What is Knowledge Management (KM)?

Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of creating, organizing, sharing, and retaining knowledge within an organization​. 

In simple terms, it means making sure the right information and insights are captured and made easily accessible to the people who need them, when they need them.

Why is ITIL Knowledge Management important?

First things first: you can absolutely do Knowledge Management without being ITIL-aligned. Many companies do, many teams do — and in plenty of cases, they get great results. 

So, why align with ITIL? Well, because it gives you a structured, scalable way to do Knowledge Management right within a broader IT Service Management (ITSM) context. Basically, it ensures that:

• Knowledge supports every ITSM practice, from faster incident resolution to more accurate problem analysis.
• There's a defined lifecycle for creating, reviewing, and improving knowledge — not just dumping it in a folder and forgetting it.
• Teams aren’t just reacting, but learning continuously from every issue they solve.
   

So while KM doesn’t require ITIL to work, aligning it with ITIL can amplify its impact. It transforms knowledge from “nice-to-have” documentation into a core piece of your service delivery engine.  

“People weren’t writing stuff down before I started… You have to have all of this stuff to run a company. It’s that there wasn’t a plan, a system, a communication pattern, etc.”

Kyle Carlson

IT Knowledge Manager at JAMF

Episode 90 of Ticket Volume

5 key benefits of Knowledge Management

Whether you choose to align your strategy with ITIL or take a more independent approach, implementing Knowledge Management brings undeniable value. Here are five Knowledge Management key benefits that make it worth the effort:

• Boosts operational efficiency – Centralized knowledge reduces duplicate work and helps teams complete tasks faster and with fewer errors.
   
• Reduces lost productivity – Easy access to accurate information minimizes time spent searching and maximizes time spent solving problems.
   
• Empowers employees – A strong KM practice fosters autonomy, supports cross-training, and contributes to a more confident, engaged workforce.
   
• Lowers support costs – By avoiding repeated mistakes and enabling self-service, teams save time and resources that can be redirected to strategic work.
   
• Accelerates onboarding and training – New hires get up to speed faster with access to curated guides and real-life examples, reducing ramp-up time and disruption.

3 types of knowledge

Not all knowledge is the same. ITIL and Knowledge Management theory identify three main types of knowledge – tacit, implicit, and explicit – each requiring a different approach to manage. Here’s a quick look at what these mean:

• Tacit knowledge: Personal, experience-based know-how that’s hard to document (like intuition or troubleshooting instincts). Best shared through mentorship and shadowing.
• Implicit knowledge: Unwritten best practices and habits picked up on the job. It lives in workflows and team culture, and becomes valuable when captured and formalized.
• Explicit knowledge: Documented information such as manuals, guides, and FAQs. Easy to store and share, but must be regularly updated to stay relevant.

By understanding these three types, IT teams can apply the right strategies to manage each. The goal is to convert as much critical knowledge as possible into an explicit, shareable form – without losing the context and expertise that give it value. 

The Knowledge Management process

Knowledge Management is a continuous cycle that helps organizations create, refine, and leverage what they know. Whether you're ITIL-aligned or not, following a clear process ensures your knowledge stays useful and evolves over time. The five key stages of Knowledge Management are:

1. Knowledge creation.
2. Knowledge organization.
3. Knowledge sharing.
4. Knowledge analysis.
5. Knowledge optimization.

#1: Knowledge creation

This is the moment knowledge is captured — whether it’s a fix for a recurring error, a lesson learned from an incident, or a new process. It can happen proactively (writing documentation) or reactively (after solving an issue). The key is having a system that encourages people to document what they know.

#2: Knowledge organization

Once captured, knowledge must be stored in a way that makes sense. That means categorizing it, tagging it, and formatting it so it’s easy to find and understand. A well-organized knowledge base acts like a searchable library, not a chaotic file dump.

#3: Knowledge sharing

Information only becomes valuable when it’s used. This stage ensures that knowledge is visible and accessible to those who need it — whether it’s internal teams, support agents, or end users. Sharing can happen through portals, self-service, documentation, or even in meetings and chat channels.

#4: Knowledge analysis

It’s important to evaluate how your knowledge is performing. Are people using it? Is it solving problems? Are there gaps? Tracking views, feedback, and usage patterns helps identify what’s working and what needs attention.

#5: Knowledge optimization

Based on what you’ve learned, refine your content. Update outdated articles, improve clarity, and add missing information. This step also includes improving the KM process itself — streamlining how knowledge is captured, shared, and maintained. 

The role of the Knowledge Management system

A Knowledge Management System (KMS) — or Service Knowledge Management Systems (SKMS) for ITIL — is the combination of tools, processes, and practices used to capture, organize, and share knowledge within an organization. It can include knowledge bases, wikis, document repositories, and collaboration platforms — all working together to make information easy to find and reuse.

A Knowledge Management software, on the other hand, refers specifically to the technology or platform that powers the system — for example, a tool like InvGate Service Management, which includes a built-in AI knowledge base to support both agents and end users. 

Whether integrated or standalone, the goal is the same: provide a centralized, accessible source of truth that helps teams work smarter and solve issues faster.

Knowledge Management examples

To make this more concrete, let’s look at some practical ways Knowledge Management is used in IT environments. Here are a few key use cases and examples: 

1. Onboarding new IT staff

A strong KM system helps new team members ramp up quickly by giving them access to documented procedures, common issues, and internal know-how — no need to rely solely on senior staff for training.

2. IT self-service for end-users

A well-maintained knowledge base empowers users to solve common problems (like VPN setup or password resets) on their own, reducing ticket volume and improving the overall support experience.

3. Supporting IT support

By documenting known issues and solutions, support agents can resolve problems faster and with fewer escalations. It also helps teams apply KCS practices, turning every solved ticket into a learning opportunity.

“One of the most rewarding things that I see as a result of the work I've done... is when I hear someone else, without my prompting, say: ‘We need a knowledge article.’”

Kyle Carlson

IT Knowledge Manager at JAMF

Episode 90 of Ticket Volume

Knowledge Management frameworks

There are many Knowledge Management frameworks. If you're looking to formalize your KM strategy, ITIL and KCS are two of the most widely adopted frameworks. While we've already covered why ITIL alignment can bring structure and long-term value, it's worth looking at how these two approaches complement each other.

ITIL: The strategic framework

ITIL defines Knowledge Management as a key ITSM practice aimed at improving the use, accessibility, and accuracy of information across the organization. 

It doesn’t dictate exact steps, but it emphasizes having a consistent process — one that supports incident resolution, Problem Management, and continuous improvement. With ITIL, KM becomes a strategic function tied to your overall service goals.

KCS: The operational methodology

KCS (Knowledge-Centered Service) is a hands-on methodology focused on integrating knowledge creation and reuse directly into support workflows. 

Every time a problem is solved, the knowledge gained is documented — making KM a living, breathing process. It promotes habits like searching before solving and updating articles on the fly, which keeps your knowledge base useful and up to date.

How can AI improve the Knowledge Management strategy

AI is taking Knowledge Management to the next level by streamlining how knowledge is created, shared, and maintained. With tools like InvGate Service Management, AI isn’t just an add-on — it’s embedded into daily IT workflows. Here’s how it helps:

• Turn ticket resolutions into knowledge articles - InvGate’s Knowledge Article Generation feature lets agents convert resolved tickets into draft articles in under 30 seconds using generative AI. No more starting from scratch!  
   
• Smarter, NLP-powered search - AI-driven search understands natural language, so users and agents can type in questions like “can’t connect to VPN” and get relevant results — even if the wording doesn’t match exactly.  
   
• Real-time article suggestions - As users submit tickets or agents open new requests, tools like InvGate Service Management suggest related articles based on the text. This ticket deflection mechanism promotes self-service and faster resolution. 
   
• AI-generated summaries and contextual help - InvGate’s Virtual Agent uses AI to surface summaries of knowledge articles in chat — delivering precise, digestible answers based on the user’s context.  
   
• Continuous content improvement with AI insights - AI helps identify outdated or underperforming articles, highlights trending topics, and detects gaps based on user behavior.  

"Knowledge should be a quick question and answer. Somebody asked the question; here is the answer. And it should be easy to consume. I understand when you get into these more technical things, there are a lot of steps. But it should still be easy to consume. People don’t pick up technical manuals and read them. I mean, I’m sure a lot of people do that. But, when they are on a call with a customer, they can’t go back to their training, they don’t have time to read a full piece."

Liz Bunger

KCS Program Manager at Motive

November webinar of Ticket Volume

In short, AI helps organizations keep their knowledge base current, relevant, and easy to use — while reducing manual effort. InvGate’s AI-powered KM tools turn daily IT operations into opportunities to grow your knowledge library, empower your teams, and improve self-service outcomes.

Keep learning about IT Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management is a broad and evolving field. If you want to delve deeper into specific aspects or see how it connects with other ITSM practices, here are some InvGate resources to continue your learning journey: 

• Knowledge Management automation: Discover how automation can streamline the creation, updating, and distribution of knowledge articles, reducing manual effort and ensuring your knowledge base stays relevant and up to date.
   
• Turn tickets into KB: Learn how to efficiently transform resolved tickets into knowledge base articles, capturing valuable solutions and making them easily accessible to your team and end-users.
   
• Downloadable templates: Access ready-to-use templates that can help you standardize knowledge article creation, review processes, and knowledge base organization, saving you time and ensuring consistency.