Listicle: Top 5 Requirements for Today’s Information Providers

On our webinar “How Publishing Survived and Lived to Deliver Information Another Day” a couple of weeks ago, Diane Burley and I unveiled the Top 5 requirements for today’s information providers.  The information industries are undergoing continuous, radical change in how people consume and buy content. To react, publishers have shifted from a publisher creating a single form based product to creating information that can be tailored and delivered to the users role and context.

This shift has brought a host of new challenges to the industry including how to innovate product development, using context to tailor the information and using data to integrate all the different parts of the business.

To illustrate this shift and these challenges we came up with the top 5 requirements for today’s information providers. On the webinar we joked about publishing it – our very own listicle! And here it is!

Top 5 Requirements for Today’s Information Providers

1.     Getting data IN fast isn’t the problem – it’s getting insights OUT Faster!  With the rise of big data, the focus has all been about bringing the data together.  But what’s needed is being able to do something the information. And this is what’s critical for today’s information providers: delivering not just content but insights and actionable information.

2.     Data is complex – but users want complexity hidden! When you are looking for answers the last thing you want is to have to sift through mountains of data yourself. Taking the information first approach lets information providers find news ways to cut through the complexity

3.     Not everyone has permission to access all the data… with re-use of content mixing information and data having the rights information is critical for compliance but also critical for flexible product development. With the entitlements in order publishers can not only tailor delivery but also tailor products and even sell queries!

4.     Repurpose, repurpose, repurpose. Repeat.  And repeat again and again! Tailoring information is the name of the game and it starts with making information accessible for use in any format. Information first strategies and using technology like NoSQL and semantics that don’t lock data into a format or limit it your systems to one outcome and make it possible to actually repurpose (and repurpose, repurpose . . .)

5.     Once you attract them – you must be reliable. Delivering mission critical information requires reliability and flexibility, a combination that’s hard to achieve with traditional technology. Enterprise NoSQL is not just about data and content flexibility but also about operational flexibility to make sure your platform can grow and change as your business grows and that you never let your customers down.

With these top five requirements, we think every information provider can meet the challenges in the industry. It must be true because its in a listicle on the web! :)

To find out more join us this week to hear about the experiences of Springer as they navigate these waters – and meet the challenges of the top 5!

Matt Turner

CTO, Media and Publishing