enterprise knowledge portals: what they are and what … · enterprise knowledge portals: what they...

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Enterprise Knowledge Portals: What They Areand What They Do

Prepared By:Joseph M. Firestone, Ph.D.

Chief ScientistExecutive Information Systems, Inc

http://[email protected]

(703) 461-8823May 23, 2000

Prepared For:Business-to-Business Corporate Portals Conference

Executive Information Systems, Inc.EIS

© 2000 Executive Information Systems, Inc.

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IT Applications Are Purposeful

gThey Support and Partially AutomateHuman Participation In BusinessProcesses

gPortals are No DifferentgSo Let’s Talk Knowledge Processes

Before We Talk Knowledge Portals© 2000 Executive Information Systems, Inc.

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Problems andSolutions in the Enterprise

g Every individual, team, or group within the enterpriseencounters problems in the course of the work day

g Every problem has alternative solutionsg And every alternative solution is subject to criticism

and to replacement if it performs less well than itscompetitors.

g The best problem solution is the competitivealternative that best survives criticism


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The Enterprise is a “Swirl” ofKnowledge-related Interactions

g The set of problem-solving interactions in anenterprise constitutes a continuous, dynamic “swirl”from which knowledge is produced and integratedwith the business processes of the enterprise

g For a given problem, it is useful to abstract from theswirl and to conceptualize an iteration of a knowledgelife cycle targeted on solving that problem.


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The Knowledge Life Cycle (KLC) Model


KnowledgeProduction

OK

InfoAboutVKC

VKC

InfoAboutUKC

UKC

InfoAbout

IKC

IKC

KnowledgeIntegration

Knowledge Processes

Knowledge Sets

UKC - Unvalidated Knowledge ClaimVKC - Validated Knowledge Claim

IKC - Invalidated Knowledge Claim

OK - Organizational Knowledge

ExternalInputs

Experiential Feedback Loop

Distributed Organizational

KnowledgeBase

Structures incorporating Organizational

Knowledge

Bus.ProcessBehavior

ExternalInputs

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Structures IncorporatingOrganizational Knowledge

gg Business ProcessesBusiness Processes

gg Organizational CultureOrganizational Culturegg Organizational StrategyOrganizational Strategygg Organizational TeamsOrganizational Teamsgg Formal Org. Sub-divisionsFormal Org. Sub-divisionsgg IndividualsIndividualsgg PoliciesPoliciesgg ProceduresProceduresg Products

g Servicesg Codified Organizational

Knowledgeg Information Systemsg Paper documentsg Imagesg Artg Other Organizational

Cultural Artifacts


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Knowledge Production


CKC

InfoAcquisition

Indiv. &Group

Learning

CKC - CodifiedKnowledge Claims

KnowledgeValidation

KnowledgeClaim

Formulation

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KnowledgeSharing:

Face-To-Face,Document,Computer-

based

OK

Searching/Retrieving:Electronic

or Personal

Teaching:Face-To-Faceand Compu-

ter based

Broadcasting:Electronic

or Personal

Knowledge Integration


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What is Knowledge Management?

g It is handling, directing, governing, controlling,coordinating, planning, and organizing agents,components, and activities participating in the basicknowledge processes (knowledge production andknowledge integration)

g That is, it is managing the KLC -- its processes and itsproducts (outcomes)

g Such management occurs through a range of activities


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KM Task Clusters and Task Patternsg There are three KM task clusters: interpersonal

behavior; knowledge processing behavior; and decisionmakingg Interpersonal behavior includes three task patterns:

gfigurehead,gleadership, andgexternal relationship-building activity.

g Knowledge processing behavior includes two taskpatterns:gKM knowledge production; andgKM knowledge integration.


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KM Task Clusters andTask Patterns (TWO)

g Decision Making includes four task patterns:g changing knowledge process rules;g crisis handling;g allocating KM and knowledge processing

resources; andg negotiating agreement with representatives of

other business processes.


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What is aBusiness Portal?

g According to Wayne Eckerson a Business Portalis an application that “provides business usersone-stop shopping for any information object theyneed inside or outside the corporation.”

g It also provides shared services such as “security,metadata repository, personalization, search,publish/subscribe,” etc., as well as a common lookand feel to the portal gateway


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What is anEnterprise Information Portal?

gAccording to Merrill Lynch's Shilakes andTylman:

g "Enterprise Information Portals are applications thatenable companies to unlock internally and externallystored information, and provide users a singlegateway to personalized information needed tomake informed business decisions. "


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What is an EnterpriseInformation Portal? (TWO)

g ". . . an amalgamation of software applicationsthat consolidate, manage, analyze and distributeinformation across and outside of an enterprise(including Business Intelligence, ContentManagement, Data Warehouse & Mart and DataManagement applications)."


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Essential Characteristics of EIPs

g Use “push” and “pull” technologies to transmitinformation through a standardized web interface

g Provide “interactivity” -- the ability to “ ‘question’and share information on” user desktops.

g Exhibit trend toward verticalization in appsgPackaged apps with targeted content toward

industries or corporate functions


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Essential Characteristics of EIPs (TWO)

g Integrates disparate applications anddata/content stores into a singlesystem

g Accesses both external and internalsources

g Supports bi-directional info exchangefrom sources

g Uses data and info acquired for furtherprocessing


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g An EKP is an enhanced Enterprise InformationPortal (EIP)

g It is an EIP that supports knowledge production,knowledge integration, and knowledgemanagement

g It is an EIP that supports individuals, groups, andteams in the swirl of problem-solving activitiespermeating enterprise business processes

What is an EnterpriseKnowledge Portal (EKP)?


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g focus upon, provide, produce and integrate informationabout the validity of the information they supply

g provide information about your business and meta-information about the degree to which you can rely onthat information,

g distinguish knowledge from mere information,g provide a facility for producing knowledge from

informationg orient one toward producing and integrating knowledge

rather than information

Enterprise Knowledge Portals


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g More specifically, the EKP in operation providesa wide range of functionality, a wide range ofdata and content stores as sources of previouslydeveloped information and knowledge, and anintegrative object/component-based portalarchitecture.

g The next few slides list the functionality and typesof data and content encompassed by the EKP,and discuss EKP architecture

EKP Functionality,Architecture, and Other Matters


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g Structured Data Managementg Unstructured Content Managementg Collaborative Processingg Information Processingg Information Management Processingg Knowledge Processingg Knowledge Management Processing

EKP Functionality


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EKP Data and Content Sources: Databases,Document Types, Other

g Hierarchical, Relational, ODBC,OODBMs, Flat File, Inverted File, Multi-dimensional, XML

g Text, Word processing documents, e-mail, SGML, HTML, XML

g Business Intelligence (BI) Reports,Program Files, and Data Feeds


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EKP:Type ofArchitecture/Integration

g Portal Interface-based Integration (PII)g Data Federation-based integration (DFI)g Work-flow-based Integration (WFI)g Object/Component-based Integration (OCI)

g Structured Application Integration (SAI)g Distributed Content Management integration

(DCM)g Portal Application Integration (PAI)


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Portal Browser Clients

DataMarts

Content and Data Stores

DDS DW ODS PersistentContent Store

(OODBMS)

OLTPRelational

Full-textIndexed

ApplicationServers

Collab

Text and Data Mining Server

Web Server

Portal JobContent Server

PageBuilder

Transaction &Report/Query

Scanner/Indexer

Agent Server

ETL, ROLAP &MOLAP

ERP &Legacy

ApplicationServers

Agent Agent

Agent

ArtificialKnowledge

Server

Artificial Knowledge Manager

The Architecture of an Enterprise Knowledge Portal


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EKP Generic Application Componentsg Browser and e-mail clientsg The Avatar -- a client-based intelligent agentg The portal application server(s),g The access management systemg Knowledge Claim Objectsg The enterprise Artificial Knowledge Server(s) (AKSs),g Complex adaptive system (cas) mobile intelligent agentsg The formal knowledge production application server(s) and its

associated clients supporting analytical and statisticalmodeling, KDD and Data Mining, Simulation, impact analysisand forecasting,

g The collaborative processing application server, andg A persistent storage component.


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What is the Purpose of the Avatar in the EKP?

g Creating a highly automated, enterprise knowledge-enabled, self-learning/adaptive virtual reality interfacethat is personally and dynamically tailored to each user.The types of automation involved here include:g assimilation of the user's local environment, personal

preferences & cognitive patternsg learning from, interacting with, and utilizing enterprise

knowledge communicated by the Artificial KnowledgeServers


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What is the Purpose ofthe Avatar in the EKP? (Two)

g supporting performing personal and collaborativeworkflows, by providing workflow memory, accessiblefrom the portal interface

g adapting in accordance with anticipated needs of the user,by providing access to user cognitive maps

g producing knowledge claims and submitting these to theEKP system. These knowledge claims of the Avatarrepresent local knowledge, in contrast to the rules thathave been validated by the EKP system’s network ofArtificial Knowledge Servers

g providing the user autonomous negotiating capabilitieswith the rest of the EKP system


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Knowledge Claim Objectsg An important class of objects in the EKP system is a knowledge

claim object (KCO)g A KCO is distinguished from an ordinary business object by the

presence of validity metadata encapsulated in the objectg Such metadata compares the KCO to alternative, competing

KCO’s, and may be expressed in many different forms. The“metadata” may be qualitative or quantitative or it may be in theform of textual content. In relatively infrequent but importantspecial cases, the metadata may involve quantitative ratings of aknowledge claim compared to its competitors.

g When the KCO is accessed by a user, data, metadata, andmethods are all available, so the user can evaluate the KCO as abasis for decision against competing KCOs. This capability is notavailable in EIPs, which express knowledge claims as data orbusiness objects only.


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Process Control Services

Active In-Memory Object Model

Connectivity Services

The AKM


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The Artificial Knowledge Serverg The distributed AKS provides Process Control Services, an Object Model of

the EKP system, and connectivity to all enterprise information, data stores,and applications

g Process Control Services:g In-memory proactive object state management and synchronization

across distributed objectsg Component management and Workflow Managementg Transactional multithreadingg business rule management and processing,g KCO management and processing andg metadata management

g In-memory Active Object Model/Persistent Object Store is characterized by:g Event-driven behaviorg EKP-wide model with shared representation


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The Artificial Knowledge Server (Two)g Declarative and procedural business rulesg Caching along with partial instantiation of objectsg A Persistent Object Store for the AKS andg Reflexive Objects and KCOs

g Connectivity Services are:g Language APIs: C, C++, Java, HTML, XML, CORBA, DCOMg Databases: Relational, ODBC, OODBMS, hierarchical,

network, flat file, XML, etc.g Wrapper connectivity for application software: custom,

CORBA, or COM-basedg Applications connectivity including all the applications in the

enterprise whether these are mainframe, server, or desktop -based


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The Intelligent Agent Platformg The second type of component comprising the EKP’s AKM is the intelligent

agent (IA).g EKP IAs are lightweight, intelligent, efficient, specialized Business Process

Engines that provide some memory and a small amount of processing powerat almost no cost.

g Agents alone cannot yet create the virtual enterprise. For complex processingand an enterprise wide view, the AKS is also indispensable.

g But IAs provide distributed load balancing to processing in the AKM.g They are necessary partners in providing the processing power needed for

implementing the EKP as a virtual enterprise.g When we add agents to the AKS to create the AKM, we provide software

wiring for the enterprise that connects its central brain components (the AKSs)to its sensors (the agents). The result is a flexible and scalable AKM that canintegrate the various components of the EKP into a virtual enterprise.


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g Competitive Advantageg Increased ROIg Increased Employee Productivityg Increased Effectivenessg Decreased Cost of Informationg Increased Collaborationg Universal Access to Enterprise Resourcesg A Unified, Dynamically Integrated and Maintained

View of Enterprise Data and Informationg Accelerated Innovation

Some Benefits of EKPs


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g These are also benefits claimed for Enterprise InformationPortals, but:g Competitive Advantageg Increased ROI,g Accelerated innovation andg Increased effectiveness -- the four most important benefits

g tacitly assume that the information produced or supplied by anEIP is correct information

g If that’s not the case, these four benefits are lostg An overriding justification for implementing an EKP, rather than

an EIP, is to secure these four benefits by increasing the qualityof information supplied by the portal

Benefits of EKPs (Two)


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g DP/CM Portalsg XML Portalsg Advanced Collaborative Portalsg Incorporation of EAI capabilitiesg Automated, updated personalization of contentg Interface integration around cognitive maps and

workflowsg Data and Content Store Integration through universal

connectivityg Application Integration through Business Process

Engines and intelligent agents

Evolution Towards The EKP


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The End


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The KLC Model and eBusiness


eCRM

eSCM

eERP

eCommerce

eKM

Structures Incorporating

Organizational Knowledge

External InputsDistributed

OrganizationalKnowledge Base

eKP

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g The use of EIPs in e-Business is an acceleratingtrend

g EKPs provides all the support for e-Businessprovided by EIPs. In addition, EKPs provideunique support for:

g eCRMg eSCMg eERPg eCommerce

The EKP and e-Business


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eCommerce eCRM eSCM eERP

Enterprise Knowledge Portals Supportand Integrate eBusiness Processes

Enterprise Knowledge Portals Supportand Integrate eBusiness Processes


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g Knowledge-based Personalization of CRM webclients

g Customer individual and group learningg Knowledge worker individual and group learningg Knowledge validation in such areas as:

g Strategic and Tactical CRM planningg Customer acquisitiong Customer retentiong Customer lifetime Valueg Monitoring and evaluating CRM initiatives

The EKP and eCRM


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g Knowledge-based Personalization of SCM webclients

g Knowledge worker individual and group learningg Knowledge validation in such areas as:

g SCM planning and process modelingg Raw material developmentg Ingredient forecastingg Manufacturing process controlg Inventory forecasting and control

The EKP and eSCM


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g Knowledge-based Personalization of ERP webclients


g Budgetingg Accountingg Asset Managementg Human Resourcesg Shipments

The EKP and eERP


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g Knowledge-based Personalization ofeCommerce web clients


g eCommerce planningg Sales forecastingg Billingg Collectiong Ordersg Deliveries

The EKP and eCommerce


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