well formulated and communicated through well devised metrics

The technical, operational, strategic and financial risks associated with business cases have been identified by both technologists and organizational stewards

A risk remediation plan has been devised and included as part of the overall program for business cases

Accountability for successful outcomes of business cases have been assigned in partnership to technology and business leaders

Business Case Insight Scoring

Your Score

Group Score

The practices that will assure momentum required for successful completion of programs identified in business cases are included in the business case

Business Case Input into Information Strategy

The metrics used to measure successful outcome of programs have been identified, acknowledged as the appropriate metrics and codified into a communication vehicle for continued measurement and communication of successful outcomes

Business Case Score

InfoSight Comments

						a
An Architecture Adaptive to the Needs of the Organization	1=Low, 5=High
A well formed information life cycle practice is documented, followed and revisited regularly for relevance
Information published is deemed trustworthy by organizational stewards
A flexible information movement process is defined that allows organizational stewards to enhance DW contents with minimal disruption
There is a high degree of alignment between the processes used to operate the business and the technologies used to glean insight into the internal and external processes of the organization
There is a high degree of self sufficiency on the part of organizational stewards to access information published internally and externally
A highly configurable environment exists which allows information to meet the styles of organizational stewards rather than a one-size fits all approach			Adaptive Architecture Input into Information Strategy
The deployed architecture ensures just in time access to relevant information at the convenience of organizational stewards			Adaptive Architecture Score
A Solid Technical Foundation	1=Low, 5=High	Overall Architecture Scoring		Your Score	Group Score
The system topology to be used for this program is in place, tested and introduces no major risks, performance challenges or expenses that could derail the program			Solid Technical Foundation Input into Information Strategy
The system architecture to be used for this program is fully defined and tested, and optimizes the use of capital expenditures required for implementing this program			Solid Technical Architecture Score
The storage and information life cycle issues required for implementing this program are well defined, documented and widely accepted
The network topology to be used for this program has no weak links that will compromise the success of this program
The architecture to be used for this program is sufficiently nimble to be enhanced and modified as opportunities arise without jeopardizing the overall success of the program
The security constraints for this program are defined and a solution for codification and administration of the security requirements has been devised, tested and approved
The tools participating in the technical architecture have been tested, approved and their impact on the overall soundness of the technical architecture addressed
An initial capacity plan has been addressed and has been integrated into the overall enterprise capacity plan
Each program is validated against a technical architecture to ensure that no significant complexities or challenges to the adopted enterprise technical architecture
InfoSight Comments	a

					a


Organizational Alignment	1=Low, 5=High
Operational alerts are constructed for alerting organizational stewards of potential data quality anomalies which may impact their analyses
The team composition is ideal for spearheading and dispensing with business, technical, analytical and political issues
The in-house skillsets are sufficient to construct, maintain, operatate and champion the identified initiatives
The team has sufficient sponsorship to be enabled for identifying, prioritizing, funding, implementing and operating initiatives aligned with strategic intents of the organization
The team has sufficient sponsorship to get the job at hand done
The team has vehicles and sponsorship to obtain funding for baseline, mission critical and opportunistic opportunities		Organizational Alignment Input into Information Strategy
The organization leadership is capable of garnering sponsorship for identified intents and drive the behavior of both organizational stewards and the development team		Organizaitonal Alignment Score
Operational Readiness	1=Low, 5=High	Overall Team Score	Your Score	Group Score
The support infrastructure is adept at rapid changes to the environment to meet the demands of market opportunities		Operational Readiness Input into Information Strategy
The resultant environment meets the stringent controls adopted for business continuity		Operational Readiness Score
There is ample time in the production window for processing throughout the calendar year and during quarter and year end processing
Operations is fully converse in proactively supporting the user community
Production practices are in place to meet the demands of a systems development lifecycle and meet the demands of short lived opportunities
Operations is enabled to integrate into the support infrastructure of source systems participating as targets and / or feeds to the resultant application
The schedules are published for loading any analytical data and built into the production schedules and call list details
Operational alerts are constructed for alerting organizational stewards of potential data quality anomalies which may impact their analyses
InfoSight Comments
a

ActionAbilityWorkbookLabel2.png,Information Supply Chain Section1.jpg

Key Attributes of Your Focus to Deliver Action Able Information

Key Attribute Distribution

% of Optimal Score

Distribution for Similar Companies

Best Practice Distribution

InfoSight Notes

Remember to complete Part 2 of the workbench and the SWOT analysis

Availability of Accessible, Relevant Information

Flexible Technology & Architecture

Trustworthy Information delivered through well devised repeatable processes

Delivery of Valued and Financially Viable Information

Well Honed Management and Delivery Capabilities

Momentum for Being Recognized as the Source for Insightful Data

Communication of Initiative Pipeline, Capabilities and Results

Results of Answers Provided

Information Strategy Input %

% of Optimal Score

Distribution for Similar Companies

Best Practice Distribution

InfoSight Notes

Strategic Insight

Translation into Programs

Information Trustworthiness

Information Focus

Repeatable Process

Business Case Insight

Architecture Insight

Organization and Operations

InfoSight Comments

SEEIT_DOIT.jpg,ActionAbilityWorkbookLabel2.png

InfoSight Partners is a firm dedicated to help companies tackle their data deluge. We believe that the biggest issues stopping companies from being able to lift from the sheer mass of data is that they are not sure of its accuracy and don't necessarily have at their fingertips the information required to meet the demands of today's fast paced global economy.

To Fix It, you must first be able to See It. Those focused on ensuring Action Ability of data are best suited to deal with the deluge

InfoSight Partners provides guidance to companies by assisting them in determining what is really important to the business, creating a meaningful timetable to deliver on the promise with a flexible data infrastructure, and ensure the use of trustworthy data.

InfoSight Partners provides a free introductory service to organizations as a measure of their ability to serve relevant, actionable trustworthy information. This service, or the initial Action-Ability Index, is a measure of organization's ability to serve the necessary information in a time of crisis or opportunity. We believe that it is tantamount that companies shore up their ability to serve relevant, actionable trustworthy information at a moments notice, and have witnessed world class organizations brought down largely because they did not have the necessary information to derive and communicate their strategies before others across the globe acted on their misfortunes.

Part of keeping data actionable is to ensure that information provided to those accountable for translating data into insight resulting in action is trustworthy. This demands a repeatable process sufficient to dissuade the temptation of organizational stewards to validate published data prior to its use.

About the Managing Partners

Mark Albala brings to InfoSight Partners 25 years of experience in helping client organizations derive insight from data.

Mark is passionate about helping client organizations maximized their use of data by improving their capabilities to identify, synthesize and publish trustworthy information in time for their organizational stewards to derive benefit from it through their actions.

Mark's mission is to assist client organizations in tackling the ability for organizational stewards to digest the sheer and accelerating volume of information published for their consumption and feel totally comfortable with the trustworthiness and relevance of the information they use as the basis to execute fact based actions.

Lynn, who has over 25 years experience in delivering accounting outsourcing and consulting services, is a trustee for the New Jersey State Society of CPAs. She provides regulatory compliance, reporting expertise and best practice based expertise in ensuring appropriate treatment of financial and other data as an important asset of organizations.

Lynn has specifically offered client organizations accounting outsourcing and controllership services, and has assisted several clients in business process re-engineering, procedure development, accounting systems implementation and annual audit assistance. Lynn has also provided several private foundation and public charities associated with large client organizations with their federal and state charity filings.

Lynn also provides specific clients expertise with non-profit and fund accounting issues, and spearheads client concerns with operational risk and adoption of international accounting standards.

About the Services Available from InfoSight Partners

InfoSight Partners is a focused business Services Firm dedicated to increasing an organization's ability to derive action from a pool of focused trustworthy information segmented from the onslaught of the information deluge plaguing most organizations

Services have been devised by InfoSight Partners that assist in this endeavor:

The Action Ability benchmarking service, which provides a measure of an organization’s ability to gain insight and execute action using critical data during times of organizational stress.

The Focus Partitioning services, which provides the guidance to ensure continued focus is provided on information critical to gaining insight and executing action by the stewards of an organization.

Information Strategy services, which provide the necessary guidance to ensure appropriate momentum earned through being recognized as go-to source for focused access to actionable, insightful and financially viable information.

Accounting and governance advisory services, which provide the necessary guidance to ensure appropriate treatment of data and ensure market facing trustworthiness in the statement of fiscal health of an organization.

Accounting services, which provide the necessary operational support necessary to provide market and management facing data which is both trustworthy and highly relevant.

Action Ability Index - Part 2

Please Rank from 1 = Not True to 5 = Very True

Information Attribute

Obtain & Maintain Capabilities

Obtain & Maintain Customers

Obtain & Maintain Financing

Market Awareness

Process Awareness

Risk Awareness

Ensure Service Excellence

Ensure Technology Excellence

Ensure Financial Excellence

Count

PCT

Information made available is timely

Information made available is relevant