What is ITIL Knowledge Management?

There are many instances where companies struggle to keep up with the vast amounts of data produced daily. It can become challenging for them to prioritise information to be delivered across departments. This is where ITIL Knowledge Management steps in.

The ITIL V4 Framework and Processes ensure that the knowledge base is accessible to all stakeholders. It is essential for the knowledge to be in the proper format with other relevant policies. Therefore, the importance of learning about Knowledge Management in ITIL is for modern-day organisations. This blog explains ITIL Knowledge Management as the process of obtaining, assessing, storing, & distributing knowledge within an IT service desk. Let's delve in and drive growth!

Table of Contents 

1) What is ITIL Knowledge Management?

2) Importance of Knowledge Management

3) Types of ITIL Knowledge Management

4) Key processes of ITIL Knowledge Management

5) Core activities of Knowledge Management

6) Conclusion

What is ITIL Knowledge Management?

The ITIL 4 DPI framework ensures that the knowledge base is accessible to all stakeholders. It is essential for the knowledge to be in the proper format with other relevant policies. Knowledge Management teams are responsible for implementing a Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS) which is the complete body of knowledge. If the services are to be delivered effectively, the captured knowledge must be systematically structured, so that it becomes cognizant to everybody. SKMS constitutes the data which can be used for Knowledge Service Management. These data comprise of the following:

a) Portfolio of all the services

b) Content Management System

Supplier Vendor and Contract System (SCMIS)

ITIL Knowledge Management focuses on decision-making by ensuring that the data flows smoothly across an organisation throughout their service proceedings. While implementing the knowledge to provide products and services, employees the experience they share is reliable.
 

Importance of Knowledge Management

As an example, whenever a user raises an IT-related issue, a new ticket is created. If that ticket is resolved by an IT technician, this is considered a new solution. These solutions are documented by the technicians for future reference.

This process of documenting solutions is an example of ITIL Knowledge Management. If an organisation doesn’t have an established Knowledge Management process, it can lead to serious consequences like: 

1) Lengthy resolution times 

2) Increased downtimes 

So even fixing a less serious issue can take a humungous amount of time, especially during outages and downtime. This is where ITIL Knowledge Management comes in. Let's take a look at the importance of ITIL Knowledge Management process:

1) Improved decision-making: ITIL Knowledge Management systems provide easy access to historical data and best practices. This empowers decision-makers with insights, leading to informed and well-grounded choices.

2) Reduced redundancy: ITIL Knowledge Management helps avoid duplication of efforts by making past solutions and lessons learned readily available, minimising repeated mistakes.

3) Improved problem-solving: An organised knowledge base enables employees to access relevant information swiftly. It aids in efficient troubleshooting and problem-solving in ITIL Knowledge Management.

4) Increased innovation: By sharing tacit and explicit knowledge, organisations foster an environment of innovation. Ideas are nurtured, and creative solutions emerge from a collaborative knowledge-sharing culture.

5) Employee development: Sharing implicit knowledge to experienced team members as well as juniors promotes skill development. It also prepares Knowledge Management employees for greater responsibilities.

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An organisation’s effectiveness in Knowledge Management can drive its momentum to harness the information from individuals across the organisation. The information harnessed can then be easily shared or exchanged. These measures ensure that employee information is kept secure and safe in the organisation’s database.

From a broad perspective, Knowledge Management enables an organisation to generate more value, encouraging an innovative mindset and achieving their business goals. An organisation can generate value by ensuring the right people receive the right information at the right time. Itcan also encourage innovation by inspiring their team to brainstorm and collaborate for bigger ideas. Finally, they can help their teams to achieve the targets they set.

Types of ITIL Knowledge Management 

ITIL Knowledge Management is a constant process of receiving tacit or implicit knowledge and making it available in the form of explicit knowledge. In simpler words, there are the three different types of knowledge which exist in ITIL Knowledge Management:

Tacit Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge is a form of knowledge derived from personal experience or practice, and the process of conveying this knowledge to others requires conscious effort It means that this form of knowledge registers itself in the brain in such a way that it takes effort to communicate it to others.   

Based on personal experience and intuition, Tacit Knowledge is like conversing in another language, which gives it a significant competitive advantage when implementing Knowledge Management systems. Some key examples of applying Tacit Knowledge are as follows: 

1) Recognising when to give a sales pitch to a prospect 

2) Understanding the appropriate words to utilise in a copy to engage an audience 

3) Matching any deliverable content according to a customer’s needs 

Explicit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge is referred to as Codified Knowledge. In simple terms, this Knowledge can be conveyed to others over long distances and can be stored in different kinds of media.

The simple nature of Explicit Knowledge makes it easier to store and retrieve information within a Knowledge Management system. Additionally, extra effort is required to keep the Explicit Knowledge up to date.   

Explicit Knowledge can be expressed through documents like a marketing report. Documentation utilised for onboarding procedures and user manuals is also a good example of Explicit Knowledge. Utilising Explicit Knowledge can translate to improved agility in the business workflow, helping the organisation progress much faster.   

An organisation can document its past solutions to save time while working on new solutions. Documenting past solutions and procedures increase the chances of quality work by employees. They can refer to the documentation to ensure they adhere to the established procedures to achieve the correct outcomes.   

Implicit Knowledge

Implicit Knowledge is encapsulated within processes and organisational culture. This form of Knowledge typically exists in a formal format like an instruction manual or guidelines. However, the Knowledge is not explicit on its own. Rather, it helps generate value, allowing innovation and making it smoother to achieve goals. The regular exchange of Implicit Knowledge from experienced team members can help juniors grow in their job roles and prepare them for more responsibilities in the future. This replaces the effort of hiring a new member with promoting a qualified existing member.

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Key processes of ITIL Knowledge Management

ITIL Knowledge Management contains some key processes which include standards and guidelines for IT Management, such as:

ITILv2 Knowledge Management processes

ITILv2 was released in 2000 as a new framework to incorporate Microsoft’s adoption of ITIL as a foundation. As a result, the ITIL framework was converted into the Microsoft Operations Framework Foundation (MOFF).   

The ITILv2 was produced as a catalogue of 30 volumes segregated into nine categories, and it was titled the most accessible ITSM tool worldwide due to this change. Additionally, the ITIL framework has been made more accessible to the public since the adoption of ITILv2. Although ITILv2 supersedes the first version, it has maintained the foundational principles explained in the ITIL framework. Some key changes to the version include: 

1) Senior Managers can play a more centralised role with a new governance and management board membership. 

2) Integration of a new ITIL Service Management tool for monitoring and reporting purposes on service levels. 

3) Increasing customer satisfaction and retention rates by enhancing focus on internal service delivery improvements. 

4) Adapting to emerging trends in the market by focusing on flexible working arrangements. 

These changes led to the conferment of the ITILv2 framework as the gold standard in the ITIL 4 Service Value System management industry. It is also recommended that organisations adopt the ITILv2 framework at a continual pace, as some parts work at their best when applied independently.   

ITILv3 Knowledge Management processes

The ITILv3 was released in 2007 to ease the usage of ITIL. This version emphasised the integration of IT business around the ITIL Service Lifecycle structure concept. The ITIL 2007 was revised and released again in the ITIL 2011 revision. The inconsistencies and errors in ITILv3 were resolved in 2011 by condensing 26 new processes and functions into five volumes.  

The ITILv3 is an evolved version of the ITILv2 framework. Service management is a concept common to both these versions of ITIL, although ITIL version 3 introduces process improvement, change management and service delivery. Read more to learn more about ITIL change management and service delivery with respect to ITILv2 and ITILv3 versions.

There are a few key differences between both the ITILv2 and ITILv3 versions regarding the terminology, delivery and structure model, such as: 

1) This evolution addressed the evolving needs of IT services and played a significant role in shaping the ongoing discourse around ITSM vs ITIL.

2) The revised framework considered the experience acquired from the previous versions of ITIL. It then extended the IT Service Management scope to incorporate process improvement, change management and service delivery. 

The new ITILv3 vs ITIL v4 framework describes new processes and version upgrades of current processes within these areas. The framework also offers guidance on implementing the different aspects of service management, like handling change requests and ITIL Incidents

Furthermore, the ITIL framework establishes important principles to manage IT services effectively and gives the best practices organisations can adopt to improve their services.    

ITILv4 Knowledge Management processes 

Released in 2019, the fourth version of ITIL is the most popular. Apart from offering practical guidance to learners on using ITIL, the latest version emphasises IT environments with a collaborative mindset. Companies have found it easier to integrate and align the ITIL version 4 while practising Agile, DevOps and Lean methodologies. The fourth version’s inclusivity for modern digital environments made the alignment possible.   

The ITIL version 4 is designed to help organisations improve their service delivery by utilising the latest version’s best practice framework. ITIL version 4 contains four integral processes: Service Design, Change, Delivery, Analytics and Maintenance. The framework aims at helping IT organisations manage the delivery of their business value to customers.   

Furthermore, the ITILv4 also includes many new best practices that organisations can utilise to improve their overall quality of service and work efficiency.   

ITILv5 processes

The fifth version of the ITIL framework has a new phase called the ‘Service Transition’, which integrates legacy support into its new delivery infrastructure. The new ITIL version also brings a fresh approach called Problem Evolution' along with a detailed focus on ITIL Problem Management roles and responsibilities. The new approach is intended to guide organisations through various stages of resolving a problem.   

Additionally, the latest ITIL framework is designed as a practical guidance tool for an organisation to adapt to its business needs. The ITIL tool can help an organization recognize discrepancies in its existing processes, perform automation of repetitive tasks, and streamline the management team’s workload. While highlighting ITIL Advantages and Disadvantages, ITIL tools enhances operational efficiency but may also pose challenges related to initial implementation costs and the need for staff training.

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Core activities of Knowledge Management

ITIL Knowledge Management comprise of three core activities for proper service delivery, and provide various benefits. Let’s discuss these activities:

a) First activity: Data entry

It is very important that you feed your database with the correct information which is relevant to your business. If there is no correct database in your system, then you will not have a Knowledge Management.

Although the process of data entry is quite tedious, it is important that it is imbibed into every corporate culture. It is important because then it becomes easy to make the Knowledge Management System a part of regular business operations. It reduces a lot of time spent in retrieving the lost data.

For example, if your business heavily relies on shooting emails to their customer base regularly, then all the data which will be used in shooting the mails must be done in a single click. So, that the process does not become tedious, and you can get done a lot in small amount of time.

b) Second activity: Database organisation

It is crucial that complex data is available in an organised manner during service delivery. This not only helps in finding the data required, but also encourages the employees to easily understand the category of data for any future use. This is where Knowledge dashboard becomes a huge help.

It not only categorises data according to the need, but also makes it aesthetically pleasing. This visual board creates a mental mapping for the employees, so that they instinctively know where to look for the required data.

The recent introduction of tags also helps employees to organise their data further. Along with the Knowledge dashboard, it is also important that the information is maintained in a contextual and syntaxial manner so that people who are using the database can use the data instinctively and efficiently.

c) Third activity: Utilising the content of the database

It is important to build a strong Knowledge framework which can help your organisation in better service delivery. A functioning framework can help you to reduce cost and improve the overall performance of the company. When a new employee enters an organisation, often, they have to spend a lot of time in getting to know the organisational structure and functions.

The senior employees also have to spend a considerable amount of time in explaining them every tiny detail which can sometimes pose to be time consuming and tedious. With a strong framework, it is easy to not only share the knowledge but also allow them to use them at their will. Setting up a framework is cost effective, and the implementation of the Knowledge Management System becomes easy as well.

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Conclusion 

ITIL Knowledge Management allows for the sharing of employee expertise across any industry. The sharing or exchange of expertise spans across a company's IT, service, HR and legal departments. Employees can utilise their organisation’s knowledge base to tackle issues and be better prepared with a strategy for future ones. Understanding the vital role that ITIL Certification Renewal plays in staying current and relevant in the field of Knowledge Management is crucial for professionals.

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