Knowledge management is one of the few technology areas shared across all service disciplines. Though support operations have had tools and processes in place to capture and share knowledge since the 1990s, today other service divisions are pursuing initiatives to better capture tacit knowledge learned during customer implementations, training classes and onsite repair visits. However, the knowledge practices of support are often labeled overly complex by outside groups, and both maturing technology and changing demographics are forcing companies to identify new approaches to knowledge and content management.
TSIA Research views enterprise collaboration as the next wave of knowledge management. This report will discuss the rise of real-time collaboration processes and tools, along with use cases for leveraging collaboration both internally and externally. Typical obstacles to services collaboration will also be highlighted, as well as strategies for overcoming those obstacles. Service executives should evaluate how they currently capture and share new information and tacit learning, and invest in tools and processes that encourage knowledge sharing as well as capture that content for effective future use.