The evolution of information resource management

From the beginning of its use, the term information resource management (lRM) has had a wide range of meanings. This is due, in part, to its independent development in three different sectors of the information processing community: database management, records management and data processing management. This paper traces the origins and evolution of the concept of information resource management through a review of the IRM literature over the past fifteen years. The methodology involved examining definitions of IRM along the following dimensions: disciplinary perspective, management scope, societal sector, vocabulary and goals. It was found that while the IRM concept evolved in three different arenas with little interaction occurring among them, the current view of IRM represents a convergence of perspectives. IRM, today, has three goals: to maintain a global view of corporate data, to position the chief information officer at a high level in the corporate hierarchy, and to integrate both information and the information technologies. The future success of IRM will depend upon its ability to incorporate end users into the information management framework.