Essentials of Knowledge Management

6.1. After reading this chapter you will be able to

• Evaluate the technology solutions that can potentially enable the Knowledge Management process

• Appreciate the power of the request for proposal in gathering information internally and in specifying and evaluating the solutions offered by vendors

• Establish criteria for evaluating developers and vendors in the Knowledge Management market

Identifying technologies that potentially can support a Knowledge Management (KM) initiative is complicated because the definition of Knowledge Management is often a matter of perspective. To senior management of a large corporation, Knowledge Management is a strategy that promises to help increase the organization's competitiveness and improve its bottom line. To established technology vendors offering products in related fields, Knowledge Management represents an untapped opportunity for repurposed products and services. Similarly, to vendors with original technologies focused on enabling Knowledge Management, the market is an opportunity to introduce their innovative technologies and novel combinations of traditional information technologies. To the marketing arms of these companies, databases suddenly become "knowledge bases," text outline editors become "thought processors," and database and data mining tools become integral components of "content management" suites.

However, even technically savvy chief information officers (CIOs), chief knowledge officers (CKOs), and other senior managers ...