This is Sheila. Hi Sheila! Sheila is a sales manager at your
company and does a great job. She ran the sales department, trained everyone on that new CRM you
rolled out, and is generally the go-to person for many people at the company. Way to go Sheila!
But Sheila just turned in her 2 weeks notice. Well, darn. How do you make sure everyone can
still access all that info when she’s gone? That’s where knowledge management systems come
into play, so that when Sheila moves on to her new adventure, you and your company don’t miss out on
all the knowledge she’s gathered over the years. Sounds great right? But, where do you even
start looking for knowledge management tools? Well, this video is a good start!
Hi! I’m Kyle, and today we’re going to talk about the top 6 knowledge
management tools available today. If you want some basic information on
knowledge management tools, make sure to watch the last video I made on them, you can click the link
to see that video in the description below. Or you can check out our website at
technologyadvice.com for our article on knowledge management tools. Click the annotation in the top
right corner of your screen to get started. And if you find this video helpful,
or even if you just like my doodle animations, hit those like and subscribe buttons down below.
Microsoft’s SharePoint is a web-based collaboration tool that serves as an
intranet for internal teams and people outside the organization looking to become familiar with
in-house processes and content. Sharepoint enables users to share
and organize files, folders, data, news, and apps across a team on any device.
Version control allows easy retrieval of previous versions and monitoring
who contributes to which documents. Team discussion boards are a central
touchpoint for collaboration and communication. SharePoint is a good fit for companies of any
size but especially larger companies with a deeper knowledge base to maintain. Obviously,
this knowledge management solution is a better fit for organizations who use Windows
products and are familiar with its software. Basecamp is a project management system that’s
designed for teams who work remotely or need an all-in-one document management system.
Work is divided into projects that house all the necessary information in one place, like members,
files, discussions, and due dates. Automated check-ins and recurring questions
can be set, so users don’t have to manually enter them each time. For example, “what’s the status
of project XYZ?” can be asked every Monday to employees specifically working on project XYZ.
Project owners can make documents that are no longer needed invisible by turning them off.
They can also change who can and more importantly, who cannot see a file.
For additional functionality, Basecamp integrates with Zapier, Calamari, and Klipfolio.
Since Basecamp’s solution is project-oriented, it is a good fit for companies that function
in a highly compartmentalized rather than cross-functional manner. A specific team that only
has access to specific projects it is working on will benefit from Basecamp’s project-first set-up.
It’s not clear whether files can be cross-linked between projects and teams. As a result, we do
not recommend this software for a relatively flat, highly collaborative organization.
Formerly known as the Google Suite, Google Workspace is a cloud-computing, productivity,
and collaboration platform composed of many applications powered by Google AI.
One of those apps is Google Drive, a user-friendly and secure knowledge
management solution. Google Drive provides shared storage to facilitate collaboration
and manage files across a remote team. It also integrates well with files from other sources,
such as the Microsoft Office suite. Google Drive has file encryption and 2-step
verification for signing in. It also alerts users to files it deems suspicious, such as
those that are opened or saved from outside the organization through a different email address.
Drive’s search functionality enables easy and fast search and filter functions to narrow down a large
knowledge base to the files you’re looking for. Users can enter specific search terms,
otherwise known as search chips, (no not those), that let users find files based on
the file type, location, people involved, last modification, shared labels, and/or tasks.
Google Drive’s chip feature also suggests spelling and auto-corrects search terms that contain typos,
meaning it learns based on file names and previous queries.
Drive is a solid option for companies of any size. Enterprises will especially
find its search chips useful to navigate a large database of internal knowledge.
Guru is a centralized company wiki that enables organizations to access company
information. It serves as a singular source of truth available as a browser extension to be
right at the user’s fingertips. Remote teams, for instance,
can easily access remote work policy to get answers to questions like:
Can I work from a cafe? Do I need a VPN?
How fast does my Wi-Fi connection need to be? What if my equipment gets lost or stolen?
Guru allows for granular levels of information organization. For example,
users can organize information by collection, boards, groups, and cards.
Guru’s dozens of templates means users don’t have to create files from scratch
for onboarding, offboarding, and other typical business documentation.
Experts within the organization can verify the accuracy of the information presented in
any card in the knowledge base. Cards are short bites of information within the broader wiki.
AI in Guru addresses duplicate information and auto-suggests whom to contact when users
cannot find an answer via search query. Guru can capture information from various
data sources such as Slack and import information directly
into a card through browser extension. Guru is a lesser-known name compared to SharePoint
and Google Workspace, but it’s worth mentioning because it packs a powerful arsenal of features,
especially its AI capabilities. It’s highly suitable for companies whose internal information
and processes change frequently and thus require frequent verification of information accuracy.
ProProfs is knowledge management software created for internal use or externally-facing
functions like customer service. The customizable wiki templates enable
teams to collaboratively organize company information and share it with new employees. These
templates also have robust search capability. ProProfs knowledge base feature is similar to
a wiki except that it allows users to collect, import, and organize information from a variety
of sources. It also helps users organize files according to specific departmental
needs rather than for company-wide information. ProProfs is a good fit for an organization that
wants to capture information that doesn’t need to be updated fairly regularly.
BMC Helix Knowledge Management, which now includes ComAround Knowledge, is a knowledge management
software solution designed for enterprises. It boasts a robust suite of AI-powered
features to assist remote work teams. BMC’s cognitive search uses text analysis
to provide synonyms, auto-complete, and auto-suggestions for user queries.
BMC Helix uses AI and real-time data for predictive analytics on user data and
knows when it’s time to supplement and update the existing knowledge base.
Users can create and/or attach videos to knowledge articles. This multi-media aspect
makes the knowledge base more accessible, but it’s not clear whether BMC Helix enables
closed-captioning for their video tool. BMC Helix is KCS v6 Verified, which is the highest
Knowledge-Centered Service certification. KCS is a methodology that describes how organizations
should effectively utilize, manage, and maintain their knowledge base to improve
customer support and productivity. Possessing this certification means that BMC Helix software
follows all four KCS principles to make sure your knowledge content stays current and relevant.
If you’re prioritizing AI features, BMC Helix is a great option for widely distributed
remote workforces located around the world. And that wraps up our list of the top knowledge
management tools. Thanks for watching! If you found this video helpful,
it’d help us if you hit that like and subscription button down below.
For more info on this topic, visit our website at technologyadvice.com for our
article on knowledge management tools. Click the button on the left to get started.