KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
LIFE CYCLE
 In a Nutshell
• The building of knowledge mgmt can
be viewed as a life cycle that begins
with a master plan and ends with a
systems structured to meet KM
requirements for the entire company.
• The most critical phase of the KM
systems life cycle is identifying the
immediate, intermediate & long term
needs for the prospective system.
 Characteristics
• Discipline, order or segmentation into
manageable activities or phases.
• Good documentation for possible changes
or modifications of the system in the future.
• Coordination of the project to ensure the
cycle is completed on time.
• Regular mgmt review at each phase of the
cycle.
Challenges in building KM
Systems
• Culture (K sharing & reward
system)
• Knowledge Evaluation (metrics)
• Knowledge Processing (capture,
store, process & distribute)
• Knowledge Implementation
(change, learn & innovate)
Conventional Vs KM
System Life Cycle
Those who have developed
conventional information systems in
the past are now involved in
building KM systems need to see
the relationship b/w the
conventional system approach &
KM systems development.
 CSLC KMSLC
Recognition of need Evaluate existing
& Feasibility study Infrastructure

S/w Requirements Form the KM

Specifications Team

Knowledge
Logical Design
Capture

Design KM
Physical Design
Corrections
Blueprint Corrections

Verify & Validate

Testing
KM System

Implement the
Implementation
KM System

Operations & Manage change &

Maintenance Reward Structure

Post System
Evaluation
 Key Differences
1. The system analyst deals with the data &
information obtained from the user, user-
analyst for soln whereas the K developer
deals with the K captured from people,
developer-people for soln.
2. The main interface for the system analyst is
with user who knows the problem but not
the soln whereas for a K developer-
knowledgeable person who knows both.
3. CS is sequential. KMSLC is incremental and
interactive.
4. In CS testing occurs towards the end of the
cycle. In KMSLC, the K developer tests from
the beginning of the cycle.
5. Development & maintenance is extensive in
CS whereas in KMSLC, D&M is delegated
to K editors- to ensure a reliable system and
upgrade the system to standards.
6. CSLC is process driven & documentation
oriented- fosters “specify the build”
approach.
The KMSLC is result-oriented, emphasis on
“start slow & grow” incremental process.
7. CS development does not support tools like
rapid prototyping because it follows a set
of sequential order.
KMSLC utilizes rapid prototyping,
incorporating changes on the spot.
Process/Stages of KMSLC
1. Evaluate existing infrastructure
2. Form the KM team
3. Knowledge capture
4. Design KM Blueprint
5. Test the KM System
6. Implement the KM System
7. Manage change & reward structure
8. Post-system evaluation.
1.Evaluate existing Information
• Identifying and evaluating the current
knowledge envt makes it easier to point out
the critical missing gaps & justify the
formation of new knowledge envt. As a part
of this phase ,we focus on the system
justification, scoping the evaluation,
determining feasibility.
a. System Justification:
K developer to justify whether it is worth
undergoing changes that ensures top mgmt
support.KM system justification involves
answers to specific questions.
1. Is current knowledge going to be lost through
retirement, transfer or departure to other firms?
2. Is the proposed KM system needed in several
locations?
3. Are experts available & willing to help in
building a KM system?
4. Does the problem in question require ears of
experience & cognitive reasoning to solve?
5. When undergoing knowledge capture, can
expert articulate how the problem will be
solved?
6. How critical is the knowledge to be captures?
7. Is there a champion in the house?
b. The Scope Factor:
The term scoping means “limiting the breadth
& depth of the project within the financial,
human resource & operational constraints”. The
project should be small enough for the K
developer’s capabilities, especially if it is orgn’s
first attempt at developing a KM system.
• Readiness of the company’s current technology
(intranet, LAN etc).
• Identification of gaps & areas needing
improvement in current technology.
• General review & understanding of the benefits
& limitations of KM tools & components.
c. The Feasibility Question:
Is the project doable? Affordable?
Appropriate? Practical?
Factors for successful installation:
1. Economic Feasibility (cost benefit analysis)
2. Technical Feasibility
3. Behavioral Feasibility
Traditional approach to conducting a feasibility
study could be useful in building KM system.
It involves several tasks:
• Form a KM team.
• Prepare a master plan
• Evaluate cost/performance of the proposed
KM system.
• Quantify system criteria & costs (rating
scale).
2.Form the KM Team
• After the evaluation of the company’s
existing infrastructure is complete, a KM
team should be formed.
Team success depends on a number of
factors:
1. Caliber of team members in terms of
personality, communication skills &
experience.
2. Team size.
3. Complexity of the project.
4. Leadership & team motivation.
5. Promising more than can be realistically
delivered.
3.Knowledge Capture
• Knowledge capture involves eliciting, analyzing
& interpreting the knowledge that a human expert
uses to solve a particular problem.
• Knowledge capture & transfer are often carried
out in teams, not just through individuals.
• K capture includes determining feasibility,
choosing the expert, tapping the expert’s
knowledge, and retapping the knowledge to plug
gaps in the system & to verify and validate the
knowledge base after the system is in operation.
• A competent & cooperative expert is essential to
the success of knowledge capture.
4.Design the Blueprint
• This phase is the beginning of designing the
IT infrastructure & the KM architecture in
order to proceed with the actual design &
deployment of the KM system.
1. Aim for system interoperability &
scalability with existing IT infrastructure.
2. Finalize the scope of the proposed KM
system with realized net benefits in mind.
3. Decide on the required system components,
such as user interface options, knowledge
directories and mining tools.
4. Develop the key layers of the KM
architecture to meet the company’s
requirements.
The key layers are as follows:
a. User interface.
b. Authentication/security layer.
c. Collaborative agents and filtering.
d. Application layer.
e. Transport internet layer.
f. Physical layer.
g. Repositories.
Key Layers of a KM System Infrastructure
User Interface

User interface via Browser

Part of the Internet
Authentication/Security Layer
(includes access identification, firewalls & user recognition)
Collaborative Agents & Filtering
(intelligent robots that can disseminate news, warnings & notifications)
Application Layer
(collaborative work tools, videoconferencing, decision support tools,
group decision support tools & yellow pages)
Transport/Internet Layer
(TCP/IP)-manages transmission of data b/w computers
Physical Layer
(cables, physical wires, modems for transmission)
Repositories
Data Warehouse Documents
& Databases
Other Files
Legacy Applications
5.Test the KM System
This involves 2 steps
1. Verification:
This procedure ensures that the system is
right -that the programs do what they are
designed to do.
2. Validation:
This test ensures that the system is the
right system –that it meet’s the user’s
expectations, that it is user friendly and that
it will be usable and scalable on demand.
6.Implement the KM System
Implementation means converting a new
KM system into actual operation.
• Conversion is the major step in
implementation.
• The other steps are post implementation
review & KM system maintenance.
• It is the transformation of the precise
representation of knowledge into machine
equivalent – a specific program or software
package.
7.Manage Change & Reward
Structure
Implementation means change and people
in general resist change.
People become anxious when they do not
know what the system will offer and how it
will effect their current jobs & decision-
making quality. The result is stress &
further resistance to change.
The resistors include the following:
• Experts.
• Regular employees(users).
• Troublemakers.
• Narrow minded “superstars”.
Resistance is displayed in 3 personal
reactions:
1. Projection: Hostility towards peers.
2. Avoidance: Withdrawal from the scene.
3. Aggression: Killing the system, because of
uncertainty of its operation or use.
8.Post System Evaluation
• System impact must be assessed in terms of
its effects on people, procedures and
performance of the business.
• The main areas of concern are quality of
decision making, attitude of end users and
cost of knowledge processing & updates.
• The objective is to evaluate the KM system
against standards & determine how well
meets the goals set in advance.
• The user initiates the review for enhancement
(upgrading the system) & maintenance
(making corrections).