31
2011
What is Information in IT
An article by admin
What is Good Information?
QUAIITIES OF GOOD INFORMATION
A piece of information should share the following characteristics to be of the good usage:
ACCURATE- free from errors
COMPLETE-information should be comprehensive and complete, as incomplete information leads to wrong decision.
COST BENEFICIAL-cost of producing that information should not be too high.
USER-TARGETED-information should be user targeted and should answer the questions of the user. Information must contain those facts that a user needs. A very comprehensive management report may of little value if it is not written in a manner to satisfy the user’s needs.
RELEVANT- All relevant information should be provided and unnecessary details should be curtailed.
AUTHORITATIVE- information should be form a very reliable source and there should be no doubt on its authenticity.
TIMELY –information should be received on time. Any delay impair the quality and use of the information.
EASY TO USE-information should be easy to use and should be presented in simple and user-friendly way. We should not use technical jargons if we are communicating with a layman.
TYPES OF INFORMATION
Different level of management require different type of information. So we could classify pieces of information in the following manner:
STAREGIC INFORMATION
Information provided at strategic level possess the following features:
- Extremely focused
- Future oriented
- In summarise form
- Often require estimations
- One-off in nature
- Supports unstructured decisions
- May be rounded to nearest thousands
TACTICAL INFORMATION
Information provided at tactical level share the features of the both of strategic nature and of operation nature as it lies between the two:
- Extracted from both internal and external sources
- Of a term of up to one year
- Less routine in nature
- Routine
- Short-term nature
- Be accurate to nearest $
- In detail
- Less estimation needed
OPERATIONAL INFORMATION
- Routine
- Short-term nature
- Be accurate to nearest $
- In detail
- Less estimation needed
