How Big Is the Knowledge Consulting Marketplace?
Research companies like Gartner and Delphi estimate the market for software and services for knowledge management to be worth $ 5 bn a year or more. As with all such surveys, its a question of what is included. Much more important is to understand why companies use consultants for knowledge management, so you can develop yourself a profitable niche. Commonly cited reasons are access to unique expertise, an external objective perspective, to speed up progress by adding resources to an internal KM team, to make sure all factors are covered, to avoid pitfalls and mistakes. Whatever you prior consulting experience, there are plenty of opportunities for motivated professionals to become knowledge management consultants. Consider also joining the ENTOVATION network.
How Do I Become an Instant Expert on Knowledge Management?
Just remember that much of what you already do might reasonably be rebranded as knowledge management. Check the Toolkits in Knowledge Networking, the framework and practices in 'Knowledge Management: Making It Work'. Then redescribe your own services with the knowledge vocabulary. It is essential you have a basic grounding, so read at least two of the recommended books for practitioners, such as Jan Duffy's book: Harvesting Knowledge.
Where Can I Find Resources and Tools that I Can Use to Help Clients?
Our Knowledge Tools page lists the tools that we offer, such as The Know-All KM Assessment. Related tools, such as the Knowledge Innovation Assessment can be found at our partner's site ENTOVATION International. Please observe conditions of use. We can licence these and other tools and material for commercial use. You might like to consider becoming an accredited consultant for some of these tools by attending our accreditation workshop. Check out the entries shown in our knowledge management sources and links section.
What Are Other Consultancies Doing?
The Big 5 (now 4!) consultancies have been at the forefront in developing knowledge management in-house. Booz Allen & Hamilton, Price Waterhouse (pre-merger) and Ernst & Young all feature as cases in Creating the Knowledge-based Business. Typically they have online intranet based services, as well as professionally managed knowledge centres - see for example Knowledge Centres at AMS (American Management Systems). Most now have KM lines of business. KPMG does an annual survey. We track what the big consultancies are doing and have been used by some of them as advisers.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you take development of your new found expertise seriously, you must keep abreast of developments. We suggest you subscribe to I3 UPDATE/ENTOVATION International News and one of the recommended magazines. Consider also joining an association dedicated to knowledge professional development, such as IKMC (International Knowledge Management Consortium).