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Written by Veronica Kennard
 As I write this article at the beginning of the downturn, I realise how fortunate I am that my information department has not yet been affected by redundancies, reduction in resources and severe cost cutting. But I know how many of the information departments of investment banks have recently lost their most senior people, how many have outsourced to India and how many have been closed altogether.
When the economic cycle is moving upwards, information professionals are allowed to continue their work mostly as they choose. Rules on authorisations are often relaxed, new software systems are acquired and there is greater freedom to develop new products for end users.
This is the time when we need to work at making sure senior management understand what we do and how much we add value to the business and the bottom line. We need to be always thinking how to promote ourselves, to ensure that people at all levels of the organisation understand what is possible.
Adding value
I have always felt that visibility is crucial - not just communication by email but in person wherever possible. Visibility in other areas of the running of the company is also a good way of adding value. Becoming part of the furniture may not be the right analogy but becoming involved in many different aspects outside one's core function is beneficial in increasing visibility as an individual and for the information function.
In a downturn, management's eyes are focused on costs as revenues fall. Information professionals need to understand the changes in the business and which new areas are the focus of fee earners. It may be that different industry sectors or geographical regions are taking precedence. Information resources need to be available for the new focus.
When the levels of activity fall, more emphasis is placed on marketing and attracting new business. This is where information professionals can be proactive and try to provide leads.
The debate about end user access is likely to increase whilst costs are being addressed. Suppliers may be sympathetic during this period, though they are likely to be suffering falling revenues as well. Better terms may be negotiated if contracts can be extended over a longer period; but often this may not be the best option.
Accent on efficiency
It is important to be able to have clear usage figures, preferably by individual user, so that systems can be switched off or reallocated to others if people are no longer making reasonable use of a particular product. Contracts need to be written so that, where there are reductions in numbers of users, this is translated into a reduction in cost.
The requirement for training is likely to increase during a downturn; more efficient use of the resources is essential for both information professionals and end users. Some investment banks now allow end users to have whatever market data and information resources they want and do not insist on pre-training.
During downturns, mergers and acquisitions take place within the information industry, so that some systems disappear or are transformed into new systems. This can be hard for information departments, which may be particularly strained through redundancies or the use of temporary contract staff.
Using temporary workers is often a means by which human resources departments ‘get round' hiring bans. Too many information units in the investment banking world have relied heavily on temporary staff over a long period - from the downturns in the 1990s. This is to the detriment of the business, the information industry and, in particular, to the careers of individuals.
Using the free internet and Google is often seen as the way to cut costs. We know the pitfalls of using Google rather than expensive, tailored information products. Sometimes we have to cancel expensive industry subscriptions, or not purchase one-off reports, and instead ‘make-do' with free or inexpensive material.
However, with time and patience, it is invariably possible to find excellent material at a much lower cost. We may think we cannot possibly mange without a particular source, but experience shows that there are often creative ways round such dilemmas.
During the last 10 years it has been easy to forget what the core skills of an information professional need to be - to be business focused, have excellent research skills, and to be responsive and proactive. We are only as good as our last piece of research, our last implementation of a new information resource.
Now is a good time to update ourselves on our core skills, to be as visible as possible - and to work harder!
Surviving in a downturn - Veronica's ten top tips
1 Make sure senior managers understand how much value you add.
2 Understand how a downturn changes your employer's business focus.
3 Provide the right resources to reflect these changes.
4 Be proactive in providing new business leads.
5 Be ready to renegotiate contracts with information suppliers.
6 Have clear usage figures so you can contain costs.
7 Train end-users to use information services cost-effectively.
8 Be ready to deal with the impact of information industry mergers & acquisitions.
9 Be creative in exploiting quality lower price material.
10 Update your core skills - and be visible!
Veronica Kennard has run the information department at Rothschild since 1991 and was promoted to a director of the bank in 2005. In addition to her responsibilities in information, she also has oversight for Rothschild in the community
Veronica's career in information management began at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, followed by 11 years at the London Business School. Her interest in business information was first kindled whilst studying at City University for a postgraduate diploma in information science.
A sabbatical from the LBS enabled Veronica to start to understand how an investment bank uses business information - a year in New York at Goldman Sachs was a brilliant introduction. Two years at Bain, a US strategic management consultancy, gave her the chance to learn new skills in a stimulating environment in a severe recession.
Interests outside information include corporate volunteering programmes and travel.
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