Putting knowledge to effective use

The idea of knowledge management (KM) has been around since the early 1990s. Unfortunately, it doesn`t come in a box with simple plug-and-play functionality - it is a process that doesn`t begin and end with IT, although IT interacts closely with the process of KM, specifically in the fields of business intelligence (BI) and business process automation (BPA).

"Knowledge management is intertwined with both of our fields of expertise," says Rainer Gaier, managing director of enterprise business process automation and business intelligence specialist Ovations Technologies. "Business intelligence feeds knowledge management, which provides strategic information to improve the whole business process automation process."

BPA is effectively the automation of existing processes, and utilising technology to achieve the automation. BPA management generally focuses on processes rather than documents. BPI is the improvement of existing processes, while BPR is the re-engineering of existing processes. "All three methods of change offer tangible benefits," says Gaier.

BI is a wide category of applications and technologies used to gather, store, analyse and provide access to data in order to help enterprise users make better business decisions. BI applications include the activities of decision support systems, query and reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, activity based costing, balance scorecards and data mining.

KM technologies, in a nutshell, are a collection of tools designed to store and retrieve knowledge. Among the tools are document management for the storage and retrieval of documents; data warehousing and data mining tools; and search agents. KM refers to strategies and structures for maximising the return on intellectual and information resources.

"Knowledge management is not about managing people in any traditional sense," Gaier points out. "Nor is fundamentally about managing knowledge. `Knowledge-sharing`, `information systems`, `organisational learning`, `intellectual asset management` and `performance enhancement` are terms often used in place of KM."

The insight gained through KM can be used by companies to better understand particular market places so that better decisions can be made, products can be defined, production can be better organised and sales activities enhanced.

"Good customer relationship management is often a differentiating factor in business today," Gaier continues. "This is where the combination of a competent BPA infrastructure, an efficient BI solution and effective KM is becoming an important business tool, ensuring that the latest information is easily accessible anywhere, any time."

The general information overload within companies is growing exponentially from year to year, making it increasingly difficult for employees to efficiently obtain the information they need. KM supports the management of data, information and knowledge efficiently, and also optimises business working processes within companies.

In call centre situations, for example, where both time and money can be lost through operators not being able to instantly tap into the necessary information, KM would be the alternative to separate, offline searches and any number of return telephone calls.

"The proliferation of knowledge throughout an organisation is a plus. Companies need to work towards a KM strategy in order to create new value by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of individual and collaborative knowledge and sharpening decision-making," Gaier concludes.