Gartner Report: Data Should Be Counted as a Balance-Sheet Asset

According to a recent report by Gartner, even the most info-savvy organizations have yet to list their data in the assets column of their balance sheets. It’s not that they don’t value data — they just have no accounting models for measuring that value. But Gartner is out to change that.

In their report Why and How to Measure the Value of Your Information Assets, analyst Douglas Laney reports that although data meets the formal, established criteria of a balance-sheet asset, archaic accounting practices disallow the capitalization of information assets on financial statements. As a result of this omission, many organizations are neglecting their data — and missing out on huge opportunities to drive revenue from it.

In reminding us that “you can’t manage what you don’t measure,” Gartner offers a variety of methods to compute the value of information assets, including multiple models for various needs and circumstances. The report includes formulas to calculate:

• Intrinsic Value of Information (IVI)
• Business Value of Information (BVI)
• Performance Value of Information (PVI)
• Cost Value of Information (CVI)
• Market Value of Information (MVI)
• Economic Value of Information (EVI)

For more information, you can download a copy of the report here (Gartner account required).