Knowledge Management Software: Avoiding Failure in the System

One of the many ways that computers have made lives easier on companies of all sizes is the ability to store massive amounts of information in a relatively small space.  The ability to get to that information with speed and ease has allowed most companies to become much more efficient in their day-to-day operations.  A key component to this efficiency is knowledge management software.  However, there are some keys to avoiding failure in the system.

The key reason to have knowledge management software is to harness the knowledge that is being created within the company and to easily derive benefits from that knowledge base.  Historically, failures were understandable due to the large amounts of information companies were gathering and the relatively difficult processes available to keep this information clear and relevant to the company.  With knowledge management software, system failures can now more easily be avoided.

There are essentially two parts to any knowledge management software system.  First, the people who input the information, and second, the software system put in place to manage that information.  The people providing the information can be both internal and external sources, and the system ought to work as to make knowledge readily available.

Both of these parts can be the cause of any failure in the system.  It is critical to choose the right knowledge management software for your company, and then take the time to customize it to meet your needs better.  Input from external sources is a major source of information, but it also needs to be actively managed to truly be beneficial.  The most likely sources of failure in any knowledge management software system is usually the company itself and the internal users of the software.

For example, should upper level management decide that saving money is more important than knowledge management, there will be failures in the system.  That might cause those inputting solutions to be careless or haphazard as they put information into the software.  This flawed information is not useful.  It is neither cheap nor simple to properly keep your knowledge management software up-to-date, but it is important.

Perhaps a company is large enough to need a complex knowledge management software package, but decides to go with a simple one to either save money or because the benefits are not understood.  Again, this is cause for failure.  A company could start down the right path, and then not focus on its knowledge management software later, losing the effectiveness of what has been done in the past–another cause for failure.

In the end, all of the causes for failure in the knowledge management software system boil down to one thing.  If a company has a short-term view, it will miss the benefit of the system and it will not give knowledge management the focus it deserves.  The company could be sailing along fine, but one day, it will need the knowledge gained in the past, and the proper use of knowledge management software will help the company avoid failures in the system.  The company with the long-term view will be prepared.