Novell is ahead of the game by providing document management with full-text indexing, checkout/check-in, and version control in GroupWise 5.5. Novell is working with Metastorm and technology developed through Intel's Information Management Initiative to provide an intelligent folder technology for the next release of GroupWise. First demonstrated in September at the KM World Conference and Exhibition, this enhancement will use Intel's text-analysis algorithms along with GroupWise's built-in find-results folders to group related e-mail automatically. Users will not need to create rules or assign key words to activate this technology; rather, they will be able to train the software by dragging and dropping items into a results folder that relates to a particular category of knowledge.

Lotus is working with technology from the IBM Research Lab to develop a Web crawler that assesses the subject matter of documents in the R5 object store and compiles that information with data about who wrote and read the documents. If you query the Web crawler interface about a topic or technology, it will give you a starting point by providing document links and contact information about others in your company with similar interests. This same technology could be applied to e-mail but, because of privacy concerns, Lotus' customers have made it clear that they are not interested in crawling around that space.

Working in conjunction with Outlook 2000, Microsoft's Digital Dashboard operates as a development tool for compiling information from multiple sources. Essentially, it provides a personalized view of targeted intranet and Internet information. For example, a project leader charged with the oversight of a new e-commerce implementation needs to have a great deal of disparate information on hand. The leader's Digital Dashboard might include panes for e-mail related to the project, a project Web site, schedule information for members of the project team, breaking e-commerce industry news and a pane for the Dilbert Web site (all work and no play, after all...). The various pieces of information are all managed and available from a single point on the project manager's desktop.

Microsoft's Digital Dashboard is not an out-of-the-box solution, but it does give corporate and third-party developers a tool to help manage knowledge at a personal level.

Send your comments on this article to Ron Anderson at randerson@nwc.com.