Knowledge Management and BIG Data

Big Data has been buzzing for some time now. Many organizations  are formulating their approach to managing Big Data and aligning it with their strategic objectives. Lets first take a look of what Big Data is; Big Data refers to data that has grown so big it is difficult to manage. Big Data spans four dimensions Volume, Velocity, Variety, and Veracity.

Volume: The proliferation of all types of data expanding many terabytes of information.Velocity: The ability to process data quickly. Variety: Refers to the different types of data (structured and unstructured data such as text, sensor data, audio, video, click streams, log files, etc.) See what IBM is saying about Big Data.

Knowledge Management has the ability to integrate and leverage information from multiple perspectives. Big Data is uniquely positioned to take advantage of KM processes and procedures. These processes and procedures enables KM to provide a rich structure to enable decisions to be made on a multitude and variety of data. In the KM World March 2012 issue it was pointed out that "organizations do not make decisions just based on one factor, such as revenue, employee salaries or interest rates for commercial loans. The total picture is what should drive decisions". KM enables organizations to take the total picture Big Data provides, and along with leveraging tools that provide processing speed to break up the data into subsets for analysis will empower organizations to make decisions on the vast amout and variety of data and information being provided.

What is your experience with Big Data? Are you like most of us determining what Big Data really means to me and my organization? If these and other questions are on your mind concerning Big Data I want to hear from you!

KM in 2013

Now that we are firmly into 2013 lets take a look at what is trending in Knowledge Management (KM) this year. With the proliferation of mobile devices (IPhone, Chromebook, IPad, Android Devices) Personal KM is moving front and center. In the enterprise as more and more content and knowledge gets created and the need to access and use that knowledge and content to address day-to-day knowledge needs of workers and customers (see Big Data), providing knowledge quickly to address internal and external users as well as search and findability are getting much attention within organizations implementing KM. Let's take a look at what some others are indicating the trends will be for KM in 2013: Matthew Whalley - ClientKnowledge Manager (Legal Services), talks about "helping clients to realize efficiencies and knowledge gains, the growing realization that KM delivers more than "documents" providing  “operational” efficiency, transaction delivery, knowledge re-use and transformation, and technology – social and mobile channels"; SAP indicates that "defining a knowledge management strategy, structuring content and measuring business impact as well as reaching external leadership are becoming more and more important"; KMWorld indicates that the focus is on sharing collective knowledge and on KM strategy more so than the technology.

These are some thoughts on what to expect regarding KM for 2013. So, what do you think? I look forward to hearing more about what other organizations and individuals are doing with KM in 2013!

2012 KM Blog In Review

In 2012 I wrote about many topics. These topics started with a series of posts looking at Knowledge Management (KM) in Specific Industries (first looking at KM in Customer Service Centers); followed by KM in Research Institutions, Talent Management, the Legal Profession, the Military, and KM applied to Disaster Response (First Responders). All of these industries and more will be explored and analyzed in detail in my next book Knowledge Management in Practice. I also explored Aligning KM and ITIL pointing out the connections between the two and identifying the gaps ITIL has when it comes to KM. Other blog posts included examining The Case for Developing an Enterprise Information Architecture (a catalyst for focused enterprise search and findability of content and knowledge), Creating a Winning' NSF SBIR Phase I & Phase II Proposal (a synopsis of my webinar I conducted through Principle Investigators), Power Directed ("If Knowledge is Power then Knowledge Management is Power Directed"), Anatomy of a KM Project (by Guest Blogger Bruce Fransen). I concluded the 2012 Knowledge Management Depot postings with Are you Maintaining Your Taxonomy, KM Program vs KM Project, and Components of a KM Strategic Plan (The Strategic Plan is what all organizations should start with before executing a KM initiative).
So, there you have it! I believe I presented some pertinent topics and some solutions within the Knowledge Management discipline, If you missed any of my blog posts in 2012 feel free to go back, review and make comments. I look forward to more guest bloggers in 2013 and more relevant and current topics that give insight on where KM will be heading in 2013!