Knowledge Portals

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

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

data

Copyright

unstructured
2

TIES

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Portals: The Basics

(contd)

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

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Evolution of the Portal

Information
Concept
Portals

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Evolution of the Portal

Concept (contd)

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
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Evolution of the Portal

Concept (contd)
Knowledge portals
provide
two kinds of interfaces:

The knowledge
producer interface

The knowledge
consumer interface

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Transformation
Portals can meet (or transform)
Todays 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
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Benefits of Knowledge
Portals

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and 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
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Key Infrastructure
Components of
Knowledge Portal

Business intelligence
(knowledge)

Content management
(dynamic)

Data management
(structured)

Data warehouses and

data marts (analytical)

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Layers of Knowledge
Portal Architecture

10

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Categories of Portal
Tools

Gathering
Categorization
Distribution
Collaboration
Publish
Personalization
Search/navigate
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Collaboration

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

Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia

Sydney,
Australia

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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

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
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Collaboration Toolset

Comfortable e-mail systems

A Web browser
Simple search
functionalities
Collaboration services with
a multipurpose database
Web services
Indexing services for fulltext search of documents
Well-organized central
storage locations

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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

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

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Intelligent Agents
Gathering and
Personalization

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Software that executes a range of

tasks autonomously (e.g.,
comparing, learning, searching)

Discover previously unknown

relationship details between
organization and customers

Analyze customers demand

priorities by learning from their
purchasing experience
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

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

customers behalf
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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Critical Issues for

Knowledge Portals

Responsiveness to user need

Content structure in large
systems
Content quality requirements
Integration with existing
systems
Scalability
Hardwaresoftware
compatibility
Synchronization of technology

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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

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

Integrated KM
Document management
and work flow
Custom collaboration
19(personal, project,
spaces

Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Vendor

KM
Portal

Feature Summary

Plumtree

Plumtree Automatic population

Corporate E-mail, voice, and
Portal 4.0 wireless notification
Integration with LDAP
directories
E-room tools

Woolamai WebMeta Quick integration

Engine
Flexible portal interface
1.0
Knowledge taxonomy
adapts to data views
Data-mining functionality
Web site statistics

Best Uses
Easy and extensive
content and application
integration
Scalability
Advanced security
Trainable taxonomies
Various data access
Customization and
extensibility
Usability
Tracking site
statistics
Content streaming to
wireless devices

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Chapter 11: Knowledge Management Tools and Knowledge Portals

Final Lecture will

be on
Managing
Knowledge Workers
21