The Knowledgebase
A company??™s knowledgebase (alternately written as two words??”knowledge base??”or
abbreviated KB) is a very rich, content-oriented environment that houses everything the
corporation wants to share about their products or services. For smaller or service-heavy
companies, a FAQ fulfills this need nicely. For companies producing an array of products,
or whose technology touches many industries and third-party products, a knowledgebase
is essential for collecting, organizing, and presenting a nearly unlimited amount of information.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
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Knowledgebases are extremely popular with software companies. Microsoft??™s Help and
Support center is one of the most well-known knowledgebases.2 It contains thousands upon
thousands of public articles that can be referenced by employees, consultants, IT professionals,
and the general troubleshooting public. Other major software and technology companies
such as Novell, Apple, Texas Instruments, and Corel retain similar environments.
Standardized format vs. the library approach
The content of a knowledgebase typically takes two paths. The first is a standardized
article format, where all content is presented in the same template, searchable within the
same section, and typically tagged with a unique ID number.
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