Open Group IT4IT Reference Architecture Knowledge and Collaboration Component

​Note:

In the transition from Version 1.3 to 2.0 of the IT4IT Reference Architecture this functional component became a supporting component. However, it remains an important part of the R2F Value Stream in that it facilitates self-sufficiency across the consumer base. In future releases this section may be moved to later in the document but was kept here to facilitate readability.

Purpose

• Provide knowledge in the form of content and Conversations that help to address the needs of IT service consumers. Knowledge includes structured IT/supplier produced articles, or unstructured Conversations from business/IT users, webinars, videos, training materials, etc. which are searchable by the IT service consumers.
• Increase the contribution to knowledge by providing all users with the ability to generate new content, either through informal Conversations, or by more formal submissions of knowledge.
• Encourage contributions by promoting a collaborative culture through various techniques such as gamification.
• Improve accessibility of knowledge in the organization by:
• Supporting key word search capabilities
• Providing filter capabilities based on various attributes of the knowledge, such as subject category, time range, source types (internal versus external), etc.
• Supporting natural language queries to reduce the complexity of finding relevant information
• Providing users with access to third-party knowledge and forums
• Providing natural language processing analytics so (for example) “trending topics” can be reported from service desk interactions
• Reduce the number of requests for information/knowledge that arrive at the IT service desk.
• Provide knowledge for consumption by additional value streams in general and specifically by the D2C Value Stream.
• IT staff participate in Conversations related to IT services that they plan, develop, or operate.
• IT service consumers and IT staff consume third-party knowledge through the same experience as the formal and informal forms of knowledge the company provides.
  

Main Functions

The Knowledge & Collaboration component:

• Shall enable SMEs to submit and/or approve Knowledge data objects (whether they are IT staff or service consumers).
• Shall provide functionality to enable the IT service consumers and IT staff to rank Knowledge data objects and Conversations, thus improving future knowledge consumption.
• Shall provide functionality to enable IT service consumers to participate in Conversations relating to the IT services they consume (collaboration).
• Can aggregate multiple (internal and external) Knowledge sources.