What Is a Knowledge Management System (KMS)? The Ultimate Guide For 2025
Implementing an effective knowledge management system can potentially transform your business efficiency. But what is a KMS, and how does it work? Are there different types of KMS, and what’s the best way of building one that suits your unique business needs? In this article, we’ll attempt to answer all those questions. We’ll also look at the practical benefits your company can take advantage of once you put a KMS in place.
What is knowledge management?
Knowledge management is the process of gathering, curating, managing, and sharing knowledge across your organization.
This includes all kinds of knowledge, from existing documentation on procedures or products to less obvious knowledge that might seem a little trickier to capture at first glance, such as the niche expertise of a specific office expert, or the pearls of operational wisdom that only come with years of experience.
Importance of knowledge management
Data and information constitute the lifeblood of modern business. It's essential to be able to move that information where it’s needed as efficiently as possible.
Sharing information on an ad hoc basis can generally be tolerated for a while, but it does not provide a strong foundation for good management.
The people with the knowledge will waste time helping colleagues who come to them for answers rather than being able to dedicate themselves to their important tasks.
As your company grows and its information needs become more complex, data silos will begin to develop. At this point, the lack of an effective knowledge management system will harm your company’s effectiveness and overall productivity.
So it’s best to establish good knowledge management practices from the beginning. And that means implementing a formal knowledge management system. But what are knowledge management systems?
What is a knowledge management system (KMS)?
A KMS is a formal knowledge base management system that can incorporate various tools and procedures. It is usually held together by an online library of resources that anyone with the correct permissions can access.
These resources could include:
FAQs
Troubleshooting guides
Key product or service documentation
Content management system
The elements chosen will depend on the nature of the business. For instance, some teams may benefit from a wiki-based system that allows all stakeholders to edit documents.Â
This may be less workable for larger teams, and a more centralized model may be more effective.
What is the main purpose of a knowledge management system?
The key objective of any knowledge management system is to ensure that everyone in an organization who needs information can easily access it as and when they need it.
Ultimately, the aim is to improve workplace productivity, which will, in turn, have a positive impact on the bottom line.
Knowledge management systems examples
There’s a wide range of possible approaches if you’re looking to standardize how your organization captures, stores, and disseminates information. Examples of knowledge management systems are:
Data warehouses: These data storage systems allow you to collect and aggregate data from various sources, giving you a central repository of all your information.
Document management systems: Implementing a simple document management system enables you to store all your Word, PDF, and image files in one place for easy access.
Content management systems: These are platforms dedicated to the creation, publication, and management of content, such as website content and video files.
Intranets: These are organization-specific local networks that all your employees can access. To be effective, these must be maintained regularly to update all resources.
Specialist information hub software: There are a wide variety of platforms available that have been specifically designed for enterprise knowledge management.
Knowledge management system benefits
Knowledge management systems come in many flavors, but they all provide several specific benefits. Here are some of the advantages of knowledge management system implementation you’ll notice when you put one in place:
Operational efficiency
One key benefit of knowledge management systems is that they increase efficiency across all operations. When everyone on the team knows where to access information, they can complete their tasks more quickly.
Of course, there’s a positive domino effect. Some tasks can only be tackled in any project after others are finished. The fact that all relevant information is easily accessible means that each task in the queue can be completed faster, adding up to huge time savings overall.
Improved security
When all your data is kept within a single system, it’s much more straightforward to keep it secure. You can set up precise permission and viewership controls to keep sensitive business data locked away from unauthorized users.
For example, an HR knowledge management system is a good idea because the department, by its very nature, holds a lot of personal data about employees. Knowing this information is properly secured fosters trust in your workforce.
Knowledge continuity
Very few people these days spend their entire careers at a single company. So what happens when one of your key experts moves on? When they walk out the door, they’ll be taking a lot of knowledge that could be difficult to replace.
This is one of the other important benefits of a knowledge management system. It means knowledge persists within your company even as people come and go. Having all your information about processes, products, or services in one place means you never become too dependent on any individual worker.
Easier collaboration
As it prevents the formation of data silos, a knowledge management system makes collaboration within and between teams much easier. Communication becomes more straightforward as everyone shares common resources.
Due to the increased transparency, everyone has a better understanding of processes. This makes it more straightforward to develop and manage cross-team projects and deliver them more quickly.
Faster identification of skill gaps
Some types of knowledge management systems are particularly useful for identifying areas where information is lacking. Organizing all your data in a single resource makes it easier to see what’s missing.
Moreover, formalizing knowledge by turning it into logically structured documentation can help uncover skill gaps in your teams. This enables you to hire new talent to plug those gaps and avoid further problems.
Types of knowledge managed
When we define a knowledge management system, one crucial aspect to consider is what kind of knowledge we’re actually talking about. In general terms, we categorize it into three types: explicit, tacit, and implicit.
Explicit knowledge
You probably first think of this when asked to define knowledge in a business context. Knowledge refers to documented information, so typical examples would include product documentation, databases, and white papers.
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is more difficult to define because it’s a vague concept. It covers all the knowledge that comes with experience.Â
For example, this could include things like a data analyst’s skill or a manager’s understanding of how to get the most out of each member of their team by adapting their communication to suit each individual.
Implicit knowledge
This falls somewhere between explicit and tacit knowledge. In other words, you accrue knowledge about procedures or processes with experience, which theoretically could be transmitted in written form.Â
So, for instance, you can’t transplant the data analyst’s skill directly into someone else’s brain. Still, you could have the data analyst compile documentation on specific procedures they follow for particular tasks. That’s implicit knowledge.
Read now
Key features of a knowledge management system
Whether you’re using a manually updated database or a cutting-edge AI-based knowledge management system, several features should always be included. Here’s an overview of some of the core elements of an effective KMS:
Centralized repository
What is a knowledge management system if not a central repository of information? Since the purpose of a KMS is to bring all business information together so it can be easily accessed by all relevant stakeholders, having a centralized repository is, by definition, a core element of any knowledge management system.
Search functionality
Storing all your information in one place is just the start. You also need to ensure that people can retrieve the information they want without having to jump through many technical hoops.
So it’s essential that your KMS has an efficient search function so that people can find the data they want as quickly as possible.
Collaboration tools
Collaboration tools should also be built-in so team members can use the information stored as effectively as possible to complete complex tasks. To achieve the same result, you can use a native application or take advantage of integrations available via your business software.
Analytics tools
Another important benefit of storing all your data centrally is that you can analyze it more easily, leading to actionable insights. This makes dedicated analytics tools a must. With the right analytics suite, you can make truly data-driven decisions.
Access control
Some data may be more sensitive than others, which means having access control functionality is essential. This lets you customize the permissions you set according to level of seniority and data type. Access control is also a vital aspect of good data governance.
How to build an effective knowledge management system
It’s worth explaining the knowledge management system setup and how you should go about it in more detail. There are five stages: creation, organization, sharing, analysis, and optimization.
1. Creation
First, you should establish exactly what information you want to capture so it can be shared. Spend some time on this and dig a little deeper than the obvious. Of course, there will probably be information already existing that you’ll want to bring together into an easily accessible format.
But what else might be useful? Consider whether any of your team members have implicit knowledge that others could use if properly documented.
2. Organization
Once you’ve determined what information you want to include in the KMS, it’s time to organize it efficiently.
This stage is about ensuring the data is correctly formatted and uploaded into your storage system. It should be stored logically so each item of information is easily searchable.
3. Sharing
Once the system is set up, share information from it whenever possible to ensure everyone knows about it.
Getting used to a new system can take time, so encourage your team members to use it regularly. That way, it will quickly become your employees’ go-to solution for information gathering.
4. Analysis
It’s crucial to conduct reviews now and again of how well your KMS is working. Try looking at the search results people are making that yield no results; that’s a good method of finding out what additional content you should be uploading.
Also, check whether any of the information is old and needs to be updated. You can ask people to flag articles or datasets that are outdated or otherwise inaccurate.
5. Optimization
Once you’ve performed an analysis, act on your findings. Update old information, delete unhelpful or duplicate files, and add new content where required.
You should set a schedule for analysis and optimization so that your KMS is always as efficient and useful as possible.
In addition, gather feedback on an ongoing basis from everyone who uses the system and make it easy to report errors so you can correct them quickly.
Challenges in knowledge management and KMS implementation
Implementing a KMS can revolutionize your company's efficiency, but only if it’s well managed. There are several common challenges you’ll face, and it’s crucial to tackle them using a systematic approach.
Maintaining accuracy
As we’ve already mentioned, accuracy is vital. There’s no point in implementing a KMS if you don’t keep on top of maintaining it. A KMS that features outdated or inaccurate information is worse than not having a knowledge management system. This is why the analysis and optimization steps are critical to the long-term success of any KMS.
Selecting the correct technology
Another potential pitfall is selecting the wrong kind of knowledge management system software. You may choose a particular system that seems to be a good fit at first but later misses some important key features.
This can be a real headache because, by that point, you’ll have invested a lot of time and money into the system, and it’s not necessarily straightforward to change course. So it’s vital to be thorough in your research before deciding which software to adopt.
Resistance to change
Any major change in workplace processes can face significant resistance. Human beings are creatures of habit. Suppose you’ve always gone to an expert to ask questions about a specific topic. In that case, your inclination may be to continue doing so rather than using a new KMS to find the relevant information for yourself.
This is why you should focus on regularly sharing information from the KMS when you launch it. Remind people about it relentlessly and encourage them to use it. If you can provide concrete incentives for doing so, that would be so much better.
Knowledge management use cases
There’s a wide range of use cases for a KMS within the business context. Here are just a few:
Customer self-service
Modern contact center solutions often leverage centralized data resources to enable customers to resolve their issues. A call center knowledge management system can be set up to include solutions to common queries and then linked with virtual assistant tools that deliver the required information directly to the caller.
Secure data sharing
Some business-critical information is especially sensitive, and a KMS can give your teams a more secure way to share it than simply doing so on an ad hoc basis. For instance, knowledge management systems in healthcare settings can have extra safeguards built in to ensure all data sharing is HIPAA-compliant.
Onboarding new employees
When new employees join a company, they face a steep learning curve. Not only do they have to settle into their respective roles, but they also need to learn a lot of basic information about organizational structure and processes.Â
Storing all of it in a KMS gives new talent a one-stop resource for everything they need to know to hit the ground running.
Knowledge management system best practices
Let’s look at some best practices when setting up and using a KMS. These are some of the most important practical steps to take to ensure good data management:
Don’t overcomplicate things
There’s no need to use 20 different platforms or upload every single piece of information you can think of into your KMS. That’s counter-productive because it will likely discourage uptake as your employees are overwhelmed.
Be selective about the information you choose to include, and consider building your KMS from the ground up, incorporating tools your teams are already using.
Involve your employees
As you develop your KMS, involve your teams. They may have some good ideas to contribute, and they’ll certainly be able to tell you what kind of information they’d like included. Plus, this gives them a direct stake in the project's success, so they’ll be more likely to actually use the KMS when it launches.
Foster an environment of data-sharing
This one can be tricky because changing workplace culture is difficult. If there’s a culture of competition between teams, circumstances could arise where some employees become reluctant to share information openly. A KMS is most effective in organizations that encourage open collaboration.
Request feedback
As part of optimizing your KMS, you’ll need to collect feedback from your team. This will alert you to any gaps or problems with the system that require your attention.
Knowledge management system vs. content management system
Knowledge management systems and content management systems are different. There’s an overlap in the sense that a CMS can be part of a KMS, but there are a few crucial differences.
Knowledge Management System
Content Management System
Types of data stored
Any kind of business-related data
Content-related data, such as blog posts or image files
Data created by
Potentially any stakeholder
Team of content specialists
Data delivery model
Permissions-based exchange
Pushed to end platform via publication
Knowledge management system vs. AI
Can you have an AI knowledge management system, or is that a contradiction? You can incorporate some elements of AI and machine learning into a knowledge management system, but a traditional KMS doesn’t need AI to be effective.
A KMS usually manages structured or semi-structured data, whereas AI tools can also handle unstructured data. One implication is that AI can help make a KMS more effective by improving content integration. It can also be useful for automating routine jobs in the KMS, such as content indexing.
How to choose knowledge management tools
Selecting knowledge management system tools that are a good fit for your business needs is essential. Here are a few of the questions you should ask before coming to your final decision:
Who will be using the KMS? Assuming you want to encourage widespread uptake, you should avoid choosing tools that require a high level of specialist knowledge. While you will, of course, need to provide training on whatever tools you select, it should be possible for generalists to learn how to use them reasonably quickly.
Does this tool do everything we need it to? Do a full analysis of your KMS needs and ensure your chosen solution has all the features your business requires.
Do we have in-house experts who can maintain this system? Whatever solution you use, you have to be sure you can sustain its use. That means you should only choose tools your people can manage.
Is adequate support available? If you’re buying dedicated KMS software, remember to check out client reviews of each tool before making the purchase. Get the truth from tech review sites, where you’ll generally find that existing customers will have a lot to say about their experiences of accessing customer support.
Integrate your knowledge management system with the right communications platform for success
With the right knowledge management system in place, your company can benefit from significant improvements in operational efficiency. Integrating an effective KMS with a top-tier communications platform is key to building an effective KMS.
At Vonage, we know how to create business communications solutions that help your people collaborate and deliver top performance.
From innovative Communications APIs that help your teams develop customized solutions to engage customers, to a fully unified communications platform tailored to suit your business needs — why not reach out to one of our experts today to find out how Vonage can position your company for the highest standards in knowledge management and communication?
Sign up now
Want to know more about this (and other) topics?
Don't miss our quarterly newsletter for the latest insights into how our Unified Communications and Contact Center solutions can enhance your business and even work together to take communication to new levels.
Thanks for signing up!
Be on the lookout for our next quarterly newsletter, chock full of information that can help you transform your business.
Still have questions about knowledge management systems?
As the principal objective of a knowledge management system is to facilitate data-sharing in an organization, it’s generally designed to be used by as many people as possible.
Sensitive data may need to be protected by advanced permission requirements, but the system should be accessible to all employees and possibly some selected external stakeholders.
The main practical components of knowledge management are:
Centralized repository for storing information
Process for selecting/formatting/uploading data
Process for sharing information
Effective data governance
Data use strategy
Optimization and maintenance strategy
In addition to having a centralized repository for all information, a KMS should feature a search function for easy data retrieval and access control mechanisms to keep data secure. The system should also include analytics and collaboration tools to make the best use of the information available.
You can include any information you like in a knowledge management system. Any files or documentation useful to your teams would be good candidates.
However, don’t add more information than you can comfortably maintain. A KMS that features much out-of-date or inaccurate information will soon lose employees' trust.
A knowledge management framework is simply the term for the structure you use to create, manage, and share information across your organization.
This would include everything from the database you use to store the information and the processes involved in managing it to the teams responsible for keeping your KMS updated.
KMS vendor groups are different categorizations of knowledge management software vendors grouped by specialty. For instance, some vendors specialize in CRM-focused KMS solutions, whereas others take a more general approach.
