Integrated Semantic Solutions for Enterprise Information Architecture

1. Enterprise Information ArchitectureA Platform for Integrating Your Organization’s Information and Knowledge Activities Tom ReamyChief Knowledge Architect KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com

2. Agenda • Enterprise Information Architecture • Need for Integrated Semantic Solution • Content, Technology, People, Activities • Benefits of an Integrated Semantic Solution • Cost Savings, Business Value • Implementation of Enterprise Information Architecture • Enterprise Strategy – Integration • Where Search / Convera fits in

3. KAPS Group: General • Knowledge Architecture Professional Services • Started Three Years Ago • Virtual Company: Network of consultants – 12-15 • Top Taxonomy People, Partner with other consultants • Partners – Convera, (and others), etc. • First Convera Certified Taxonomy Developers • Articles – KMWorld, EContent, Information Today, etc. • Presentations – KMWorld, Information Today, Pharmaceutical, Learning, Information Architecture • Topics: Knowledge Architecture, Taxonomy Boot Camp, Enterprise Search, Complexity Theory, Intranets

4. KAPS Group: Services • Consulting, Strategy recommendations • Knowledge architecture audit • Taxonomies: Enterprise, Marketing, Insurance, etc. • Services: • Taxonomy development, consulting, customization • Technology Consulting – Search, CMS, Portals, etc. • Metadata standards and implementation • Knowledge Management: Collaboration, Expertise, e-learning • Information Architecture, Web Development

5. Enterprise Information Architecture Need for Integrated Semantic Solutions • Integrated:“Effective IM starts at top. Most organization’s IM starts with grassroots approaches that only add to the problem of information silos” (Forester) • Semantics: Taxonomy, metadata, controlled vocabularies, Personas, Topic Maps, Natural Categories • Taxonomies in top 10 technologies for 2006 (Gartner) • “Through 2006, more than 70% of firms that invest in unstructured information-management initiatives won’t achieve their targeted return on investment, due to underinvestment in taxonomy building (.7 probability)”

6. Enterprise Information Architecture Need for Integrated Semantic Solutions • Integrated Semantic Solutions: • Combination of technology and semantics • CMS/LMS – content creation is the right time to add metadata – cheaper and better metadata • Portals and Search – contextual information and feedback • Technological Integration – very expensive, no one solution to CMS, LMS, Search, Portal • Semantic Infrastructure - allows the meaningful integration of content with a minimal technological element (XML) • Cheaper, faster, less resources • Deeper integration – knowledge, not just data

7. Enterprise Information Architecture Four Essential Contexts • Content and Content Structure • Data and Unstructured Information • Standards and Procedures • People – Company Structure • Communities, Users, Central Team • Activities – Business processes and procedures • Central team - establish standards, facilitate • Technology • CMS, Search, portals, taxonomy tools • Applications – BI, CI, Text Mining

8. Enterprise Information Architecture Content & Content Structures • Content • Huge variety of types, sources, and uses • Structured data, unstructured documents, web pages, email • Semantic Infrastructure – Foundation • Essential content structures – taxonomies, metadata, vocabularies, synonyms, ontologies, best bets • Standards, publishing policies and procedures • Metadata standards, common taxonomies • Integration of metadata into publishing process

9. Enterprise Information Architecture Taxonomies • Taxonomies are an Infrastructure Resource • Indexing for search: • Meaningful relevance ranking • Categorization & related content • Browse • Better user experience, buy more • Text mining, Alerts, Competitor Intelligence • Metadata - Keywords – most difficult • Need to do it right and completely to get real value • Need Taxonomy, Controlled Vocabulary • Value from all fields – purpose, title, description, audience

10. Enterprise Information Architecture People Structures • Individual People • Tacit knowledge, information behaviors • Advanced personalization – category priority • Sales – forms ---- New Account Form • Accountant ---- New Accounts ---- Forms • Communities • Variety of types – map of formal and informal • Variety of subject matter – customer experience, demographics research, scuba • Variety of communication channels and information behaviors • Community-specific vocabularies, need for inter-community communication

11. Enterprise Information Architecture Infrastructure Team • Semantic Infrastructure requires both an infrastructure team and distributed expertise. • Software and SME’s is not the answer – keywords • Need local expert input, integration not rigid standardization • Infrastructure Team • Variety of roles and skills, plus part time, partners • Facilitating author metadata, Research metadata theory • Creating, acquiring, evaluating taxonomies, metadata standards, vocabularies

12. Enterprise Information Architecture Technology & Processes • Technology: Infrastructure and Applications • Enterprise Platforms: unstructured data management, CM with categorization, Portals, Collaboration, Text Mining • Organizational and Technology Context • When, who, how, and how much structure to add • Pre-creation, creation, retrieval, application • Creation – Content Management, Innovation, CoP’s • Metadata, categorization • Workflow with Meaning • Central Team and distributed SME’s and authors • Expertise locators – balance of structure and serendipity

13. Content Creation, Customer Services Agency Activities Activity Text Mining, Alerts, Personalization Services SEARCH / PORTAL / EAI / Content Management Technology People Data External Documents Content Layer Drives Email Internet Subscriptions Tacit Knowledge Databases

14. Content Creation, Customer Services Agency Activities Activity Text Mining, Alerts, Personalization Services SEARCH / PORTAL / EAI / Content Management Technology People Policies Tools Content Structure Data base schemas, Metadata, Taxonomies, Vocabularies, Personas People Data External Documents Content Layer Drives Email Internet Subscriptions Tacit Knowledge Databases

15. Integrated Solutions - Business Case:IDC White Paper • Information Tasks • Email – 14.5 hours a week • Create documents – 13.3 hours a week • Search – 9.5 hours a week • Gather information for documents – 8.3 hours a week • Find and organize documents – 6.8 hours a week • Gartner: “Business spend an estimated $750 Billion annually seeking information necessary to do their job. 30-40% of a knowledge worker’s time is spent managing documents.”

16. Integrated Solutions - Business Case:IDC White Paper • Time Wasted • Reformat information - $57 million per 10,000 per year • Not finding information - $53 million per 10,000 • Recreating content - $45 Million per 10,000 • $150 million per 10,000 -- Small Percent Gain = large savings • 1% - $1.5 million per year per 10,000 • 5% - $7.5 million • 10% - $15 million

17. Integrated Solutions - Business Case:General ROI Issues • Justification • Search Engine - $500K-$2Mil • Content Management - $500K-$2Mil • Portal - $500-$2Mil • Plus maintenance and employee costs • Taxonomy • Small comparative cost – 1% • Needed to get full value from all the above • Search & Portal – deliver higher value • CMS – get value from investment

18. Integrated Solutions - Business Case:Business Benefits • Reduce development costs, cycle times • Increase employee efficiency • Less time looking, more time doing • Enhance communication • Capture and reuse knowledge • Innovate better & faster • Cost of not finding right information • Business – lost money, opportunities • Security – lost lives

19. Integrated Solutions - Business Case:General ROI Issues • Creates a platform for future projects • Support new types of analysis • Text mining, alerts, CI, BI, etc. • ROI – the wrong question • What is ROI for organizing your agency? • You wouldn’t run a government agency without organizing your employees and computers, why think you can create information access without organizing your information?

20. Enterprise Strategy General Approach • Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast • Think Big • First Step: knowledge architecture audit, K-Map • Understand what you have, what you are, what you want • Contextual interviews, content analysis, surveys, focus groups, ethnographic studies, information behaviors • Natural level categories mapped to communities, activities • Category Modeling - “Intertwingledness” • Living, breathing, evolving foundation is the goal • Turn over maintenance to enterprise architecture team • One outcome – map which areas to do more research

21. Enterprise StrategySequence & integration • Overall Sequences • Vision / Audit / Enterprise Team & Tools • Content structure / CMS / Search • Portal / New Applications / Integrate Applications • Coordinate with IT and functional units • Maximize the impact of everyone • Allow for cheaper, smoother implementation • Avoid having to redo parts of either – or worse, buy new technologies to support

22. Enterprise Strategy Content Foundation • Content Management • Create a metadata standard with implementation rules • Controlled vocabulary • Data and content integration • Develop/Buy/Customize Enterprise Taxonomy • Deep taxonomy – platform • Metadata Repository • Develop Metadata Standards – Dublin Core+, Implementation • Common resource for search and CMS and?

23. Enterprise StrategyInfrastructure & Application Technologies • Unstructured Data Management: Entity and Fact Extraction • Enterprise Search - Federated • support for taxonomies, browse, facets & variety of metadata • Portal • Support for community personalization • Advanced Applications • Text Mining, Alerts, Competitor Intelligence • Business Intelligence, internal activities

24. Enterprise StrategySearch / Convera • Dynamic Categorized search and browse is best • Can’t predict all the ways people think • Can’t predict all the questions and activities • Advanced Cognitive Differences • Panda, Monkey, Banana • Complex Topics: intersection of facets, facets and subject matter – Post coordination • What users are looking for and what documents are often about – China and Biotech, Pharma and Farms • Power of fuzzy relationships

25. Enterprise Strategy Search as Infrastructure • Ontologies – modeling the world • Excalibur • From information to knowledge • From text mining to Fact Mining • Knowledge Management • Expertise Location – people finding the right people • Communities of Practice – people working with people • Social Network analysis – understanding how people work • Smart applications – learn and adapt to users behaviors

26. Conclusions • Importance of Integrated Semantic Solutions • Semantic Infrastructure • Need to locate IM in 4 contexts • Deep Structure – models and team • Business Case • Embarrassment of Riches – getting “realer” • Metrics and Real Stories • Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast • Convera – An infrastructure Platform

27. Questions? Tom Reamytomr@kapsgroup.com KAPS Group Knowledge Architecture Professional Services http://www.kapsgroup.com