In the world of knowledge management systems, the last several years have seen a widespread migration away from organizational intranet systems into web-based knowledge-sharing systems, in which all information is stored on a server and accessed by logged-in users over a standard web connection. Today we are once again seeing a broad shift in the way knowledge is manage and stored—namely, off static servers and computers and into the cloud. This has many important implications for organizations that rely on knowledge management systems.
And because some people are still unfamiliar with how exactly the cloud works, let’s quickly look at the basics. Cloud computing refers to the practice of storing information on the network rather than on local drives. In some cases, cloud networks even allow software to be stored remotely and accessed via an interface (often browser-based) on a computer running elsewhere. Of course, information does have to be stored somewhere, but cloud-based information typically exists across many servers rather than in a single location.
Benefits of cloud-based knowledge management
The main benefit of cloud-based computing is that information and even software can be accessed from virtually any network-enabled device at any location. Whether you are on your PC at work, on your Mac laptop at home, or on your smartphone at the airport, knowledge stored in the cloud can be instantly accessed. This is good for organizations in which many individuals are not tied down to a single location. In fact, it is very conceivable that in the near future a large number of companies will have no central offices at all but instead will consist of individuals scattered around the world all plugged into the cloud.
Another good thing about cloud-based knowledge management systems is that they have redundancy built in. Since the information is typically stored across many servers and computers instead of in one place, one server outage cannot bring the whole network down. This is great news for companies for which even a brief server outage leads to a temporary standstill in productivity or revenue until the problem is fixed.
Also, cloud-based knowledge management in many cases is simply cheaper than the alternatives. Rather than installing hardware and software on every computer that needs access to the network, companies can simply store it all in the cloud and have people access it through a browser or lightweight interface.
Drawbacks of cloud-based knowledge management
There are also some potential concerns inherent to cloud-based knowledge management systems. Most important, it comes with some security risks that can be quite serious for organizations for which security is paramount. Information stored in the cloud can of course be protected through firewalls and authentication requirements, but such measures have never completely stopped hackers in the past. This risk can be lessened, however, by taking advanced measures to hide and protect the most security-sensitive information.
Another drawback is that setting up a cloud-based management system often requires additional tech staff, which can of course be expensive for some companies. Cloud networking is usually quite simple from the user’s perspective, but infrastructurally it can be complicated, and many companies simply don’t have the necessary expertise on staff. Of course, there are cloud-computing consultancy services that can help companies get their systems online, but these can be somewhat expensive as well.
