Last Updated on 21 October 2025 at 09:44

As the founder of a Swiss based marketing agency, and to facilitate the management of operations and speed to market for the end customer, I created a centralised information system to facilitate this transversal management. However, the implementation of a CRM or ERP was not a viable solution for an SME in the years 2004 to 2006.

Overall, the volume of data and needs was insufficient to justify the “tailor-made” development of a total technological solution. For this reason, the choice of a combination of open-source solutions, in-house development and a few proprietary solutions for large companies represented a robust and efficient solution.

The implementation and usage of such information system represent a valuable and competitive addition, especially in the case of the marketing turnaround mandates that

You can read more about the technical and operational implementation of this project by following this link: https://www.debbaut.solutions/portfolio/digital-transformation-operations/

The “internal wiki” as the fundamental part of a centralised information system

Thanks to an “internal wiki” system it was possible to document a problem once and then access the same information at any time if the need arose. This sharing also allowed constant improvements without losing sight of the initial data. A centralised information system and an “internal wiki” not only allows to keep all the useful information of the company but also to reduce the risk of compartmentalisation within the company.

The idea of a “reference source” in a centralised information system

An information system doesn’t work when data is being held back by political games or when it’s faster and easier to ask someone, instead of looking for the information in a system yourself. With a centralised, responsive, easy-to-use information system and clearly defined processes, then the risk on day-to-day operations in the event of a key employee leaving is under control. With a centralised information system, the replacement of such a key employee can be without significant hitches.

What is a centralised information system ?

A centralised information system is not a CRM or ERP, even if there are a lot of from an operational and technological point of view. A centralised information system consists mainly of managing the company’s knowledge. Access levels to this centralised information system are granted depending on the size of the company and the desired degree of confidentiality.

What are the main advantages ?

The various work teams can have access to the same type of standardised information. There are several advantages of a centralised system.

If a company does not have a centralised information system, then the

Is it necessary to use several technological platforms for an information system ?

As a general rule, I do not recommend

Centralised or decentralised information system ?

In some cases, and especially for small companies with a few people, centralisation can be

The information and knowledge management process

Regardless of the technological solutions that you choose for the information system, it is very likely that the company’s operations are not

Operational Efficiency

Not surprisingly, I note that the

The success of an information system

The first step is to

You may read the original article by visiting this website: https://www.debbaut.solutions/fr/systeme-information-centralise/

• Contributeur

Elena Debbaut

Partenaire – Restructuration Opérationnelle

https://elena.debbaut.solutions/

ed@consultingteam.solutions

Elena Debbaut is a strategic execution expert to boards and executive teams. She leads and advises on complex transformations when governance barriers, internal politics, or structural fragmentation prevent organizations from executing critical decisions.

Specialities:

• governance-constrained transformation
• operational restructuring
• strategic recovery & execution