Guide to Knowledge Management and Data Sharing

Increase your understanding of knowledge management

Knowledge management is a huge topic with many branches that may or may not fit your organization. Before you invest in expensive solutions, extra research may be in order.

I recommend: Start by browsing through CIO's Knowledge Management Resource Center, destinationKM.com, My X Finder's Knowledge Management Guide, The Knowledge Management Resource Center and elsua: The Knowledge Management Blog.  Another good place to start is Business.com's general knowledge management page.

Create a knowledge repository

You need a place to store data. It can be as simple as a centralized file storage location on your server or a dedicated knowledge software application. Knowledge management case studies can be very instructive.

I recommend: Check out Intuit's QuickBase or KMWorld Buyers Guide and Capterra's Knowledge Management Software Directory for more comprehensive, and sometimes expensive, solutions.  Business.com maintains a  consistently updated list of knowledge management software vendors.

Create collaborative knowledge networks

An online or software-based knowledge management system can help you share knowledge and store best-practices documents and data.

I recommend: Check out KMWorld Buyers Guide and Capterra's Knowledge Management Software Directory for the most robust solutions. A simple option is a wiki-based solution, such as Atlassian's Confluence.  Business.com lists providers of groupware software.