How do you turn hours of searching for enterprise-wide content, scattered in multiple locations, into finding it instantly, saving time, and adding customer value?
To illustrate, if you have 100 pieces of content (aka “digital assets”) that relates to a particular product, technology, solutions, industry or service, you must carefully determine which of these assets are the most current, most accurate, and most relevant before putting it to use.
How long will it take to find the information you need to get your job done?
For example, when the answer to your search is in multiple locations such as page 127 of a white paper, and/or slide 14 of a conference keynote presentation, and/or the 12th minute of a training video or transcript, it can be painstaking to pinpoint and assimilate the information quickly.
Unfortunately, gen AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini are not equipped to figure out the right answer within an enterprise based on a simple fact:
Today’s gen AI cannot read what is in the files without data connectors which require a huge investment to build, maintain, and put in place so that users can find specific information in a .PPT, .pdf, MS Word, videos, audio, and related files which can change and must be up to date in the cloud.
Organizations face a critical challenge with disparate knowledge scattered across platforms like SharePoint, Slack, Jira, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Microsoft 365, Portals, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
Information becomes hidden, inaccessible, leading to inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and frustrated employees. Traditional solutions, such as static knowledge bases, inadequate search capabilities, and unmaintained resource hubs only aggravate the problem.
Thankfully, SAP, Microsoft, and other communities have an AI-powered, game changing, vetted software solution for business processes and change management that revolutionizes access to knowledge.
The Knowledge Management Crisis
One way to create immediate value is to deploy a way for workers to have access to an AI-Powered Enterprise Answer Engine® to find the right information at the right time, and as a result, free them up to support customers quicker, more effectively, and more accurately.
However, this objective is easier said than done due to the following:
- Knowledge Loss: As retirements, downsizing, layoffs and reorganizations surge and disruption continue, organizations will suffer from a loss of expertise.
- Oceans of Assets: Hybrid and remote workers are challenged with a rising volume of digital content, the demand for efficient KM systems is very high.
- Disparate Tools: The more platforms, apps, and tools an organization uses, the more fragmented their assets and content becomes, leading to organizational chaos which forces employees to spend valuable time searching for information instead of acting on it.
Each line of business or group such as sales, marketing, human resources, IT, operations, customer support, supply chain management, product management, business networks, suppliers, trading partners, finance, environmental regulations and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, project managers, strategic planners, customer success managers, and/or subject matter expertise rely on quality information that intersects with two common areas:
- Business Processes – Interconnected activities or tasks that an organization performs with people, technology, and resources to produce specific goals or outcomes which require KM.
- Change Management – Planning, implementing, and monitoring changes within an organization to ensure successful adoption and minimize disruptions. Guiding and supporting individuals, teams, and the organization through transitions to achieve desired outcomes need KM.
From strategy to execution, unlocking faster time to knowledge insight is critical.
Cambridge Dictionary Definition: Knowledge Management (KM) is the way in which knowledge is organized and used within a company, or the study of how to effectively organize and use it.
Calculating Key KM ROI Metrics
No single metric can fully represent the value of an AI-powered knowledge management system. Organizations should take the time to create a comprehensive measurement approach including:
- Efficiency Metrics – Time saved searching, reduce information retrieval time
- Financial Metrics – Cost savings, operational efficiencies
- Revenue performance – Better sales cycles to close more deals, presentations, more accurate proposals (RFP/RFI), access to customer success insights
- Marketing & Communications Effectiveness – Event content, campaign messaging, thought leadership, go-to-market initiatives, demand gen content in multiple locations
- Customer Service & Support – Faster helpdesk time to answer questions and resolve issues
- Environmental Regulations – Access to digital assets that relate to Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), EU Taxonomy, Omnibus, and others
- Engagement metrics – User adoption, employee satisfaction, millennial perspective, knowledge contributions, and inspiring innovation
- Effectiveness Metrics – Employee productivity, onboarding effectiveness, reduced training costs, reskilling and upskilling, and faster decision-making
An impressive, unique AI-Powered Answer Engine®
As a subject matter expert, writer, content contributor, Amazon book author, low-code/no-code architect, and global business leader, I’m frequently looking in many places for information.
Frustrated at how long it takes for my team and I to find disparate internal, enterprise company information as well serving it up to colleagues around the world who can benefit from it, I sought to find a product and solution that could solve this time-consuming problem.
The Capacity AI-Power Enterprise Answer Engine® (previously known as Lucy AI) provides federated search with automated indexing. The solution, which is part of the SAP Store and Microsoft Azure Marketplace connects to many enterprise applications to help maximize technology investments.
This answer engine ranks and prioritizes results, maintains role and attribute-based controls, and enterprise level security with end-to-end encryption and includes:
- Instant answer retrieval in seconds
- One convenient, connected platform
- Commitment to data security, encryption, and single sign-on protection
- Large Language Model (LLM) ensures multi-language precise speech recognition
- Seamless integrations with 85+ existing tools including SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Sales Cloud, SAP Services Cloud, and SAP HANA
The focus is on content and related digitals assets versus going into apps and pulling out data or emulating dashboards. It is a true KM resource which complements enterprise application deployments.
As a result, teams spend less time looking for answers and more time driving priorities forward.
Suggested Next Steps
Aligning the strategy and business drivers for moving gen AI-Power Enterprise Answer Engine from experimentation to production is the foundation for success.
Consider avoiding doing technology for the sake of the technology and ensure a connection with your organization’s compelling business priorities. Business leaders need to be methodical about aligning the solution to business objectives, process, and change management initiatives.
Knowledge Management is no longer just about storing information.
The key is to ensure that businesses can optimize, locate, and retain institutional knowledge and make it actionable, intelligent, and accessible.
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A few Community questions…
- How do you use Knowledge Management (KM) (e.g., research, subject matter expertise, client presentations, thought leadership, messaging, etc.)?
- How long does it take to find information in disparate locations in your organization (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, greater than 3 hours?)
- What are your experiences with KM? Any fun stories, best practices or lessons learned?
Thanks for your comments! Each one will receive a reply! Also, happy if you click on “Like” (“Thumbs up” next to the kudos above)!
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About the Author
Rich Blumberg is a long time SAP Community member and contributor. For 20+ years he’s been an SAP consultant working with SAP ecosystem organizations around the globe. He’s the President of World Sales Solutions, LLC, (WSS) a business development and low-code no-code services company. In his spare time, he is a Drexel University Alumni Board of Governors Emeritus volunteer, ENGin English tutor for Ukrainian citizens, and an aspiring guitar player.