Information Management Report: Case Studies of P&G and XYZ Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of information management practices, focusing on case studies of Procter & Gamble (P&G) and XYZ Company, a finance corporation. The report begins by examining P&G's information governance, highlighting the critical role of senior leadership in establishing and maintaining effective data management strategies. It then delves into a critical analysis of XYZ Company's use of Information Technology (IT) and Information Systems (IS), including cloud computing infrastructure, particularly Platform as a Service (PaaS) and private cloud models, as well as the implementation of cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. The report also explores social media integration, potential areas for improvement, and the crucial role of security in information management, including disaster recovery and risk management. Through these case studies, the report offers insights into the practical application of information management principles and the strategic use of technology to achieve business objectives.

Information Management
NOVEMBER 26, 2017

Information Management
Abstract
The document covers the several aspects of information management by covering the case
studies of Procter and Gamble (P&G) and XYZ Company, a finance corporation.
The report covers the case study of Procter and Gamble (P&G) by explaining the importance
of information governance in the organization. There is also an analysis of the use of
Information Technology and Information System in the other organization along with the use
of cloud computing, cloud-based applications, social media integration, and possible areas of
improvements and importance of security in the organization.
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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Procter and Gamble – Role of Senior Leadership in Information Governance......................................3
Critical Analysis of the Organization on the Use of Is & IT..................................................................5
Organization Overview......................................................................................................................5
Cloud Infrastructure in the Organization...........................................................................................5
Cloud Delivery Model: Platform as a Service (PaaS)....................................................................5
Private Cloud Model......................................................................................................................6
Cloud Software - CRM..................................................................................................................7
Social Media Platforms.....................................................................................................................8
Impacts on the Organization..............................................................................................................8
Possible Improvements..........................................................................................................................9
Importance of Security in Information Management...........................................................................11
Disaster Recovery and Risk Management.......................................................................................12
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................13
References...........................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Technology is something that is being used by the business organizations and users from all
across the globe. There are many technological tools and components that are used by the
business units to execute the business operations and tasks. The technical tools have provided
the business units with a lot many advantages for the ease of execution of operations and the
streamlining of the activities as well.
The report covers the case study of Procter and Gamble (P&G) by explaining the importance
of information governance in the organization. There is also an analysis of the use of
Information Technology and Information System in the other organization along with the use
of cloud computing, cloud-based applications, social media integration, and possible areas of
improvements and importance of security in the organization.
Procter and Gamble – Role of Senior Leadership in Information Governance
Information Governance (IG) is defined as a set of discipline including a number of different
processes and methods so that information security is maintained and the business objectives
are achieved.
The business organizations in the present time are making use of technology for the
management if their information sets and for the execution of the business tasks and
operations. There are several assets that the organizations must manage so that the
streamlining of the business activities is achieved. One such significant asset for the
organization is the information and data sets. Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a multi-national
corporation that is based out of America and has its headquarters in downtown Cincinnati,
Ohio. The Company is a manufacturer of family, household and personal care products. The
company has done numerous modifications and enhancements to make sure that information
management is carried out in an adequate manner.
Information Governance is one of the major pillars to make sure that the information and data
sets are correctly managed and organized. There are a lot many activities that are involved in
the management and organization of information. It is, therefore necessary that the resources
are selected for the information governance. Senior resources and leadership engaged with
the organization has a lot of responsibility for required information governance (Ico, 2014).
P&G is a multi-national company that was set-up in the year 1859 and now operates in more
than 180 countries all across the globe. Due to widespread operations, customer base and
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office units, there are huge clusters of data sets that P&G manages on a per day basis. The
senior leadership and management of the organization took several steps for adequate and
efficient information governance and management.
The senior leadership started with the setting up of Global Business Units (GBUs) for the
company. These GBUs were formed on the basis of the various product categories that are
offered by the organization, such as personal care, health care etc. The next step of action
was to set up Market Development Organizations (MDOs) to make sure that the company
had a competitive advantage over the local firms and units. Global Business Services (GBSs)
along with several corporate functions were executed. This practice led to the classification
and allocation of more than 129,000 employees to four different verticals. This initiative was
taken so that the management of the employees could be done with ease (Wolverhampton,
2017).
Passerini was provided with the charge of GBS in the year 2003. IT capabilities and
efficiencies of the organization were transformed as an outcome. Information and Decision
Solutions (IDS) were the units that were set up and brought in action so that information sets
could be handled in a better manner and the information organization could be done
correctly. This also proved to be of a great aid in the analytics and decision making activities
for the business executives. Bob McDonald was termed as the company’s CEO and President
in the year 2009. Bob further transformed the IT practices and laid a great emphasis on the IT
capabilities.
Technology is changing at a rapid pace and it is necessary that the organizations adapt to such
changing face of technology. The senior leadership at P&G adopted the idea of changing
technology and data analytics including other technologies under the domain of Business
Intelligence were adapted for better information management and analysis. The senior leaders
and middle level managers worked together to enhance the technological capabilities.
The company experienced increased profits and revenues as an outcome. The senior
leadership that is engaged with an organization thus has a huge role to play in information
organization, management and governance. The senior leadership carries out the tasks around
activity monitoring along with control and evaluation. A number of verification and
validation activities are carried out by the senior leaders in the form of reviews, inspections
and walkthroughs. Such practices bring out the areas of improvements and the necessary
changes that shall be made.
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The senior leadership in an organization is always aware about the organizational strategies,
vision, mission, purpose and goals. There are several resources in an organization structure
with resources deployed at different levels. The senior leadership is at the higher level in the
structure and has the utmost clarity on the goals and business objectives. Also, in order to
execute the changes that are highlighted, it is necessary to have the necessary authority and
ownership for the same. The senior leadership has an authority to bring the steps in action
and can also manage the resources in an efficient manner (Arma, 2011).
P&G could witness and experience the business gains due to the efficiency and capability of
its senior leadership and management. The skill set of the senior leaders and their decision
making abilities led to the enhancement of the organizational profits and also led to the
higher customer engagement and satisfaction levels.
Critical Analysis of the Organization on the Use of Is & IT
Organization Overview
XYZ is a business organization that works in the domain of finance and provides financial
solutions to its customers. The company has its headquarters in Sydney, Australia and is
spread over five different locations in the country. The company currently has more than 260
employees in different departments and units.
The company has made sure that the information sets are adequately managed and the latest
technology is always adopted by the organization. There are numerous cloud services, social
media platforms and likewise that are used and implemented in the organization.
Cloud Infrastructure in the Organization
Cloud computing is defined as a form of computing that utilizes the computing resources
over the network for the execution of business operations and activities. There are various
cloud services and platforms that have been developed for the execution of business tasks.
XYZ Company has included a lot many cloud services and activities in its structure, such as
cloud based database, digital market, cloud-based Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) systems, cloud-based finance management and account management systems along
with communication protocols (Iyoob, 2015).
Cloud Delivery Model: Platform as a Service (PaaS)
The company makes use of the cloud delivery model as cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS).
This model is used in the business applications and development of the financial solutions for
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the clients making use of cloud resources and elements. This is the cloud model that provides
the framework for the development as well as the customization of the business tasks and
activities (Intel, 2013). The company carries out a number of business tasks and operations in
terms of development, testing and many others. The use of the PaaS model in the
organization leads to the simplification of the tasks and is also a cost-effective approach. The
cloud vendors that the company works with include Amazon Web Services (AWS) and
Microsoft Azure. These cloud vendors manage the operating system framework along with
information storage and virtualization activities.
The company also makes use of an enterprise PaaS solution so that a self-service portal is
formed for the management and organization of the entire computing infrastructure. The
model also works well with the private cloud deployment model that is used by the
organization (Nasr and Ouf, 2012).
The PaaS model provides a number of advantages to the company in terms of automatic
updates along with the decrease in the costs. The model also provides the business
organization with the necessary compatibility with the rest of the technical solutions and
components that are used.
Private Cloud Model
The deployment model that is used in the company is the private cloud model. This model
makes sure that the cloud services are securely used by the clients in the virtual environment.
There is an enhanced control and privacy that is reflected in the business organization with
the use of this model.
This model also provides a number of benefits to the organization which are as listed below.
 The primary advantage that the cloud model provides to the company is the security
of information and data sets. The model also offers the benefits in terms of dedicated
resources along with firewalls and on-site resources.
 Enhanced control is another benefit that is offered by the cloud model to the
organization as well as its resources. The tracking of the progress and the applications
also becomes easy (Ibm, 2009).
 There are several resources that are engaged in the organization. Resource allocation
is improved because of the cloud model and the availability of the resources does not
appear as a challenge for the senior management and leadership (Gorelik, 2013).
 Application reliability is always maintained with the aid of virtual partitioning.
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Cloud Software - CRM
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is software that is used by the business
organizations for better customer engagement and management of the customer data and
information sets. There are several cloud-based CRM systems that are available in the market
and the one that is used by the XYZ Company is the Salesforce CRM. This software is
designed by Salesforce and it has provided XYZ Company with the capability to easily
manage the customer data and information. There are several other benefits and features that
are included in this software as automated analysis of the data sets, social media integration,
improved workflows and improved customer engagement along with many others.
The company has managed to gain benefits out of this CRM system due to the correct
implementation of the software in the company.
 One of the essential activities that were carried out as the first step of implementation
was the planning of the cloud-based implementation of Salesforce CRM. The step
included the definition of the objectives along with the definition of the schedule and
budget.
 The next step included the allocation of the roles and duties to the members of the
project team. Stakeholder management was also carried out efficiently so that the
stakeholders remained satisfied of the outcomes of the system.
 Salesforce CRM is a system that had to be customized as per the requirements of the
organization. This was done with ease owing to the planned implementation of the
software using the phased approach for the same.
 Setting up of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was the next step and the
Salesforce report builder was also used to keep a track of the progress.
 Maintenance and support activities were carried out as the final step of the
implementation process.
The use and implementation of cloud-based CRM has made sure that there are several
advantages offered to the organization. The customers can easily contact the business
organization in case they get stuck during the execution of a specific operation or activity.
There are also other benefits that are offered in terms of improved customer relations and
engagement.
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Social Media Platforms
Social media has come up as an integral part of the business organizations in the present era.
It has become mandatory to ensure that social media presence is made and is reflected to the
stakeholders and the customers. There are also dedicated social media management teams
that are being set up in the organizations for the management of social media platforms and
networks (Modeus, 2013).
XYZ Company also made sure that it included the social media platforms and networks in its
business tasks and activities. There are numerous social media accounts, such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and likewise that have been set up by the company and are managed for a
variety of different purposes, such as information sharing and handling, management of
customer relationships along with marketing and advertising tasks.
The social media networks that have been set up by the organization are managed by the
social media management team that comprises of social media managers, social media
advertisers, social media analysts and associates. These social media accounts are used by the
company to make sure that the information is handled in a better way and there are maximum
benefits that are gained out of the same (Cvijikj, 2011). The customer interaction has also
improved as a result of the social media integration that is carried out by the organization
along with speedy resolution of customer queries and complaints.
Impacts on the Organization
The company is making use of numerous information systems and technology in their
architecture. There have been positive impacts of the same on the organization along with the
emergence of a few points of concern.
The implementation of these systems has led to the improvement of sharing of information
along with the enhancement of the communication capabilities internally as well as with the
external stakeholders. The enhanced communication and sharing has also allowed better
employee integration and connection. The employees have gained the ability to immediately
connect with their supervisors for guidance and resolution of the queries. The automated
system has led to the enhancement of the decision making abilities along with the decision
support activities. There are Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Management Information
Systems (MIS) that have been implemented so that the senior management and leadership
can take decisions quickly using the information and data sets that have been provided to
them (Esmt, 2016).
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Big Data tools are also being used in the organization for advanced management and analysis
of the data sets. There are huge clusters of data that are used by the organization on a daily
basis. Big Data tools have provided the capability to make sure that these data sets are
correctly organized and managed. These tools are integrated with other technical tools and
applications as well.
There have been a few negative implications of the information systems and technologies in
the organization in terms of the security attacks and risks. The data sets that are associated
with XYZ Company comprise of the financial and accounting details of the customers and
employees along with the personal information of these entities. There are also details of the
projects undertaken by the company along with the shareholder and stakeholder that is
involved. The exposure of such information to the entities that are not authorized to view or
modify them may lead to adverse impacts. There can also be legal obligations due to the
occurrence of such cases. The company makes use of cloud-based services and applications,
such as private cloud model, customer relationship management system and many more.
There are also social media platforms and networks that are used. The attacks on such
applications and the data sets that are associated with these applications can be dangerous for
the organization. In case of XYZ Company, security is one of the aspects that needs to be
enhanced for the organization.
Possible Improvements
Technology is something that is witnessing a constant change. There are new tools and
technologies that are being developed on a daily basis and XYZ Company is also required to
maintain pace with the same. There are changes and improvements that are required to be
done in the infrastructure and the architecture along with the procedures and methodologies
that are used for maintenance, management and deployment of the technology.
The organization is spread over five locations and each of these locations has its own set up
and resources. The employees that are engaged with these locations need to communicate and
collaborate with the internal staff members along with the external stakeholders. It has been
observed that there are cases of inefficient and ineffective communication that come up that
lead to further issues. There are also issues in the networking infrastructure of the
organization which can be improved.
It is also necessary to make sure that the network integration is improved so that the resource
sharing capabilities are improved. The company currently follows only the private cloud for
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the deployment of cloud services and applications. There are other cloud models that can be
used, such as community and hybrid cloud models. These models provide a combination of
public and private cloud models which provide the best of the both models. There are
scenarios wherein it is necessary to use public cloud only. Hybrid cloud will provide the
organization with the capability to use both. There are also numerous NoSQL databases that
are available. Such databases shall be used by the organization in place of the SQL databases
and MySQL databases. These databases will be easy to integrate with the Big Data tools
along with the Business Intelligence tools. (He, 2014).
The organization works on the finance solutions and services for the customers. The
information category that is usually associated with such solutions and services is generally
extremely critical in nature. The organization shall, therefore make sure that the security of
the applications is maintained. There are new and improved security tools and controls that
must be used and implemented in the organization (Utica, 2014). The security attacks can
have extremely severe consequences on the information properties along with the customer
trust in the organization. The occurrence of security events, such as denial of service attacks,
attacks on information integrity, confidentiality, and availability may lead to legal obligations
as well (Msb, 2015). There are many security controls that shall be used and implemented in
the organization to avoid the security attacks and risks. There are numerous network-based
security attacks that take place which shall be prevented and avoided by using the techniques
as intrusion detection and prevention systems along with other tools like network monitors
and scanners. This will provide the organization with the complete network activity being
carried out. There are also other security tools that have been developed in the form of anti-
malware and anti-denial tools. These tools shall be installed and implemented across the
organization and all of the associated systems. Malware attacks and denial of service attacks
will be avoided as a result. The use and application of such security controls will provide the
organizations with the ability to avoid, control, detect and prevent the security risks and
attacks. The further security attacks will also be avoided as a result.
The Business Intelligence tools that are used in the organization shall also be further
enhanced. There must be use of data analysis and data warehouse tools that must be used.
This will allow the organization to understand the customer preferences and choices along
with the estimation of the customer needs and demands. The level of customer satisfaction
and the customer engagement will also rise with the use of such tools and technologies.
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Importance of Security in Information Management
There are several properties of information that need to be managed and maintained. Some of
these properties include security of information, reliability of information, information
privacy etc. One of the most significant aspects of information is the security of information
sets. There are different data sets that are used in the organization, such as public data sets,
private data sets, confidential and critical data sets, sensitive data and many more. The
organization works on the finance solutions and services for the customers. The information
category that is usually associated with such solutions and services is generally extremely
critical in nature.
There are various forms of security attacks that may take place in the organization, such as
denial of service and distributed denial of service attacks, media and message alteration
attacks, information breaches and loss, information leakage, physical security attacks and
likewise. These attacks can have a negative implication on the confidentiality, integrity and
availability of the information along with a poor implication on the information security and
privacy (Kissel, 2013). Also, the frequent occurrence of security risks and attacks leads to the
deteriorated customer trust and satisfaction. The level of customer engagement may also
come down as an outcome along with the legal obligation.
The data sets that are associated with XYZ Company comprise of the financial and
accounting details of the customers and employees along with the personal information of
these entities. There are also details of the projects undertaken by the company along with the
shareholder and stakeholder that is involved. The exposure of such information to the entities
that are not authorized to view or modify them may lead to adverse impacts. There can also
be legal obligations due to the occurrence of such cases. The company makes use of cloud-
based services and applications, such as private cloud model, customer relationship
management system and many more. There are also social media platforms and networks that
are used. The attacks on such applications and the data sets that are associated with these
applications can be dangerous for the organization.
The employees that are engaged with the organizations are provided with access to the
internal data and information sets and there is a great level of authority that is usually
provided to the employees. There are insider threats and attacks that may take place that are
given shape by the employees and such attacks have a great impact on the information
security along with the reputation of the organization. This is because of the reason that
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