Harris KhanKnowledge is an extremely valuable asset for an organization which includes data, information, experts’ opinions, skills & experience. Some of the knowledge assets possessed by an organization or a company include documents, databases, reports, files, procedures, financial statements, policies, and even the experience of the employees and customers.
Knowledge management includes collecting, extracting, sharing, creating, and administering the information in such a manner that the organization can use it effectively which can eventually lead towards better decision making and positive transformations. Following a streamlined process for managing knowledge in an organization is extremely significant.
Benefits of Open Source Knowledge Management Software
A team can more efficiently exchange and share information.
With clearly defined roles, all the team members can easily contribute their suggestions or share information.
Knowledge can be quickly distributed/shared among employees or team members.
It is continuously being updated as it is continuously evolving and the organization can at all times stay “in the know” regarding the latest happenings in the industry.
Offers security to the appropriate information as only the relevant employees can get access to the organization’s knowledge assets.
A customer or team member can easily understand the industry as all the information is present in one place.
Types of Open Source Knowledge Management Software
Open source software, as the name suggests, is a project which is released under an open source license, offering functionality and transparency on a massive scale.
There are four kinds of open source software listed below along with their benefits:
- The first is open source software which is a collaboration between many different people who are either paid full or part time or who work voluntarily; like for example, Open Traq, JIRA, and Bugzilla.
- The second one is in-house open source software wherein the organization develops for itself to earn revenue, like for example, Confluence.
- The third one is cloud-based open source software which involves the centralization of business processes (like for example, PerCoco), and the fourth one is web-based open source software which works on the browser itself, like for example, WordPress, Read it Later, and Blogger.
We have now arrived at an important stage where each of the four types of open source software can be divided into two parent categories:
- Collaborative Tool
- Content Management System (CMS)
Open source collaborative tools are used in order to enable a cross functional team to collaborate and work on projects. When a group works together in a single system, decision making is easier and faster.
A CMS is different from a collaborative tool because it is used to manage, organize and publish various kinds of content, documents and media.
Whenever you have a high volume of content to manage, you should implement a CMS. A CMS allows you to:
- create, manage and post interesting and unique content to your site.
- Quickly find and find the contents which you require.
- Reach your customers on a personal level.
- Publish and edit your content in real time.
- Track changes.
- High Modularity
How to pick an Open Source Knowledge Management Software?
The first step is to pick a good open source CMS, and since there are a lot of open source CMSs in the market, you will need to tinker with the list to find the most appropriates CMS. We recommend that you take the following into consideration before choosing an appropriate CMS:
Visibility: Determine how visible the organization wants to be
Determine how visible the organization wants to be Longevity: Keep in mind that while selecting the CMS, you are investing in something which will stay useful forever.
Keep in mind that while selecting the CMS, you are investing in something which will stay useful forever.
Scalability: The CMS should be able to meet the demands of the organization without hindering the performance.
The CMS should be able to meet the demands of the organization without hindering the performance. Innovation: A good open source CMS should not be static. It should accommodate changes in terms of design, appearance and the website structure.
A good open source CMS should not be static. It should accommodate changes in terms of design, appearance and the website structure.
Flexibility: It should be flexible in the sense that the CMS should be able to develop new features and newer template designs.
It should be flexible in the sense that the CMS should be able to develop new features and newer template designs.
Innovation & Extensibility: While building a knowledge portal, it is critical that you last into consideration the mobility of the software which will help you build plugins and add-ons that are easy to integrate.
While building a knowledge portal, it is critical that you last into consideration the mobility of the software which will help you build plugins and add-ons that are easy to integrate.
Flexibility & Portability: Both the CMS and the database should be able to move and change according to your change in priorities.
Both the CMS and the database should be able to move and change according to your change in priorities.
Ease of Use: According to your needs, you should be certain that the CMS will provide adequate features.
Bottom Line
To sum it up, organizations should understand that knowledge is their most precious asset and should always strive to improve it every day. It is important that organizations should not just take advantage of their own knowledge but also the knowledge of other organizations to improve operations and save money.
By implementing an open source knowledge management software, organizations can easily carry their knowledge assets from one system to another; this will lead to better decision making, better networking and eventually more profits.
