Salesforce.com Delivers Optimal Knowledge Management Solutions in the Cloud
Salesforce.com Help Desk has added knowledge management to their already established service management software. This will be a “killer application,” according to the Salesforce CEO. Because this application is so widely used, they decided to their product and make it even better.
What is Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the grouping of ideas, problems, etc. and then putting them together to find the solution. This is something that has been around for many years. However in the world of the internet, it can get complex. Knowledge management is used in conjunction with service management to assist in solving of IT problems.
Four Questions to ask Yourself about Knowledge Management
When deciding how to handle your knowledge management and service management applications, there are four questions you should consider:
- What kind of knowledge do we need?
- How do we get the knowledge management software?
- How do we store the information from our software?
- What do we do with the information from the knowledge management software?
If you can find the answers to these four questions, then you will know which knowledge management software will best suit your company.
Getting Familiar with Knowledge Management
Most companies look at knowledge management as a solution based from technology. According to studies done with different software packages, this is not the case. Because each company has different needs and problems, the knowledge software is not necessarily considered a technological solution. The knowledge management software is simply a software program used in conjunction with your service management software to assist your IT department in solving problems. Most of the work done with this software is done by human thinking; these are just tools to assist that process.
Knowledge Management Helps Make Current Services Better
Because the knowledge management software in and of itself is of little value, it was designed to work with your other software packages, such as service management software, to make them better. Knowledge management software was basically thought of to transfer “knowledge” from different software packages. It will allow information, or knowledge, to be shared between the different software packages as well as store the information for future use.
Comparing Knowledge Management to Service Management
Knowledge management and service management have been described as “the chicken and the egg.” Because each one relies so much on the other, it is sometimes hard to say which one actually came first. All we know is that one without the other is nearly impossible. Because service management is important in every business, knowledge management is now equally as important. Knowledge management was developed so that your company’s current software packages will be more efficient in your day to day work.
Deciding on the Big Picture
When making your decision to implement a knowledge management software program, you must look at the big picture of your company. Most larger companies have already jumped on the wagon as far as putting their knowledge management to use. Smaller companies however have taken a step back due to some of the costs of the new software. Eventually everyone will have knowledge management software to work with their current service management software; deciding when you want to make that leap is up to you.