Continuing my work on “information as an asset,” I ran across this definition (from Investopedia):
“An asset is anything of value that can be converted into cash.”
While I’m finding overwhelming consensus that information deserves asset status, I’ve yet to find a generally accepted theory for quantifying its value. (Or any theory, for that matter!) Is this because it can’t be directly monetized? I’d love to get your take, in the comments below and/or via social media. Thanks!
I advise clients to use cost as a baseline value for ALL electronic information. At rest information has infrastructure and administration costs. Also the models used to quantify business risk can help add to the cost of information that MAY be a likely candidate for eDiscovery during litigation or regulatory events.
Steve,
Great and timely topic! I also appreciate what Rich Lauwers points out above; there are a lot of factors that would go into quantifying the cost of information (Storage, Opportunity Cost, Throughput Requirements, Putability, Findability, Governance, etc.) and if we could quantify it better it would help to remove much of the subjectivity and increase the perceived value of information. NASA has been able to quantify the cost of shooting payload into space to $10,000 a pound!!! That quickly adds weight, no pun intended, to how important it is to make items lighter and if applicable smaller, in order to drive down the costs. Quantifying the value of information may be unique for each organization, but if we could derive a standard formula then it would be valuable for all…
All The Best,
Ken Huie