Measuring Information Latency

Abstract

Many companies have recently digitized a substantial number of their business processes. It is often the case that some companies store their data on a digital medium and that this data is can be captured and stored in real-time or in a batch process. Measuring the time it takes a system to traverse and process information is of the utmost importance to internal and external stakeholders of the organization. However, it is often difficult for companies to identify information flow and process bottlenecks. In this paper we develop an approach for evaluating the level of companies digitization. We formalize and provide an illustrative example for a model that can facilitate the measurement of information flow latency within organizations and discuss the benefits associated with the model. The proposed latency measure is unique in that it facilitates the measurement of information flow and process latency. The measure is a very important in that it can assist management in improving the most critical business processes in their company. Moreover, an assurance service can be developed in order to increase the trust in the digitization level of business partners. Using the proposed latency measurement model a future assurance service can provide supply chain partners the confidence that their business partners can meet delivery and production schedules accurately and on a timely basis.