A product-based information management approach

The paper presents a product-based information management approach that promises a more efficient and effective delivery of IT services. Within a product-based information management, service providers and customers cooperate on the basis of a set of defined IT products. Instead of managing joint IT projects, customers purchase IT products offered and delivered by an IT service provider. The cooperation is based solely on business-oriented requirements and managed through transparent, market-like mechanisms. The approach presented in this paper defines various levels of IT products, describes the central tasks within a product-based information management and introduces an institutional model, which focuses on the structural and organizational requirements. It also discusses the practical consequences of introducing a product-based information management for the service provider and the customers. The results are part of a two-year research project on integrated information management concepts, developed together with a number of European companies.