WE ARE OBSERVING INCREASING HYPE ABOUT the wonders delivered by newest information technologies in an era characterized by knowledge as the critical resource for business activity. With the advent of new technologies, such as data mining, intranets, video conferencing, and web casting, several technology vendors are offering such solutions as panaceas for the business challenges of the knowledge era. Trade press coverage of the "productivity paradox" has further added to the speed of the information technology (IT) treadmill by suggesting that increasing investments in new information technologies should somehow result in improved business performance.

Some technology experts and academic scholars have, however, observed that there is no direct correlation between IT investments and business performance or knowledge management. For instance, Erik Brynjolfsson, a professor of information systems at MIT School, notes in Information Week (Sept. 9, 1996): "The same dollar spent on the same system may give a competitive advantage to one company but only expensive paperweights to another." Hence, a key factor for the higher return on the IT dollar is the effective utilization of information as it relates to organizational performance. How industry executives should go about deciphering the mantra of "effective utilization," however, remains an illusive issue.

Webernetic’s strategy towards knowledge management starts from assessing and confirming what type of knowledge are essentials to the efficiency and effectiveness of particular business operations. We grossly categorize knowledge of the following types:

Types Description and Examples
Operational Knowledge	What needs to be done and how? Examples are operational policies, procedures, work instruction, troubleshooting methods, installation methods, etc. Typical applications include knowledge base system for call centers and maintenance teams; client and vendor information for marketing and account operations.
Configuration Knowledge	What does the subject matter compose of? For example, it captures details of a particular information system such as its hardware configuration, software configuration, applicable procedures, change history etc. This type of knowledge often requires both formal and informal representation. In this particular example, system configuration details are normalized for capacity, speed, part number and serial number etc., while procedures could be a collection of documents and vendor materials.
Organizational Knowledge	Who does what within the organization? Who to consult when operational questions arise.
Professional Knowledge	Professional knowledge are typically skills and information acquired from outside the business organizations. These are learned knowledge such as accounting, programming, legal etc. Although to a large extent professional knowledge is an integral part of the work force, business can make information sources accessible to applicable employees so as to extend their professional skills. Possible implementations are connections to vendor’s extranet and online training materials.

e-Strategy

Successful knowledge management initiative requires a comprehensive strategy to acquire, store and deliver knowledge content. Such strategy involves identifying knowledge sources and knowledge consumers, commitment from responsible groups, as well as an integrated system environment to support the necessary automation. Webernetic's knowledge management solutions address the entire e-process of knowledge content as illustrated in the following diagram.

CAPTURE

INDEX

DISTRIBUTE

Methods fax scan email XML database

Functions manual indexing auto indexing OCR storage administration archive and retrieve Systems IBM Domino Xerox Docushare MS SharePoint

Methods fax scan web email XML database Functions search notify human interface system interface

Document, Knowledge, or Web Content?

Business knowledge content often exists as electronic files of varioius formats. Effective knowledge management solutions will require effective document management system that can double as web content management and delivery platform. Webernetic installs and deploys systems to address relevant aspects in managing document, knowledge, and web content.

Contact our sales team to find out more of our document and knowledge management solutions.