Page 4-5 - MARCH13

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Over the course of the last several years, IT has
truly started to expand its “sphere of influence”
over the corporate/business world. It’s quite
common to see businesses employing a very
wide range of IT-related services (as well as the
knowledge gained from its technical insights)
in the ongoing move toward improving profit-
ability.
What has IT really “brought to the table”, so to
speak? One might say that it is merely techni-
cal services or a new string of communication
options. But you could also argue that it is an
entirely new set of abilities which can be used
to approach business in general.
What does this have to do with knowledge
management? Well, in many ways, knowledge
management is merely the ultimate end-goal of
centralization within any organization.
For example, Increasingly efficient IT manage-
ment often lends itself to a nest of additional
benefits, which generally include: increased
profits, opening up new consumer channels,
even the ability to create entirely new products
and/or services.
IT itself is organized under a centralized author-
ity or management model. In nearly the same
way, knowledge management provides the
ability to approach the entire business model
from a central perspective. In other words,
knowledge management deals with creating
efficiencies that extend across every level or
layer of a business.
Naturally, this applies to IT as well, meaning IT
could easily become a subordinate function of
knowledge management for most businesses.
Given that KM deals with attempting to extract
insights from both accumulated information as
well as the abilities of an organization, it only
makes sense that IT might fall under its author-
ity at some point. Perhaps the real question is,
how much of a direct influence can KM have
over IT assets in the long-run?
It would seem that two distinct possibilities ex-
ist:
1. People will work knowledge management
into the general framework of their IT depart-
ment.
2. KM will exist somewhere above IT on the
management ladder. One thing we do know
is that regardless of where KM ends up, it’s
still going to have to forge some kind of di-
rect working relationship with IT.
Clearly, the complexity that exists within the IT
realm is only going to intensify as new break-
throughs and methods are discovered. Knowl-
edge management could be seen as a very use-
ful form of “directed control” which businesses
could use to further capitalize on unseen pos-
sibilities which they
possess.
If you can imagine
the stress and re-
sponsibilities that
are assumed by your average IT manager, it’s
plainly obvious that they might not be in the
best position when it comes to “seeing all sides
of a problem” or the full range of possibilities
that exist. In other words, having a knowledge
manager on-hand is a bit like having “another
(hopefully) objective person” which can point
out additional possibilities which no one in the
organization had previously considered. It is this
outside viewpoint which allows a KM practition-
er to “connect the dots” in new and potentially
exciting/profitable ways.
For those who might be seeking to “bridge the
gap” between several different fields, knowl-
edge management is an excellent career choice.
For most situations, the average knowledge
manager is going to be looking for ways to in-
tegrate IT knowledge and capabilities with their
company’s business faculties.
Ne v e r t h e l e s s ,
someone with
experience, certi-
fication or train-
ing in both (or
either) IT or business would make an excellent fit
for such a position.
Naturally, a person with a background in both
fields would make for an ideal knowledge man-
ager; however, those with primary background
in IT can also perform the job quite well. In fact,
most employers might very well jump at the
chance to hire someone who is armed with a sig-
nificant amount of direct IT experience and cer-
tification/training in knowledge management.
The question is, are you willing and capable of
assuming the responsibilities that come with
such an elevated position?
Could Knowledge Management become
the epicenter of all IT operations?
“In fact, one might even say that it’s
critical for businesses to reach out to
consumers in a way that speaks directly to
their experience”.