Efficient knowledge management for business process transformation

Are you sensing increasing competitive pressure in your company because of the rise of digitalization in business? According to a recent survey by the digital association Bitkom, this pressure is impacting the majority of German companies. Digitalization appears to have penetrated every industry. However, most companies also see it as an opportunity for further growth and are gradually adapting their products and services. Yet, according to Bitkom, only 33 percent are pursuing a company-wide digital strategy.

A digital strategy is, however, essential for successful process transformation and for migrating business models to the digital arena because it serves as a common thread for all these efforts. It helps you and others master the strategic challenge of maintaining or even improving your own ability to innovate, aligning products and services more closely with the needs of customers, and recognizing market trends at an early stage.

A firmly anchored data strategy must be at the core of every digital strategy 

You also need a strategy that regulates the way the data that exists in your company is handled. You have to be able to selectively and purposefully evaluate and leverage the exponentially growing volumes of data, since that is the only way to increase the value of information. As Benjamin Franklin once said: “An investment in knowledge still pays the best interest.”

Insight engines can decipher big data

But where do you start? Intelligent solutions like insight engines are particularly helpful in this respect. They perform this task automatically, delivering intelligently prepared information quickly and easily, and thus generating more growth and added value for the company. Insight engines are based on technologies from the field of enterprise search. Unlike conventional systems, however, they also draw on methods of artificial intelligence such as machine learning and deep learning, which makes them more efficient and more intelligent.

Here are just a few examples of what insight engines can do right now:

1. Insight engines consolidate data from multiple sources
   Information in companies is often hidden in many different databases, special applications, and other data sources that are not linked to each other. Higher-level search is virtually impossible to perform manually or involves a great deal of effort. By contrast, thanks to a wide range of interfaces, insight engines can connect to almost any source, analyze the data stored there and, based on this, create a continuously updated meta-database that generates connections and links to other information.
    
2. Information at a glance thanks to artificial intelligence 
   Insight engines deliver analyses and results proactively and on demand. This enables you to gain a comprehensive overview of your corporate knowledge quickly and easily. Insight engines make use of machine learning and deep learning to categorize and link information and show you how it is connected. These methods of artificial intelligence have the task of ranking searches and results according to relevance – also with a view to the user community – and of delivering the best possible answers to each specific group going forward. In other words, the insight engine learns whether invoices and reminders are more important to you than personnel files or different types of logs.
    
3. Specific search queries can be made in natural language 
   When you search for information using a state-of-the-art insight engine, you don’t have to dread an endless list of hits. Instead, you can easily make specific search queries in natural language. Using natural language processing and natural language question answering, the insight engine will then analyze and interpret the results to give you an answer that is customized and, most importantly, accurate.

Differentiation provides the competitive edge

Digitalization opens up a whole new level of latitude, providing you with opportunities to differentiate yourself from the competition. But remember: Your own data is at the core of your digital transformation. It has to be handled and processed in the right way, and technologies like insight engines provide an excellent starting point for achieving this goal.