The last century has witnessed acceleration in Industrial output like never before. This acceleration and development in almost every sphere of life is largely attributed to one technology – Information Technology (IT). However, Zafar Naqvi, CEO of Indian company Terra Soft Solutions, feels the mining Industry is an exception – it has grown rapidly with very little dependence on IT. “There is little doubt that the next upward trajectory of the mining companies will depend on how much and how well IT is utilised,” he says.

Research has been undertaken to quantifying the benefits of IT for the mining sector and an index called the Information Technology Utilization Index (INTU i) has beendevised. This index gives an idea of the IT utilisation of an organisation at any given time. INTU i can be performed at a macro as well as micro level in the organisation – thereby resulting in a Macro INTU i and a Micro INTU i. INTUI Gen has been developed to calculate of macro as well as micro INTU i. The current version of INTUI Gen is based on Windows Excel.

The philosophy of every software system in some way or the other is all about recording, transmitting, processing and reporting data. All the four aspects are more or less equally important for an organisation to have optimal IT utilisation, which in turn results in maximisation of output in the given constraints of its resources. INTU i is calculated by evaluating the status of automation at each of these major steps – Record, Transmit, Process and report. It is a simple yet efficient point based system for tracking the IT utilisation in an organisation and helps in laying out a roadmap for where the organisation can reap maximum benefits by implementing software solutions.

Organisations can use INTU i to prioritise and plan their IT investments. They can determine the weakest link in their information management and thereby focus on improvement plans which will bring in quicker ROI.