Vol. 2. No. 6 – 08 February 1999

Interesting Reading:
Here’s some books (see the Reading section for more books), web sites, or articles that I’ve found interesting.

  • One project, 1 voice
    Computerworld
    - If you read any of the articles in this weeks newsletter, read this one. The author is focusing on the IT world, but the message is even more important for KM practitioners — effective communication (or the lack of it) will make or break your initiative.
    http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/9902088E66
  • Microsoft lays knowledge management framework
    Sm@rtReseller
    - Not a lot of substance in this article, but MSFT is making a lot of noise about KM these days. I can personally attest to the increased “noise” level having just attended a Microsoft Update 99 event focused on collaboration and knowledge management. They are clearly behind in the market, that is if you compare them to Lotus, but they are working overtime to catch-up.
    http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1013893,00.html
  • Web-based customer service gains momentum
    PC Week
    - As has already been predicted, this will be the year of consolidation in several KM related markets. This article touches on at least one consolidation in the web-based customer self help area. This is an important business area — customer interaction — and the combination of call center, automated email response, and other technologies will provide an incredible competitive advantage. If you want to get up to speed on the customer relationship area you should check out Patty Seybold’s book, Customers.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812930371/kmnews).
    http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1013892,00.html
  • SAS initiative seeks to harness corporate knowledge
    PC Week
    - SAS has launched a new initiative that combines business intelligence (data warehouses/mart/etc.) with collaborative knowledge management. The Collaborative Business Intelligence initiative combines SAS’ software with Intraspects knowledge server. It will be interesting to see how this integration with structured and unstructured data will work out. It is a difficult but necessary integration that will require some element of process and cultural change.
    http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1013891,00.html
  • Lotus suite pushes collaboration
    News.com
    - Lotus announces its QuickPlace product. QuickPlace is the replacement for the lackluster Instant Team Room that was released in 1997. QuickPlace allows users within and outside a company to use all the functionality of groupware through their browser. The new product appears to compete with other teamware applications from vendors such as Instinctive and Mesasys. This area of groupware, team collaboration, is a hot market with new entrants providing interesting functionality that impacts KM within teams and in the larger organization.
    http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32124,00.html?st.ne.100.head
  • Narrative Knowledge
    KMWorld
    - Is KM about telling a story? Clearly tacit knowledge is spread and developed via conversational methods (story telling), but we don’t normally think of creating and using explicit knowledge through stories. I think we should. How much more interesting and valuable would the annual report of an organization be when communicated through a story.
    http://www.kmworld.com/feature.articles/index_articles.cfm?content=Narrative
  • Software developers to get new XML standard
    News.com
    - It has been a few weeks since I’ve included an article on XML… The new XML extension called XMI, or the XML Metadata Interchange Format, will allow developers to use tools from different vendors to build object-based applications. This extension is sponsored by the OMG, with a possible competitor/complementary spec in the works from the Meta Data Coalition. Either of these extension to XML will be valuable in the KM space so that Taxonomies and associated tagged content can be easily recognized and used by different vendors products.
    http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32072,00.html?st.ne.140.head
KM Jobs & Links:

KM Career Opportunities and Links — let me know of any opportunities and I’ll post them here (and don’t forget to tell me when the positions are filled). An asterisks (*) denotes a new item.

Upcoming Events:

This is a list of events I’m interested in, and think you should be too. As I come across web sites that have detailed listings of events, I’ll post them here. An asterisks (*) denotes a new item.

Product/Tools:

I’ll try and point you to interesting products, tools, and companies that are dabbling in the KM space.

  • Freedom from Zero-Knowledge Systems Inc.
    - Let me say up-front that this is not a typical Knowledge Management product. This is a product that allows you to manage what knowledge about you gets used by web sites on the Internet. This product runs in conjunction with your existing Internet applications and ensures user privacy across the Internet. If you don’t want sites to know who you are this is the product for you. It will help you manage information about yourself, including managing all your identities, masking where you’ve come from (IP address, etc.), filters spam, and manages cookies. This looks like it will be a great tool for personal privacy.

    • http://www.zks.net

If you’ve seen or are using a cool and useful product that falls into the KM space (or close to it), let me know about it, I’ll include it here and you’ll get the credit for it.

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