Data, information, knowledge, oh my!
How do you communicate to executive leadership whether data management is under, over or beside knowledge management. I’m hearing alot about information management including both BI and KM… but there’s a sense that it is more about the technology. I would like to step back and say who cares! but, when the question comes up you have to be prepared to answer. I’m going down the path of describing unstructured, explicit information, and implicit and tacit knowledge is where “KM” can help solve problems. Structured, explicit data/information is a whole different kettle of fish that the usual KM solutions don’t address. In the gas midstream industry, geographical information systems that enable the multiple processes that would use it… isn’t necessarily a KM solution, but an IT solution …. at least I’m thinking it is. would love to hear any other insights.
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Execs and decision makers make decisions on facts and data. They don’t always understand KM unless it can be translated into some ROI or more tangible business benefit. A lot of the benefits of KM are softer or have significant downstream benefits (sharing of tacit knowledge leading to innovation for example). It is and isn’t about the technology. Whether you use SharePoint, Lotus Connections, Oracle Beehive, or eRoom….they are all just tools … and if you don’t use them in the right way or apply them in the right business context, you won’t see enough benefits. My philosphy on a platform like SharePoint is that is has to be used for more than just document management or sharing. You need to use the technology as a social and collaborative platform where conversations, ideas, discussions, process, and projects are all captured within the platform with the right information architecture to ensure searchability. Then and only then you will have a place for knowledge and a platform that helps you manage and find it.