February 2015 [Vol 24, Issue 2]

Features

Extending enterprise systems
for a more positive customer experience

Not that long ago, the "customer experience" might have been a trip to the store to purchase an item and a subsequent conversation with a call center to inquire about how to get the item repaired. Now it usually entails online research to compare features and prices, a look at ratings by other customers, purchase of the product from a store or e-commerce site, and a round of technical support by phone, e-mail or chat.

Creating a more knowledgeable, nimble organization

"Our employees knew there was information on the intranet that they needed, but they had trouble finding it."

Marketing automation: an accelerating solution

Major software companies have added marketing automation products to their suites.... Personalizing messaging and performing complex workflows are important characteristics of marketing automation.

News Analysis

From computer to centaur-
Cognitive tools turn the rules upside down

The world chess champion of the time encountered his ultimate vanquisher in 1997. A computer from IBM called Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in an exciting tournament. The first electronic machine won checkmate against the best human chess player.

Big data-KM’s bowl, water or goldfish?

Big data poses one of those puzzles with which my Psych 101 professor taunted the class. Consider this question: Is big data the bowl, the water in the bowl, or the goldfish in the water in the bowl?

David Weinberger

Markets and networks

Airlines have strong incentives to make normal travel hell. That's the argument Tim Wu makes in a post on The New Yorker site Dec 26 ("Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer," .) He's right not only about airlines but also about the Internet, and about knowledge.

The Future of the Future

Envisioning the deep learning enterprise

We are well into what might be referred to as the knowledge transfer decade, brought about by the wave of retirements and ensuing panic as organizations scramble to capture, retain and grow their critical knowledge.