Knowledge Automation: The Antidote for Poor Knowledge Management

Like many enterprise software trends, knowledge management has had its share of problems in implementation and in practice. In fact, a recent report from IT research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc., found that 90 percent of businesses surveyed believe their competitiveness is negatively impacted by information overload. The vast majority of these companies indicated a problem in at least one of four areas: “siloed” information, too much information, non-indexed information and ineffective/inefficient searching procedures.

Gartner also found that the perception of information overload was 20% higher overall among companies that had knowledge management systems in place, compared to those which didn’t. Surprised? It’s because as companies take a structured approach to knowledge management they actually put the spotlight on how much information actually exists inside their company. Traditional knowledge management solutions have tried to address this situation but have been ineffective due to costly manual upkeep and an inability to consistently access the most relevant responses to employee questions.

Another reason that traditional knowledge management systems sometimes fail is because they do not adequately addresse the challenges that support analysts face on a day-to-day basis. Challenges such as: How can I easily and quickly contribute a timely issue to the knowledgebase? Or, how can I access only information relevant to the problem I’m encountering?

Knowledge automation is the logical evolution of knowledge management because it streamlines the creation and delivery of relevant information, provides highly personalized and precise answers, and is designed to accommodate a rapidly growing knowledgebase. Specifically designed for service and support environments and avoiding the rigid rules often associated with traditional knowledge management systems, knowledge automation can dynamically answer the question, “How can the fastest, most accurate and personally relevant answer be delivered to the individual who needs it most, i.e., the person with the problem?”

Knowledge automation enables companies to easily capture, store and quickly retrieve essential technical information developed by their employees, and to provide access to knowledge – whether structured or unstructured data -- anywhere within the company’s network when a support question needs to be answered. The result is that valuable knowledge appreciates over time with the added contributions of past and present staff. Moreover, it can help ensure the quality of the information by automatically delivering personalized answers to requested questions. And it can also go beyond simply static answers to include active content in the form of “one click fixes.”

Simply put, knowledge automation gets the right information, to the right person at the right time -- and in the right way.

To learn more about knowledge automation, download a free white paper, “Achieving Higher Levels of User Self-Sufficiency with Knowledge Automation.”