Although there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to implementing a knowledge management solution, Lotus Development SA`s marketing communications manager, Lesego Tlhabanelo, suggests the richer the metadata, the more benefit you will derive from Lotus Discovery Server.
This and others are lessons learned from the successful implementation of the new data search and expertise location solution from Lotus at several worldwide firms.
"If customers initialise their knowledge management solution with rich content from a product such as Notes, and later adding Web and file content, the entire Discovery project will be enhanced," says Tlhabanelo. Metadata is a key aspect of any Discovery Server solution, without which it becomes useless. Notes-Domino exposes this descriptive data, extracting it from HTML files, Microsoft Exchange, and the operating systems` file system. Other Lotus directories are also accessible.
Companies should also investigate their motives and drivers for implementing a knowledge management and collaboration solution. "They should recognise that making the most of the solution requires an in-depth analysis of the business and its processes, as well as what the solution can offer," says Tlhabanelo.
What the solution does offer falls into three categories, according to Tlhabanelo. "People, places, and things. "Things" alludes to all the data, the documents and the business processes that can be electronically catalogued. "People" refers to employees, partners, customers, suppliers or other individuals that generate documents and data," says Tlhabanelo. Places are the virtual locations where people can meet, such as portals, which allow people to accumulate and share information.
By offering a Notes-Domino platform into which all other segments within knowledge management slot, Lotus has delivered a flexible solution. "The key issue is that the environment is dynamic. People are forever moving, advancing within the organisation, and the system must be able to handle all that properly, otherwise it becomes useless to the organisation," he says.
That is why ongoing development is an integral part of any solution, and one which potential or existing users should take into consideration. Lotus plans on extending its Discovery Server to include a Java API, Unix support, DB2 table replication, component packaging and delivery, and performance optimisation, all expected to be announced within the next 12 months.
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