During the boom years of the ‘90s, digital evangelists preached that the Internet would radically change the way the world does business, opening new markets and relegating brick-and-mortar businesses to the history books.  Although these prophesies haven’t yet fully materialized, the Internet has had a significant impact on how organizations conduct business and share information.

Browser-based computing, considered one of the greatest computing advances since the PC, revitalized the thin-client computing model.  The spread of a version-independent programming language and elimination of thick clients requiring complex connections and locally installed software allowed programmers to build increasingly advanced and flexible user applications.  The Internet burst open the lid on information-gathering, indexing and sharing, establishing the powerful idea that vast amounts of knowledge can be captured, organized and provided on demand in a meaningful and relevant way.  Robust indexing and categorization engines, combined with the flexibility of browser-based manipulation and display applications, opened silos of information for users to share and access.  Many smartly run, knowledge-dependent organizations ranging from superstores to consulting firms set themselves apart from the competition by actively deploying these technologies and practices in-house.  This was the beginning of tangible knowledge management (KM).

Managing Knowledge Management
Legal organizations are just beginning to realize the value of KM but aren’t always sure how to effectively build and deploy these systems.  Some have embarked on KM projects with great success while others have not.

Experience suggests that successful KM projects adhere to the critical principle, “Use experience as the KM driving engine.”  In the legal industry, knowledge and experience beget invaluable content; yet often, this critical asset remains locked away in the musty archives of traditional document management (DM) systems.  The power of a KM system lies in its ability to aggregate and display archived content in alignment with an organization’s strategy and business processes.  However, trying to customize traditional DM to provide the same functionality, given its lack of architectural and developmental flexibility, has proven complicated.

Web-Based DM to the Rescue
Happily, the advent of Web-based DM, built using standard Web technologies, largely removes these hurdles.  Indeed, these “next-generation” platforms include easy-to-use customization and layout tools that enable even non-programming staff to create and manage information with ease.  Web-based DMs are able to create and manage logical work areas with great efficiency and flexibility, manually and automatically collecting and organizing the firm’s most valuable content and relating it to target audiences.  Not surprisingly, the productivity implications for firms that have successfully transitioned to these new systems have been profound.  Junior associates are locating and leveraging precedent documents at the touch of a button; case teams are collaborating easily on large projects across multiple offices; and work areas are filtering, organizing and serving information directly relevant to each individual. 

These features reduce valuable non-billable time spent locating content and save clients money with research and redrafting previously created recyclable content.  And many features meet or exceed the functional requirements of a successful KM deployment without the costly and troublesome challenge of building connectors from a freestanding KM solution to the DM system.

When considering KM, building a solid foundation may start as a technology requirement such as reorganization, consolidation and centralization of a firm’s DM architecture; but implementation should be influenced by broader principles such as culture.  A major re-architecting often challenges popular thinking and is a catalyst for cultural change.  Likewise, these technology-led changes often promote the best working model for a KM engine. 

Many Plusses
Centralizing content minimizes complexity and enhances performance of the DM and also promotes easier knowledge sharing across the enterprise.  The established three-tier architecture with new caching services enhances this model by storing last-edited content locally to the content of the last operator.  Matter-centric computing, the latest advancement in DM, creates groups of virtual communities collaborating on work product of the same matter across the enterprise.  “Matter-Centricity” confers the ability to organize work product automatically based on last matters used.  It expands on the folder and security models and introduces us to location of content and the “workspace.”  These new workspaces aggregate and display relative content, reducing duplicative work; they create virtual case teams that translate into KM communities expanding each user’s experience and further promoting the sharing of knowledge.  These new advances will enable organizations to communicate more effectively.

Moving forward, communities will begin self-monitoring content and improving the value of the environment promoting valuable communication.  As individual KM communities succeed, their teams will communicate with others, comparing what works and fails. 

The Challenges
Even the most successful KM deployments are met, at least initially, with a level of trepidation based largely on organizational aversion to change.  New technology creates novel challenges, since users have established ways of working that will now require modifications.  But introducing similar technologies like Web-based DM desktops gradually — and in ways that are familiar to the user population — can reduce the stress of change.  Users will be able to continue working in familiar ways while being introduced to a new KM application.  Advanced DM Web desktops allow users to work in a fully integrated model -with automated open/checkout and close/check-in processes, provided thick clients are installed locally.

An obvious, yet often ignored lesson from KM successes and failures is that “different firms need different approaches.”  While the DM system may be the engine that drives KM, situations will vary.  Technology may be similar across KM solutions, but approach, implementation and follow-through will make all the difference between success and costly failures in KM deployments.  The distinction of each firm will dictate its foundational requirements and architecture.  Focus your KM strategy on leveraging your organization’s accumulated experience and capabilities to drive the success of your business goals. 

If foundational technologies are appropriately applied, the latest Web-based DM suites with their flexibility and scalability can be solid bases for your organization’s future KM initiatives.

About our author . . .

Stewart Bennett is a consultant at Baker Robbins & Company.  He has nearly a decade experience in legal technology consulting and document management architecting and administration, with extensive technical and conceptual knowledge of the major DM systems.  He can be reached at 212.953.3570 or sbennett@brco.com.