Finding the Unicorn - An integrated system for KM - Looking for Ideas for a new KM Tool #tools
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Grey Cook
Good day everyone, My name is Grey and I am part of the KM organization within HPE Software. We have been a Sharepoint shop for many years and have also maintained Communities of Practice in Jive online, Yammer and have worked with File shares, Wikis and Forums/Discussion Boards. Our current IT organization provides a Sharepoint environment that must fit the needs of thousands of groups and thus, is very restricted and immovable. If there are add-ons or integrations, we aren't currently allowed to implement them. However, as we attempt to forge a new path, we may consider breaking away from the IT mold and attempting more through Sharepoint, in a different environment (separate O365 instance).
I would like to request your thoughts and experience on a Tools/Systems question.
We are researching tools in the KM/ECM/ESN landscape to consider whether there are other "off-the-shelf" tools that could fulfill our needs. While I understand that each business has unique needs, unique IT considerations and preferences, we would be very appreciative if you could give us some tips, based on the high level requirements listed below, of tools you have researched or used that you think might be good to consider.
High-Level Requirements: Document Management - we are a very heavy document group - we have over 7000 curated documents with 15-20 metadata tags. At the moment, we are not planning to move to an article-based system and thus a Software Support type of KM system is not optimal (one mainly based on creating articles for a Support Organization).
Social Collaboration - we currently use Sharepoint for Document Management and Jive for Social Collaboration. We would like to have a single system that can handle both and while Sharepoint has some new features as part of Office365, it doesn't fully enable the 'Social'/'Facebook' features that have become ubiquitous in the past few years. This also includes the normal use of blogs, groups, spaces, etc that allow smaller projects to work together easily while being able to disseminate information to a larger base where necessary.
Analytics/Reporting - we are a reporting heavy organization as well. We need the ability to report on the use of the system in all facets, as well as garnering intel based on Big Data/Analytics to help us understand deficiencies in the knowledge we have, dig deeper in to the most often used knowledge and where we need to focus our efforts to provide a better experience to our users and support to our stakeholders.
Gamification/Rewards/Community Awareness - We have built a custom system for a points based award setup for Reuse and Contribution. We would like the system to be able to handle a similar capability where users can rate content, nominate people as experts, tie contributions by authors to their highly rated content and provide badges and awards based on their use, reuse and contribution to the over ecosphere.
Search - Our members continue to state they want a 'Google-like' search. Sharepoint's search to date has not been adequate. We would like a solution that integrates a Big Data/Analytics/Machine Learning type approach to search, built-in.
Personalized - We would like our members to feel as though the system was purposed built to help them succeed. When they login (SSO required), the page is either customizable by them or the system automatically adjusts the information due to profile information and understands what is most important to that specific user.
Mobile/Responsive - Quite basically, it needs to be able to be used across multiple types of devices, with extremely similar experiences.
Has anyone seen such a rare unicorn in the wild?
We are currently not looking to build from scratch and would prefer not to build a network of multiple systems tied together through integrations and add-ons (yes, migrations of integrated systems over the years have taken its toll!). However, that being said, I don't want to stifle your ideas either. We are looking for any and all ideas and would love to hear your feedback!
Thanks! Grey |
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Patrick Lambe
Hi Grey
I’m glad you used the “unicorn” metaphor. Let me use an analogy back at you. “I want to set up a health clinic, and I want to know if there’s an off the shelf health clinic technology package I can buy, from software systems to diagnostics equipment.” Well you’d have to reply it all depends on what kind of clinic, and where it’s situated and who your patients are, and what you’re typically diagnosing/treating. If it’s a Mayo Clinic you’d be working in a budget for fancy MRI systems and if it’s a village clinic in India you’d be pretty lightweight on major equipment and on sophisticated medical record systems, and looking (perhaps) for remote medicine support systems. If it was part of a single-brand chain of clinics with very similar treatment and patient profiles, you’d be more inclined to look for a standard package you could roll out multiple times, and some management systems to centralise core services and manage the data centrally. If it was a unique setup, you would be looking to put together a pretty customised package based on your intended operating profile. Without a clear picture of your intended operating profile for KM, it’s similarly difficult to answer your question. Are you a member of the ACT-KM Forum? Coincidentally, there’s a discussion on KM tools going on there now, and Stephen Bounds used another nice analogy in the context of SharePoint as a one size fits all tool - to quote: "(1) SharePoint is a 'swiss army knife' solution and so if your only objective is to tick off a set of organisational capabilities, it will score very well. But is a seamstress going to be happy with the pair of scissors provided by a Swiss Army Knife? There's little evaluation of the *quality* of capability in many SharePoint projects.
Best Patrick Patrick Lambe Partner +65 62210383 website: www.straitsknowledge.com weblog: www.greenchameleon.com twitter: @plambesg Knowledge mapping made easy: www.aithinsoftware.com
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Frank Guerino
Hi Grey, You wrote: “We are currently not looking to build from scratch and would prefer not to build a network of multiple systems tied together through integrations and add-ons”. There is no one tool/system that will accommodate. What you’re asking for is not a KM tool or system (because there is no one that solves all these problems) but, rather, a Knowledge Management Architecture that addresses many different Knowledge Capabilities & Activities and that is composed of many different fit-for-purpose tools and systems which are integrated and operated together to address the requirements for said capabilities & activities. I’ve been involved in the strategic planning, funding, design and implementation of such architectures for very large financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies. They are complicated, they require large teams with many different skills, they require many tools and technologies, they require massive amounts of data movement, mastering and manipulation, and they are VERY expensive (in the tens of millions of dollars). My suggestion is that you find an experienced KM Architect to come in and speak with you about your real requirements, priorities and available resources; one who has the broad experience to cover all aspects of the requirements you mentioned in your original post. FYI: The good ones usually charge to come in and talk with you about these things. In the mean time, if you want to discuss different tools that can address your separate requirements, we can do that here as well. My Best, Frank — Frank Guerino, Managing Partner The International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT)http://www.if4it.com 1.908.294.5191 (M) From: SIKM Leaders <sikmleaders@...> Reply-To: SIKM Leaders <sikmleaders@...> Date: Friday, February 3, 2017 at 12:17 PM To: SIKM Leaders <sikmleaders@...> Subject: [sikmleaders] Finding the Unicorn - An integrated system for KM - Looking for Ideas for a new KM Tool Good day everyone, My name is Grey and I am part of the KM organization within HPE Software. We have been a Sharepoint shop for many years and have also maintained Communities of Practice in Jive online, Yammer and have worked with File shares, Wikis and Forums/Discussion Boards. Our current IT organization provides a Sharepoint environment that must fit the needs of thousands of groups and thus, is very restricted and immovable. If there are add-ons or integrations, we aren't currently allowed to implement them. However, as we attempt to forge a new path, we may consider breaking away from the IT mold and attempting more through Sharepoint, in a different environment (separate O365 instance).
I would like to request your thoughts and experience on a Tools/Systems question.
We are researching tools in the KM/ECM/ESN landscape to consider whether there are other "off-the-shelf" tools that could fulfill our needs. While I understand that each business has unique needs, unique IT considerations and preferences, we would be very appreciative if you could give us some tips, based on the high level requirements listed below, of tools you have researched or used that you think might be good to consider.
High-Level Requirements: Document Management - we are a very heavy document group - we have over 7000 curated documents with 15-20 metadata tags. At the moment, we are not planning to move to an article-based system and thus a Software Support type of KM system is not optimal (one mainly based on creating articles for a Support Organization).
Social Collaboration - we currently use Sharepoint for Document Management and Jive for Social Collaboration. We would like to have a single system that can handle both and while Sharepoint has some new features as part of Office365, it doesn't fully enable the 'Social'/'Facebook' features that have become ubiquitous in the past few years. This also includes the normal use of blogs, groups, spaces, etc that allow smaller projects to work together easily while being able to disseminate information to a larger base where necessary.
Analytics/Reporting - we are a reporting heavy organization as well. We need the ability to report on the use of the system in all facets, as well as garnering intel based on Big Data/Analytics to help us understand deficiencies in the knowledge we have, dig deeper in to the most often used knowledge and where we need to focus our efforts to provide a better experience to our users and support to our stakeholders.
Gamification/Rewards/Community Awareness - We have built a custom system for a points based award setup for Reuse and Contribution. We would like the system to be able to handle a similar capability where users can rate content, nominate people as experts, tie contributions by authors to their highly rated content and provide badges and awards based on their use, reuse and contribution to the over ecosphere.
Search - Our members continue to state they want a 'Google-like' search. Sharepoint's search to date has not been adequate. We would like a solution that integrates a Big Data/Analytics/Machine Learning type approach to search, built-in.
Personalized - We would like our members to feel as though the system was purposed built to help them succeed. When they login (SSO required), the page is either customizable by them or the system automatically adjusts the information due to profile information and understands what is most important to that specific user.
Mobile/Responsive - Quite basically, it needs to be able to be used across multiple types of devices, with extremely similar experiences.
Has anyone seen such a rare unicorn in the wild?
We are currently not looking to build from scratch and would prefer not to build a network of multiple systems tied together through integrations and add-ons (yes, migrations of integrated systems over the years have taken its toll!). However, that being said, I don't want to stifle your ideas either. We are looking for any and all ideas and would love to hear your feedback!
Thanks! Grey |
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Hi Grey, I wasn't sure from your description whether you are obliged to use O365 as the underlying technology stack or not. You also don't mention your expectations around migration of existing content - this could significantly impact on solution costs and RROI. When discussing design questions like this, I often use our Systems Interactions Matrix to provide a point of reference for clients: In your case, as an Enterprise Function (KM) you could choose to outsource from either the Application layer, the Capability layer, of the Technology layer. Here are just some of the implications depending on how you approach things: (1) Technology layer outsourcing - often called the "best of breed" COTS solution. Custom engineered capabilities require investment in defining service layers and interfaces. The organisation will be in near full control of its information object design and business logic, but is also responsible for ensuring performance and scalability, as well as managing ongoing engineering and design enhancements. Unless you have a substantive, technically competent internal IT team, this is often a false economy since you will need to hire expensive consultancies to manage and fix this custom problem. On the flip side, you minimise dependency on vendors for new capabilities and in fact, your biggest risk is forced upgrades to software versions which remove deprecated capabilities and interfaces. (2) Capability layer outsourcing - base + modules approach. Access points and interfaces are defined broadly by a platform which strongly encourages development of pluggable capabilities through a modular extension system. WordPress and Drupal are great examples of this approach where fundamental capabilities are provides through modules rather than as part of the base technology stack. This allows rapid introduction of new capabilities and a pathway for individual components to be upgraded over time. On the other hand, access points and interfaces tends to be obscured to the end user, which may lead to things breaking in odd ways as modules are upgraded. This leads to a multi-vendor dependency which can introduce risk and/or cost. (3) Application layer outsourcing - in this scenario, a fully operational business system is provided and maintained by the vendor. While there is typically the capability to design and extend information objects, they are subservient to the underlying application design - particularly if you are trying to leverage other out of the box capabilities. Workflows are often constrained by the underlying object model. At this point, you are much more dependent on the vendor's release and enhancement cycle for additional capabilities to support evolving organisational needs. All of this is a long-winded way of contextualising these recommendations:
Cheers, ==================================== Stephen Bounds Director & Principal Consultant knowquestion Pty Ltd E: sb@... M: 0401 829 096 ==================================== On 4/02/2017 10:29 AM, Patrick Lambe plambe@... [sikmleaders] wrote:
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