Analysis & Commentary:

ENTERPRISES SUFFER FROM INFORMATION FRUSTRATION

A survey released recently, 'Information Disconnect -- The Weakest Link,' reveals that 96 per cent of enterprises interviewed, including many from the Global 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, are frustrated with their information management processes.

In addition, nearly 70 per cent of survey respondents felt that their current information systems deliver inconsistent reporting, and that it takes too long to collate information.

The survey, commissioned by Kalido Ltd and conducted by Harte-Hanks, a leading IT market research agency, examines the current market understanding of information management and the most critical information issues that the world's leading companies are facing today. Additional findings reveal that:

• Nearly 60 per cent of companies find that their current information systems do not have the flexibility to handle change
• Nearly 60 per cent of companies have concerns about the accuracy of their data sources
• Over 60 per cent of companies have planned data/information integration projects The research also assessed planned technology projects for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Data Warehousing, all of which are typical means of managing data and information across enterprises. Over 80 per cent of companies confirmed that they were planning or had already started projects in these areas.

Although the survey indicates that tackling integration in each of these is fraught with difficulties, market studies estimate a combined growth for ERP, CRM and SCM vendors from $50 billion today to $96 billion by 2005 (AMR Research). It is not documented as to what the equivalent spend of integration initiatives will be, but it is clear to Kalido and a number of industry experts, that without a fresh approach to integration, information frustration will continue to burden global enterprises:

Claudia Imhoff, industry expert in corporate information architecture, commented: "As new investments are mapped out, establishing an intelligent management information strategy is essential. Without a reliable company-wide view of a customer, working with your customers will be less effective. Similarly, without an enterprise-wide view of products and services, decisions will continue to be made without understanding their impact. This must change before businesses can operate efficiently and effectively on a truly global scale."

Doug Laney, vice president, META Group said: "To lessen business performance frustrations, enterprises must strive to establish consistent levels of information quality and information management throughout the organisation. Our research indicates that, while enabling technology exists, a change in how a company views its information assets, must accompany it. Suffering silently with information incongruence, we believe, is a certain way of devaluing overall corporate assets."

According to Frank Buytendijk, senior research analyst at Gartner Inc: "Enterprises need to understand that in order to gain strategic value from business information, it's vital to connect data to strategic objectives and to deploy it strategically across an enterprise. This means that enterprises must solve the many challenges of data integration and ensure they have a scalable and reliable data warehouse infrastructure."

Chris Worsley, vice president of global marketing at Kalido Ltd, added: "Frustration equals inefficiency. In the current economic environment, it's more important than ever that companies reap their investment in information management systems in order to get timely, accurate, consistent information, to manage their business effectively. Unlocking value from existing technology and ensuring future investments are integrated painlessly is our mission and working with global companies such as Unilever, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group (Shell), and Phillips, is proving that it can be done."

The companies surveyed, including many from the Fortune 1000 and Global 500, operate in the US, UK and Netherlands and were cross-industry covering finance, products and services, retail, transport, primary resource, telecommunications and healthcare. At least 40 per cent have a turnover of over $US2billion. 171 interviews were completed over a six-week period beginning September 2001.

About KALIDO Dynamic Information Warehouse

The KALIDO Dynamic Information Warehouse has the ability to integrate data from disparate systems to deliver coherent information enabling companies can make meaningful comparisons from different IT systems. The KALIDO (Dynamic Information) Warehouse enables clear definition of a consistent data model across multiple systems to give fast accurate reporting, forecasting and tracking. This also means that information is made easily accessible, without having to impose a single standard IT implementation of the underlying operational applications. KALIDO is designed for change and readily accommodate businesses' inevitable "disturbances," such as re-organisations, new products, mergers and acquisitions, providing both pre-and post-event views of information.

For more information on Kalido technologies and services, phone +44-(0)20-7934-3300 (EMEA), +1-203-245-3384 (North America) or +61-(0)3-9666-8912 (Asia/Pac), or visit the Kalido Website at www.kalido.com.

About Kalido Limited

Kalido Ltd, a software venture from the Royal Dutch / Shell Group (Shell), provides information integration solutions for reference data integration and federated data warehousing. Kalido Ltd and its affiliates have world-wide operations in US, Europe and Australia providing sales, high-level consulting, technical support and training. Kalido Ltd works closely with large system integrators for the deployment of the global projects. The KALIDO(tm) software is in production in over 85 countries world-wide with multi-nationals such as Shell, Unilever and Philips.

About META Group

META Group is a leading research and consulting firm, focusing on information technology and business transformation strategies. Delivering objective, consistent, and actionable guidance, META Group enables organizations to innovate more rapidly and effectively. Our unique collaborative models help clients succeed by building speed, agility, and value into their IT and business systems and processes. Connect with www.metagroup.com for more details.

About Claudia Imhoff

Claudia Imhoff teaches basic and advanced courses about the Corporate Information Factory architecture, business intelligence, and the development of customer relationship management applications. Claudia co-authored four books on business intelligence and the Corporate Information Factory. The latest, Building the Customer-Centric Enterprise, was released in February 2001. She has served on the Board of Advisors for DAMA International, is an advisor and a faculty member for TDWI, and writes a monthly column for DM Review.

About Harte-Hanks

Harte-Hanks are leaders in providing highly appropriate and actionable research to help IT, telecommunications, and financial services organisations gain, retain and develop business. The agency's pan-European and global marketing research services cover all qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. For more information contact Graham Craigmile, Research Manager on +44 (0)1344 32525 or graham.j.craigmile@hartehanks.co.uk.