Does Information Have Value?

Have you ever wondered that the asset of greatest value in your company is not money, nor the machines, nor the staff, nor belonging to certain circles of economic power?, not the great proven reality is the value of information for the business, which is why in recent years their care has increased in the face of malicious entities that want to obtain business information.

Undoubtedly, information value is a central concept in decision analysis, used to quantify how much the expected outcome of a decision would improve if epistemic uncertainty could be resolved before committing to a course of action.

However, one of the challenges in quantitative data value analysis is that the calculations are demanding, especially requiring predictions of outcomes based on alternative actions and sources of uncertainty.

The concept of value of information is important in the early formulation of some decisions, before such predictions are available, I will not go into the metrics of calculating its value in terms of metrics, vertices and trends, this time we will see the information as an asset that grows every day and is managed by many people for a common purpose.

Let's take care of the information

Protecting and preserving the confidentiality of information means making sure that it is not available or disclosed to unauthorized entities, remember that in this context, companies include people and processes, preserving the integrity of information means ensuring that the information is kept accurate and complete, protect information from unauthorized modifications or alterations, preventing it from being manipulated, corrupted or incomplete and availability is a characteristic applicable to assets, an asset is available if it is accessible and usable when needed by an authorized entity.

The framework tells us that:

"Information has several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence and as a means to negotiate and understand the world, for legal and socioeconomic interests influence the production and dissemination of information"

Information security and computer security

They are two different concepts, they should not be taken as equivalents:

Security of the information

The information of an organization can be presented in multiple forms, tangible information, which is printed or written by hand, in digital format, transmitted by mail, shared in videos, or communicated verbally, including the knowledge of collaborators and their experience in their day by day, they are part of an organization's information, so when talking about information security we must consider actions that cover all its presentations.

Specifically:

The actions we take to maintain the security of our company information are intended to protect and preserve the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, one of our most important assets.

Computer security or information technology security

For its part, it is the area of computer science that consists of ensuring that the resources of the information system, computer material or program of an organization, are used correctly.

This indicates the need to have, not only efficient storage systems, but to establish a specific strategy that sets perfectly defined guidelines on the management of this information, be careful, it is not about storing, but about managing, this is particularly crucial, of course. It must not be forgotten that there are many values that define a company today, however, above all is information.

If we analyse it, the same concept changes to:

Information is value.

It is clear that a company can gain a competitive advantage over its opponents through access to current and accurate market information, however, the evidence to date suggests that only large companies invest in technology that facilitates access to information, potentially increasing its influence over smaller competitors.

However, we must consider how the performance and decision-making of small and medium-sized companies changes when they gain access to strategically valuable market information, I think that the main mechanism behind this result is the information technology that drives the establishments to focus on existing, untapped business opportunities.

Information is undoubtedly something considered by all as the most precious value of any company, the viability of the company or organization itself depends on its correct management, for example: most companies that are dedicated to this storage segment are capable of managing complexity by making it practically invisible to the user, is what is defined as intelligent storage, a concept that articulates the criticality of data based on a concrete and specific hierarchy, according to the needs of companies.

Let us consider that simplifying decision-making, as a result of having the best possible information, today requires a structured and formal analytical approach, which allows facing the complexity given by the large number of variables involved in this process; a challenge that involves several obstacles and where technological tools and business intelligence systems are essential, as well as preparing qualified personnel, play an essential role in increasing the value of information.

It happens that, as a result of the pandemic, it has become essential to take advantage of digital ecosystems to connect people and organizations, and to carry out all kinds of personal and professional activities.

How do we punctuate the concept of value?

Organizations have many stakeholders and value means different things to each of them, we have that executives define value as the ability to profitably innovate and the ability to respond quickly to business opportunities or threats, on their part, IT departments define value as being able to provide a service in a technologically efficient and secure way, for clients they need value as being able to receive the best services at competitive prices.

As an example, in my area of expertise in information technology, I carry out the analysis and obtain that:

• Do we know what can hurt the business that your email is failing every day?
• Are the backups of information that are not supervised and when they are required are they damaged? And by chance it is the one that your business needs to be up and running quickly.
• Poor user administration, where a user from 5 years ago, for some reason, continues to enter your shared resources? Of course, without working in your company.
• Lost calls from customers due to poorly managed or uncontrolled telephone technical deficiencies?

Well, to any answer, all this implies expenses that the company absorbs, a bad image before clients, new or prospective, distrust of users with the technological platform, and many other consequences, in the end we have an economic deficit and therefore information technology is not helping the business, it is delaying it, if this is constant, is the problem more serious? It is evident that events are being omitted or minimized, they may also be being covered or disguised, have a lot of Be careful, you have to give value to business information.

The economy, jobs and personal lives are becoming more digital, we find ourselves more connected and automated than ever before, showing a trend that is only accelerating after recent events, so the computing platform has become Much more stable, and access to such technology is no longer limited by location or restricted to certain activities, manufacturers are investing more energy in creative solutions, further expanding the opportunities for both IT professionals and for IT channel companies and industry, as well as the public.

In this context, we know that there are no doubts about the value of information within companies, now the expectation moves to how to take advantage of this opportunity offered by information assets to make better decisions, where being a digital company is no longer an option, but a requirement in order not to be left behind.

I think the expectations within organizations have also changed quite a bit, I can see that there is a lot of information available, with sensors making previously neutral devices intelligent, analytics and automation tools that help make sense of the vast volumes of information that arrive and that all that data is literally within the reach of companies.

Cybersecurity

Most people think of cybersecurity in terms of preserving value, of information, especially when there is a breach, cybersecurity is there to ensure that there is minimal data loss and downtime, I am aware that This idea of saving time and money tends to be more prevalent when companies weigh the pros and cons of security investments.

The present carries an implicit invitation, let us contemplate a much broader panorama and look in this sea of information, obtain the best of it and take advantage of it to improve the competitiveness of the company and that decision makers have updated, reliable, secure and reliable information in time, for this we must use the appropriate tools associated with a solid training in its application and management.

However, where there is value preservation, can there be value creation?

Of course yes, cybersecurity potentially creates as much value as it preserves, help me make sense of this value creation, or you have not seen it before, I comment that there is increasing value to demonstrate that your organization is secure, for example, some insurance policies Cyber liability insurance offer discounts when companies employ specific security tools or align with trusted frameworks like ISO/IEC 27001.

For this, today there are many options that offer the necessary bases for data analysis, its interpretation and how to use it in making business decisions, colleagues, it is time to take action and transform your company.

Additionally, we know that certain organizations will only work with companies that can demonstrate their systems are secure, with increasing opportunities for various levels of security certification, high-end companies and government agencies choose to only partner with the most secure to generate value from IT.

"Remember, let's make sure we're also looking at what happens when an attack happens, not just how we prevent it from happening."

Certification of compliance with cybersecurity best practices offers a compelling way for companies to display a cybersecurity fluency badge, however, this doesn't mean you have to invest in all the nuances of cybersecurity, instead, weigh options and risks provides the most coverage for your specific needs.

In practice, I'd like to tell you that if you have a list of possible attacks for your industry, an estimated probability of those attacks, and the severity in the event of such an attack, then you have a matrix that you can work with.

“Our strategy must prioritize that we are adaptable and confidentiality has the privacy, security, reliability and, therefore, leadership training and security appropriate to the business”

Of course, this text is by area of competence and can take various directions, types and needs, the information is in all fields, I consider that each company is different, although I can give general characteristics, already individually, the particularity of each company is the one that marks the path to follow, if you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to write to me.

????????????????Email: [email protected]

I await your comments, the topic was to make clear the value of the information, later we will see specifically some framework, such as CIS, NIST, ISO/IEC 27001, among others.

Thank you so much.

Greetings,