Why do we Search, again?

In this knowledge and information intense new world of work, a huge challenge is finding the information you need when you need it.  So we search.  Gone are the days of navigating linearly or alphabetically through a file system.  We use powerful search engines to hit any web-page (or internal document) with our key-words.  But why do we have to search at all?  Why can’t we just go directly to where the information we need is?  The answer is ambiguity and context.  When I say I need to find ‘oil well’, I’m not interested in “…add the vinegar to the oil and stir well…”.  I know this, but my search engine doesn’t, and that strikes me as inefficient.

Clustering search algorighms are currently a hot topic on the Web.  Clusty says they’re working on a context and language-sensitive search algorithm that will allow you to dis-ambiguate a topic right up front, and then search for it.  The real test of it, however, would be if it could be used within the context of an individual user, or even within an organizational culture.  There is already a dearth of data on my computer, even just within my browsing history, giving a high level of context to the searches I’m doing.  This needs to be properly harnessed.  Taking this a step higher, every organization has its own unique culture, vernacular, and context.  When I search for contact info for Dave at the Ministry of Health, I’m likely looking for the same Dave that my company has dealt with in the past (otherwise how would I know it is Dave I’m looking for?).  I shouldn’t have to wade through the list of Daves in alphabetical / divisional order at the Ministry!

Of course, there are limits to this.  After I’ve spent a few minutes searching for a birthday present for my niece, I don’t want my search engine to be forever sending me to Pony Tales sites when I’m looking for “low horsepower engines”…

At the end of the day, many of us bloggers rely on ambiguous searching to drive people to our sites who may have no good reason for being here, so I’m not trying to rush the future.  On the other hand, I’m tired hitting innapropriate marital-aid websites when I’m actually trying to find out why a newly drilled well found no oil and was a “dry hole”…

What really is “Information Systems Management”?

In an animated Summary-Maker discussion today, each of us in turn managed to stumble over de-acronymizing ISM.  As with any TLA, the term seems to take on a life of it’s own, and can roll flippantly into the conversation with no regard for it’s actual meaning.  With this in mind, we decided that the acronym needs to be disected, and with that disection we may be able to bring to light and summarize the link between technology and value.

Information:

To be strongly differentiated from pure data, in business this is the stuff that people need in order to make decisions.  It connects to systems by being the deliverable from any system.  It connects to management by being the key requirement for decision making.  Information is the prime intangible asset of a business, and can be naively thought to be contained by electronic files or paper documents, but is much more slippery than that.  Information is highly affected by context, the same way that this paragraph would hold no value outside the context of this blog entry, this blog, or even the mind of you the reader.

Systems:

A system is the description of the links between processes, data, information, and people.  This connects to Information by describing how the informaiton is actually delivered to the person who needs it.  It connects to Management both by being the lever by which managers control information delivery, and the channel by which they recieve it.  It serves as a significant portion of the context of the information that is being delivered. 

A broader understanding of systems, from the realm of systems theory, allows for feedback, dynamic systems, chaotic systems, stabilizing or de-stabilizing systems, and a whole gamut of other complex concepts.  Even within the realm of ISM, we talk of systems modeled on techonology, competencies, business structures, social networks, and business processes.  This is the realm of boggy detail within which most of our debate and work as ISM people occurs.

Management:

Actually making the decisions!  Key to this is trust in the Information that is being delivered by the System.  Also key is the configuration of the system itself.  Management of the system is what controls and coordinates the delivery and use of the information.

I have deliberately mixed up uses of the Management concept here.  The term Management in the acronym ISM is generally used to describe control and planning of the Information System itself.  I have also included Management as a broader concept that includes the use of any information for decision-making at any level of the business.  From this it is evident that there is a certain amount of recursiveness going on: managing the information system leads to information for managing the information system.  Where, then does the information for managing the business fit?  Remember that an Information System is in essence a model of the business, (or whatever portion of the business it covers).  Managing the information system is in of itself part of managing the business.

 

Further into our discussion, it was evident that a strong component of talent in the realm of ISM is the ability of a practitioner to help other people understand all three of these concepts holistically; that is, to see the forest despite the trees.  It is also clear that the value of ISM itself is in the holistic view of these three concepts.  None of the three is useful on its own, and the real value comes in the connections between the concepts.  That is, the value of ISM is in connecting Information to Systems, in Connecting those systems to Management, and in turn connecting Management to Information.

While ISM is a TLA, it is also an excellent example of being more than the sum of its parts!

In Summary: