1. Knowledge Portals and Knowledge Management Tools
Lecture Eleven
(Chapter 11, Notes;
Chapter 13, Textbook)

2. Portals: The Basics Portals are considered to be
virtual workplaces that:
Promote “secured” knowledge sharing among different categories of end users
Provide access to stored structured data
Organize unstructured data
Copyright  TIES
End users such as customers, partners, and employees.
Structured data stored in data warehouses, database systems, and transactional systems.
Organize unstructured data such as electronic documents, paper documents, lessons learned, stories, and the like.
They are web-based applications providing a single point of access to online information.

3. Portals: The Basics (cont’d)
Web-based applications providing a single point of access to online information
An emerging tool for
Simplify access to data stored in various application systems
Facilitate collaboration among employees
Assist company in reaching customers
End users such as customers, partners, and employees.
Structured data stored in data warehouses, database systems, and transactional systems.
Organize unstructured data such as electronic documents, paper documents, lessons learned, stories, and the like.
They are web-based applications providing a single point of access to online information.

4. Evolution of the Portal Concept
Information Portals
Initially, portals were mere search engines. They employed simple search technology to find information on the Web.
The next phase transformed the portals to “navigation sites” to describe the functions available at sites, including personal
interests in groups such as news, sports, finance, education, science, and others.
Because of increasing amount of information accessible internally and externally, the need for more personalized information
Is becoming more critical and urgent. To facilitate access to large accumulations of information, portals evolved to include
Advanced search capabilities and taxonomies. These were called “Information Portals”.

5. Evolution of the Portal Concept (cont’d)
From Information to
Knowledge Portal
Focus on how it will be used by the knowledge workers
A key component in the knowledge management architecture
Allow producers and users of knowledge to interact

6. Evolution of the Portal Concept (cont’d)
Knowledge portals provide
two kinds of interfaces:
The knowledge producer interface
The knowledge consumer interface
Knowledge producer interface facilitates the knowledge worker’s job of gathering and analyzing information, collaborating with peers or colleagues, and finally generating new knowledge.
Knowledge consumer interface facilitates the dissemination of knowledge across the enterprise. A key feature of knowledge portals is a sophisticated personalization facility that takes into account the consumer profile.

7. Portals and Business Transformation
Portals can meet (or transform) Today’s Business Challenges
Shorter time to market
Staff turnover
More demanding customers and investors
Explosion of key business information in electronic documents
Speed by which the quantity and kinds of content is growing

8. Benefits of Knowledge Portals
Productivity
Locating Documents
Collaboration
Better Decisions
Quality of Data
Sharing Knowledge
Identifying Experts
Traffic
Bandwidth Use
Time in Meetings
Phone Calls
Response Times
Redundant Efforts
Operating Costs
Time to market

9. Key Infrastructure Components of Knowledge Portal
Business intelligence (knowledge)
Content management (dynamic)
Data management (structured)
Data warehouses and data marts (analytical)

10. Layers of Knowledge Portal Architecture

11. Categories of Portal Tools
Gathering
Categorization
Distribution
Collaboration
Publish
Personalization
Search/navigate

12. Collaboration
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Collaboration tools create a KM system that supports information sharing and reuse
Enable multiple users work together in a coordinated fashion over time (and space) via the portal
Sydney, Australia

13. Types of collaborations
Asynchronous collaboration
having no time or space constraints.
Queries, responses, or access occur anytime and anyplace
Synchronous collaboration
interaction that occurs immediately (within few seconds).
It can use audio, video, or data technologies

14. Collaboration Toolset
Comfortable systems
A Web browser
Simple search functionalities
Collaboration services with a multipurpose database
Web services
Indexing services for full-text search of documents
Well-organized central storage locations

15. Content Management – Categorization and Publishing
Use metadata to define types of information
Categorize similar documents into named groups
Directory/Indexing capability to automatically manage growing warehouses of enterprise data
Provide dynamic taxonomy maintenance

16. Intelligent Agents – Gathering and Personalization
Software that executes a range of tasks autonomously (e.g., comparing, learning, searching)
Discover previously unknown relationship details between organization and customers
Analyze customer’s demand priorities by learning from their purchasing experience

17. Intelligent Agents Services
Customized online customer services
Profile customers based on records
Integrate customer profiles into group marketing activities
Predict customer requirements
Negotiate prices and payment schedules
Execute financial transactions on customer’s behalf

18. Critical Issues for Knowledge Portals
Responsiveness to user need
Content structure in large systems
Content quality requirements
Integration with existing systems
Scalability
Hardware–software compatibility
Synchronization of technology with the capabilities of users

19. Portal Vendors Vendor KM Portal Product Feature Summary Best Uses
Lotus/IBM
Lotus Raven 1.0 (in beta)
• Intelligent taxonomy
• QuickPlace collaboration tool
• Assigns value to data based on how often it is used
• Portal replication
• Facilitates content management
• Self-creating and refining taxonomies
• Personnel resources linked to data sources
• Advanced collaboration
• Easy portal repurposing
• Rapid application development with associated KM packages
Open Text
MyLivelink Portal 1.0 with Livelink KM software
• Integrated work flow
• Quick integration of features
• Quick portal deployment
• Integrated KM
• Document management and work flow
• Custom collaboration spaces (personal, project, or enterprise)

20. Vendor
KM Portal
Feature Summary
Best Uses
Plumtree
Plumtree Corporate Portal 4.0
• Automatic population
• , voice, and wireless notification
• Integration with LDAP directories
• E-room tools
• Easy and extensive content and application integration
• Scalability
• Advanced security
• Trainable taxonomies
• Various data access
• Customization and extensibility
Woolamai
WebMeta Engine 1.0
• Quick integration
• Flexible portal interface
• Knowledge taxonomy adapts to data views
• Data-mining functionality
• Web site statistics
• Usability
• Tracking site statistics
• Content streaming to wireless devices

21. Final Lecture will be on Managing Knowledge Workers