Knowledge Management Case Study
Challenge
This division of a large strategy and technology consulting firm had been utilizing I-Share to search and share people’s information and documents within the company, as their knowledge management system. This application has caused frustration due to difficulty with navigation, the application’s slow response time, and because their was no compelling reason to use it on a daily basis. The group needed new business knowledge management tools that would allow individuals to easily find the information or people they seek swiftly, import large amounts of data, compel its users to login every day, and recommend pertinent information to the appropriate people. Due to the funding cycle, the project had to be completed on a very fast timeline, including training of the pilot users, or the funds would no longer be available.
Solution
After a review of best knowledge management systems, the Confluence enterprise wiki software was selected. CPO Consulting was contracted to implement Confluence as a pilot to replace the legacy system. CPO wiki consultants met on-site with the team throughout the assessment and implementation. Appropriate plugins were chosen to meet specific requirements, for example a plugin to support a mass import of data. Another key customization provided the Facebook-like intelligence that used an individual’s profile information to suggest groups and documents that may be of interest. On-site customized Confluence training was provided to the pilot team.
Benefits
This case study in knowledge management had many benefits. It enabled employees to find information and share knowledge rapidly across disciplines and departments. They could find information that was relevant to a project, issue, technology or customer within two clicks. Social network application such as blogs, current status, discussion forums, favorite topics, and follow-this-thread tools enabled project team members to communicate between each other. These were much more effective than traditional emails and attachments which frequently overwhelmed recipients and clogged up their in boxes.