Using an Information Workplace to manage both structured and unstructured information is an evolutionary step from the traditional data warehouse. How does an organization address the onerous task of finding the right information in such a diverse set of sources and formats? This challenge is compounded when factoring time into the equation. In today’s world, speed is critical in every aspect of a successful business. Users must be able to not only find the information, but find it quickly and be able to use the information to satisfy a customer’s request or a compliance regulation. This demand has so far been met with technologies introduced in the initial internet push at the beginning of the 2000s.

Now there is a second push of additional technologies to make the internet more useful. This second push has created the demand for the Information Workplace. According to Forrester, the Information Workplace is complex information delivered in the users’ context. In other words, the next-generation digital workspace will know who we are, where we are and what we are using to get our work done. To do this, users will need to leverage technology in ways that extend past their typical uses. These technologies must provide a seamless, role-based set of tools that allow users to be more efficient in completing their key tasks.