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

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.

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.

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”.

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

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.

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

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

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

Layers of Knowledge Portal Architecture

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

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

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

Collaboration Toolset Comfortable e-mail 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

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

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

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

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

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 8.5.1 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)

Vendor KM Portal Feature Summary Best Uses Plumtree Plumtree Corporate Portal 4.0 • Automatic population • E-mail, 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

Final Lecture will be on Managing Knowledge Workers