The Information Systems "Report Card"

With a robust relational database management system -- such as one powered by Microsoft Office Access -- it is possible, and, in many instances, ideal to accomplish a majority of your organization's information management tasks from within one customized system. With this type of information system, you can:
- Store, query, analyze, graph, and report organizational data to virtually any degree necessary.
- Perform everyday business tasks, including word-processing, spreadsheet analyses, slides presentations, mail merge form letters, and web-based applications.
- Facilitate collaborative networked-computing, enabling workers at all organizational levels to access, manage, and share data for the benefit of the organization as a whole.
- Develop and deploy customized database solutions sophisticated enough for experienced developers, yet simple enough for new users.
- Manage all types of decision-support needs, including those decisions for strategic planning, sales and marketing, customer relationship management, project management, collaboration management, advising and forecasting, and the like.

What few organizations realize is that it's possible to accomplish all these tasks, and many more, from within a single customized application, with little or no need for importing, exporting, or linking to data.

Examples of information systems powered with Relational Database Management Technology: Asset Tracking, Business Accounts Ledger, Call Tracker, Contact Management, Customer Service, Event Management, Expense Reporting, Inventory Management, Issues Database, Lending Library, Marketing Projects, Orders Management, Personal Address Book, Projects, Resource Scheduling, Sales Pipeline, Service Call Management, Tasks (Project Management), Time And Billing, and Time Card Management.

Let me quickly say that it is not always practical, of course, to force every one of your organization's data applications into one "Do-All" system. Each application has its own strengths and purposes: one for word processing, one for slides and graphics presentations, one for financial analysis, one for customer relationship management, one for project management, and so on. The possibility of "single-system-management" exists, and, in many instances, your organization should be exploiting it. (I will explain more of this later.)

To be effective, and to accomplish your mission on a day-to-day basis, your organization's information systems must manage and share data relationally. This is what makes it a "system."

At a minimum, most organizations can certainly expand the use of this powerful, practical technology. That's the message of this first assessment, The Information Systems "Report Card".

To be effective, and to accomplish your mission on a day-to-day basis, your organization's information systems must manage and share data relationally. That's what makes it a "system."

The "Report Card" will assess how well your organization is unleashing the power of RDMT.

At the end of this article is a worksheet to help you summarize your assessment scores. Use the worksheets just like a "report card":

1. Assign each subject area a letter grade of "A", "B", "C", "D", or "F" based on the total number of boxes that you have checked as accurately describing your organization's assessed information system(s).

2. Calculate your organization's cumulative grade average by averaging all areas together.

3. Analyze the findings in each area, and take corrective actions.

ASSESSMENT
1. Basic End-User Applications
Our organization's primary information systems allow workers to quickly and easily enter, store, control, query, analyze, and report organizational data.