If you thought it had already happened, think again. The revolutionary impact of information technology on the marketplace has barely begun, but the pace of change is accelerating rapidly. Over the next decade, companies will experience increasing pressure to find new and better ways to look at, understand, and then act in and upon the information rich world in which we now operate. To accomplish this goal, the information management structure must transcend its adjunct support function and become the essential foundation of corporate performance.

Information Revolution enables any organization, no matter how underdeveloped or convoluted its current information architecture, to become an information driven ''intelligent entity''¿a survivor.

This utterly practical yet profoundly transformative guide introduces the Information Evolution Model (IEM), a simple but powerful framework for evaluating, configuring, and maximizing the information management infrastructure of any organization.

The model identifies five levels of information management maturity:

Operational: individual data ''ownership'' and control is applied to tackle day to day functional issues

Consolidation: individual level perspective is replaced by departmental or functional level standards, metrics, and perspective on all dimensions

Integration: expands Level 2 consolidation into an enterprise wide view

Optimization: the organization understands its markets and adapts constantly to stay optimally aligned with them

Innovation: a significant percentage of revenue is gained from projects and ideas less than three years old; growth is fueled by ongoing creativity and renewal

A chronological description of the IEM steps helps managers determine which level their organization occupies within the model¿stunningly, some 70 percent of today s companies will discover that they operate at Level 2 or lower. Next, the model helps managers construct a corporate treasure map to determine where the company needs to be and choose the fastest, most reliable route to that destination. This path toward information management optimization operates in four dimensions: human capital, processes, corporate culture, and infrastructure, each of which can impact information usage positively or negatively.

Complete with enlightening case studies of how real companies have used IEM to slash costs, boost productivity, and stay well ahead of the innovation curve, Information Revolution provides what every company needs: a strategic framework for making optimum use of its most abundant resource.