When we want to make a purchase of something that brings value, such as a car, we make impulsive decisions based on some facts and impressions. Or, we do an extensive investigation of the existing options. In this type of purchase, we will take into account various factors such as consumption, price, opinion articles, comparisons, etc. We may even spend several days consulting different sources of data until we reach a final decision.

Similarly, decision-making in an information technology company should also consider facts and data from numerous disparate sources throughout the company. However, these data become difficult to gather and interpret, which is essential due to the fact that IT environments are quite hybrid and heterogeneous.

The beginning of the process

Building a Knowledge Management process within IT service management allows us, through the implementation of a Service Knowledge Management System, to ensure that the best decisions in service management happen. This makes the company’s knowledge available to those who need it, not only when they need it.

Knowledge management also aims to encourage the sharing of data, ideas, and experiences through various collaboration platforms. These types of solutions allow us to maximize the most important asset of a company: knowledge. By increasing communication, awareness, and effective collaboration of users and IT staff, companies have the chance to use the collective intelligence of individual contributors, thus allowing for continuous optimization of processes and procedures.

The new user

Another factor to consider is the profile of users that exists today. The present-day IT service user is not the same user as one or two decades ago. The present user grew up with technology, meaning that they overcome any difficulties that may arise in using an IT service with a high degree of autonomy.

Efforts should be made to implement a knowledge database that allows for efficient use by users (“self-help”).

If this critical success factor is achieved, we will be practically freeing up resources for other types of tasks that are not incident or problem resolution, thus reducing the cost associated with the delivery and support of IT services. After all, knowledge doesn’t take up space, and the more, the better, right?