“What you need to know, and what you do know are both functions of whom you know.”
— Brad Hessel
My name is Brad Hessel, and I founded Intelledgement in 1999 so that I could focus on helping organizations collect, organize, and distribute knowledge more effectively.
In our experience, intelligent knowledge management depends most critically on good sources of information. With the pace of change so frenetic, the needs of the people and groups you serve (or aspire to serve) change constantly. Thus you need access to expertise that is constantly refreshed to remain pertinent and accurate. In effect, it's not what you know but whom you know that signifies.
We also have found that most organizations effectively use only a fraction of the knowledge they possess. Thus, the good news is that, in all likelihood, the people you are working with already know how to move mountains...although they may not realize it. They just need help to understand how to pool their collective expertise...and to appreciate the advantages of working cooperatively to empower your organization to obtain objectives far beyond the reach of individuals (or less-well-organized competitors!).
The other good news is that you have found Intelledgement, and we are experts in helping organizations to:
- analyze what information is needed by whom
- identify content experts to build and maintain the knowledgebase
- help people within the organization appreciate how sharing knowledge will make life better for them, the organization, and your customers
- select optimal technology to assist in the collection, management, and distribution of information
- manage the implementation of any new technology and/or processes
Here is a bit more about us.
>> Brad Hessel history
My background is in marketing, publishing, and operations. After finishing college (I have a B.A. in history), I went to work for a publisher of complex military, fantasy, and science fiction simulation games and magazines, SPI, where I learned a lot about researching, organizing, and presenting information (plus licensing and intellectual property law, recruiting and training, running a warehouse, direct mail and customer service operations, corporate law, how to fire someone, and lots more they never taught me in school LOL).
After a stint as a freelance writer/computer games designer, I went to work for a technical documentation and training services company, SDI. Their main client was AT&T, but I eventually got an assignment for First Boston Corporation, who at the time were rewriting all their trade processing systems. It was evident that the most exciting part of this ambitious project was the effort to build tools to enable developers to productively write applications that had to run, potentially, on three different platforms (PC, non-stop processing minicomputer, and mainframe).
I ended up getting hired by First Boston, and, when the tool technologists were spun off as Seer Technologies, I spun along with them. At first, I focused on the technical knowledgebase, and built a publications group responsible for product documentation and training materials. The group also had responsibility for corporate and marketing publications. in servicing these needs, my interest grew in widening the knowledgebase to accommodate employees, partners, customer non-users (mainly, information services managers), and, after the IPO, investors. Under my leadership, Seer was a pioneer in creating an intranet and an extranet web sites, and a common database-driven knowledgebase to serve both of them as well as the company’s public web site.
Eventually Seer was purchased by another high-tech company, Level 8 Systems. When I left and started Intelledgement, Level 8 became one of our first customers—we helped them select a customer relationship management solution that helped them optimize their new and existing customer opportunities and complemented their existing back office and customer care systems.
>> Intelledgement auxiliaries
Intelledgement operates as a virtual corporation. Our forté is helping optimize the management and distribution of your organization’s knowledge. To that end, our emphasis is on the design of information architecture strategies. Typically, we team with third-party implementation specialists or work with clients’ in-house experts to effect these designs. Our relationships with such “auxiliaries” enable us to provide enhanced services when appropriate. Some of the specialists we have experience working with include:
Argosy International provide an array of Strategic Management services and Leadership Development programs. Their specialty is helping leaders and decision-makers who face compelling reasons to change their culture, performance, structure, focus or systems, either throughout the enterprise or in one or more of its business units. Intelledgement’s contact there is Steve Yahr.
BridgeQuest provide Russian outsourced software development services on a department-level (i.e., for companies who are looking to base some or all of their software development offshore). Intelledgement’s contact there is Steven Dmiszewicki.
EnCompass Knowledge Systems are a knowledge management specialist company who provide software solutions that help organizations improve corporate governance, identify risk, expedite post-merger integrations, optimize business performance and productivity, reduce operating costs and comply with government mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA. Intelledgement’s contact there is Eileen Sullivan-Ibenhart.
Scriptorium Publishing develop customized, automated publishing systems and explain complex technical concepts with useful, hands-on training and clear, concise documents. Intelledgement’s contact there is Sarah O’Keefe.
TASK are a management consulting and systems integration company with particular expertise in product configuration and sales force automation solutions. Intelledgement’s contact there is René Litalien.