Agile Chennai 18-19 July 2025 | The Story of KM Implementation for enabling Value Delivery by Sarada Jayaraman
- 1. Story of KM Implementation for enabling value delivery Agility for Resilience: Adaptive Systems & Continuous Learning Culture. 1 www.agilechennai.com
- 3. Importance of Knowledge Management Key Initiatives leading to the learning culture Governance Process & Leadership engagement Sustainable Actions for continuous learning culture Case Study of the KM Implementation The Knowledge Grove “Cultivating Insight. Growing Organizational Wisdom.” 3 www.agilechennai.com
- 4. Knowledge Management “To develop a global knowledge-sharing community environment and culture that drives our success” OUR STRATEGY DRIVERS FOR IDE KM COMMUNITY OUR VISION Align with IDE vision and establish and nurture a strong KM foundation offering our associates an environment of continuous learning, and productivity improvements, building intellectual capital and deliver value to our clients. GUILD and COMMUNITY MODEL for technical vison and strategy, thought leadership & accelerated talent development through specialized learnings. INTEGRATED COMMUNITIES to build a modern digital experience and engineering culture through focus on craft, talent transformation, and knowledge sharing. DISTRIBUTED KM Robust knowledge management channel strategy with Vault for Business and KnowHub & Kpoint for delivery in the center along with Teams & Yammer for active engagement. ACCOUNT KM POLLINATION THROUGH STUDIO & DELIVERY MODEL to cascade the knowledge, best practices, reusable templates, and lessons learnt thereby empowering teams on ground. 4
- 5. KM Strategy 5 Encourage teams to develop reusable components in order to enhance design and code quality and productivity, resulting in business outcomes. Foster a culture of sharing knowledge in order to boost employee productivity and innovation leading to improved business performance. Conduct a series of tech talk sessions and discussions on trending topics to share thoughts & ideas to enable faster problem solving. Leverage Asset Marketplace community to increase awareness on IDE accelerators, adopt accelerators & demonstrate the outcomes to clients. Establish an account-specific KM repository. Use ALM tools like Jira or confluence and DevOps CI/CD pipeline for knowledge sharing and documentation. Implement role-based programs to train and upskill associates and facilitate team interactions to share domain specific knowledge and ideas. CULTURE & MINDSET BUILDING REUSABLE COMPONENTS TECH TALKS & DISCUSSIONS ACCOUNT SPECIFIC KM PORTAL ACCELERATOR ADOPTION TRAININGS & INTERACTIONS www.agilechennai.com
- 6. EXECUTIVE STEERING Governance Process 6 We have global hubs of expert talent as communities within IDE dedicated to creating high-impact digital engineering solutions, these community leaders are integral part of our IDE KM governance in fostering the knowledge sharing culture and contributing to it effectively. Integrated Governance, Fact-based Transparency & Accountability PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT Change Advisory Board & Metrics-based Advisory Escalation, Corrections & Accountability Management EXECUTIVE STEERING COMMITTEE TIER • Includes everyone including chief KM strategist • Sets strategic direction and course corrections • Monitor major milestones and metrics • Weekly connect with community managers, KM strategists & DEx Team PROGRAM MANAGEMENT TIER • Includes KM Strategist, Studio Reps & community managers • Review and approve content • Quality management • New ideas generation • Collaboration with communities & studios OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT TIER • Includes DEx team, BD and community managers • Create quality new content • Update existing content • Repository management W e e k l y C o n n e c t www.agilechennai.com
- 7. Leadership Involvement 7 IDE leadership plays a crucial role as they foster effective KM strategy implementation and information technology use, which aligns with our vision and positively benefits all our associates. GOVERNANCE IDE leadership and community leaders coordinate with KM Strategists through various weekly, monthly and quarterly connects to strategize and monitor the progress of key KM activities. Community leaders conduct periodic knowledge harvesting sessions in their communities by collaborating with KM champions and SMEs to acquire and create reusable knowledge assets. Monthly & quarterly newsletters, blogs and discussion forums in MS Teams/Yammer / Hubs are used to facilitate continuous interaction of associates with the leadership and promote knowledge sharing on the updates, learnings and successes within IDE. Our Leadership facilitate periodic knowledge sharing sessions on domain, technical & functional aspects like Office Hours, Townhalls, Webinars, Yamjams, Bootcamps, Onboarding sessions, Hackathons etc. KNOWLEDGE AQUISITION COMMUNICATION KNOWLEDGE SHARING
- 8. IDE KM Communities & Channels empower skill mastery DX & CDE Knowledge Center –KnowHub A community-based repository of assets Create, collaborate & reuse A restricted platform for all business development activities Business Development IDEX Vault KPoint A single source platform to host live events, create & share video assets Shared video platform BA Hub A centralized hub for Business Analysts, Product Owners & Product Managers Collaborate & Co-create Microsoft Teams Ongoing programs to showcase expertise and challenge teams Problem Solver Skilling Accessibility Assist App Internal application with all the information for digital accessibility team Reuse, Learn & Grow An array of amazing learning programs brought together Channel Blogs Collaborative skilling Programmers’ Week Our annual celebration of skills - tech talks, keynotes and more Celebrating Thought Leadership Yammer A social platform to share experiences and more Social platform Systemic culture and processes to influence technology and industry expertise 8 www.agilechennai.com
- 9. 9 IDE KM Events & Campaigns to Support Skilling POD based model – Agile ways of working Bring Your Theme to build product mindset Gamification 3000+ associates participated globally in Hack FSE, IDEATHON & IGNITE Accounts can provide custom request if skillset of Standard Tower is not matching with account needs Learning nuggets and lab support are given to aid the role-based enablement program/ Offer associates learning content in partnership with Academy and certifications that are in demand, authentic, timely and relevant. Accreditation Deep dive Mentor Hotseat ASK bridge Expert Sessions FSE Guru Weekend Support Ask your query by joining a bridge Technical calendar of sessions Get live support even during weekends We are wiser when we share and help others to grow A buddy to help you in accreditation journey Deep dive into sample exercises, knowledge nuggets and quick learnings to understand your accreditation H&T (Hire and Train) Enablement helps to fill the skill gap for hired associates & deploy them in live engagements with minimum time investment. Hackathons Problem Solver Skilling Micro credential program Client Specific-Skilling Hire & Train Cloud Skilling www.agilechennai.com
- 10. IDE Community Engagement Programs 10 The entire community experience is built to build purpose and engage associates in their life at Cognizant. Engagement programs include: Cognizant Cheers Recognition & Awards platform for acknowledging strong associate performance Local Culture Programs Affinity cohorts, ‘just for fun’ meetups, rec sports teams and more at Studio level Share & Show Standups All communities meet and sync regularly to highlight stories, share ideas, and Q&A Game of Pods Platform with diverse upskilling quests that challenge communities in fun ways D&I Programs and Allyship Programs targeted at elevating and promoting a more diverse workforce Cause & Health Programs Communities engage in local volunteering and global cross community initiatives, often with R&D Thought Leadership Thought leadership and personal brand development enabled with content platforms Euphorus A cultural track to instill a sense of belonging, improve communication and bond over mutual interests among associates www.agilechennai.com
- 11. 11 IDE Community Awareness & Engagement Campaigns Highlights To foster a sense of community, IDE promotes extended awareness efforts. BOOK CLUB PASSION SURFER CLUB IDE D&I HAPPINESS SURVEY www.agilechennai.com
- 12. IDE Quarterly R&R Monetary Awards (Cheers Points) Covers 5% of all Associates / year • Platinum • Gold • Silver • Bronze Non-Monetary Awards (Mail Recognition) Covers 5% of all Associates/ year • FSE Guru • FSE Star • FSE SME IDE Monthly R&R Monetary Awards (Cheers Points) Covers 5% of all Associates / year • FSE ICON • Home Manager of the Month Just a pat on the back or a simple thank note is all it takes to build on emotional support and keep the team motivated. IDE team believes in keeping our team motivated and enthusiastic! 12
- 13. Additionally, everyone benefits from The Knowledge Grove… 13 • Faster time to value • Higher value of contracted services • Easier to do Business with Cognizant CUSTOMERS • Reduced sale effort & time-to-close • Increased sale & revenue • Reduced SGA to support offerings MDU'S & PRACTICES • Focus on differentiated value • No compromise on quality • Proactively resolve security vulnerabilities ENGINEERING MANAGERS & TEAMS • Faster throughput & turnaround • Reduced company risk • Eliminated redundant effort LEGAL & COMPLIANCE TEAMS • Reduced time to identify applicable tools • Increased service quality • Faster way to market • Reduced costs DELIVERY MANAGERS • Continuous learning & expanded expertise • Increased colleague engagement • Individual & team recognition INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTORS www.agilechennai.com
- 14. Key Challenges – Implementing KM Overcome resistance and instill the culture of sharing knowledge and to use the knowledge assets, rather than reaching out to individuals - requires to build trust among the group first. Spreading awareness on KM and bringing behavioral change to use KM processes. Understand the value of using KM, the benefits, how it aligns with the goals - started sharing quantitative metrics on views, usage in proposals etc., documents commonly referred etc. also brought in gamification across groups. Implementation of KM had dependencies on external tools and platforms teams; regular follow ups needed Sustaining KM once established, would need interested volunteers. We formed a core group of KM champions and shared responsibilities as well as rotated the responsibilities, automated as much as possible. Technology and platform challenges hindered initial use ; but we collated feedback and had incremental improvements for enhanced user experience. Governance for Approval process to avoid redundant date 14 www.agilechennai.com
- 15. Trend of Knowledge Management in IT Industry 15 www.agilechennai.com
- 16. EMBRACE CHANGE – Use Case 2 16
- 17. Where it all started… Cast & Crew.. Faster time to market Value delivery Improved customer experience Reduction in tech debts European Audit and consulting services firm , undergoing project to product transformation All team members from Organization and client IT, along with the CIO and leaders CIO Vision : 17 www.agilechennai.com
- 18. Organization Structure Hierarchy based structure (IT Services) MDT Team topologies based structure (DBT – Digital Business technology) Multi-disciplinary teams (with Product Mgr, Engg. Mgr and Solution Architect as leads) Transformed Enterprise Services Client Services Platform Services Business Support services Stream Aligned teams Corporate Services Enabling Services 18 www.agilechennai.com
- 19. Let’s move on to the KM story… 19 www.agilechennai.com
- 20. Common Characteristics of Projects Before KM Implementation Information Silos Loss of Institutional Knowledge Redundant Work Poor Decision-Making Low Productivity Inconsistent Documentation Limited Innovation Reactive Problem Solving 20 www.agilechennai.com
- 21. The phases and challenges... Execution Onboarding Reporting & Tracking Coaching & enablement Team engagement & Continuous Learning Geographically dispersed teams, with varied niche skillset, scattered across different domains Managing high engagement levels and collaboration for 100+ members across teams around the globe Varied level of processes and tools knowledge, lack of role clarity Consistency in technology standards, guidelines, tool usage, delivery management, risk tracking, dependency management, metrics tracking Diverse report views catering to multiple Stakeholders, different levels (portfolio, domain, team) 21 www.agilechennai.com
- 22. How we are sailing through… 22 www.agilechennai.com
- 23. Azure Wiki Azure Boards Azure Repos Azure Test Plans Azure Dashboards Azure Delivery Plans Agile DevOps SRE Cloud Architecture Dashboards Learning Paths – Role based, Process oriented, Technical, Domain based Learning path - Onboarding (Agile, DevOps, Product Management, Architectur e) Communities of Practice Enabling Services Continuous Learning Collaboration Processes, guidelines, project documentation, Team API, Sprint reviews Requirement management, Daily tracking, debt and risk management Code or document repository Test cases step by step documentation and execution Feedback loops and continuous improvements Planning & Dependency management with timelines Visual view of data in charts and tabular forms; status reporting Azure Retrospectives Interactive Agile Capsules, Cloud Cast, DBT Insights, Technology Days, WoW Nuggets, Bluebolt Ideation challenge The Knowledge Grove – KM Framework Customized for Business 23 www.agilechennai.com
- 24. …. Leading to Desired Outcomes & Success Measures Structured Onboarding Cadence based Collaboration Enablement as a Continuous Learning & Innovation mitigation Quality Delivery Learning culture One Team Mindset Streamlined impediment resolution Optimal throughput Business value delivery Sustainable learning culture service Proactive risk “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines , practiced everyday” – Jim Rohn 24 www.agilechennai.com
- 25. CENTRALIZED REPOSITORIES FOR EASY ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE. STANDARDIZED DOCUMENTATION AND WORKFLOWS. ENHANCED COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION. FASTER ONBOARDING AND TRAINING. DATA-DRIVEN DECISION- MAKING. Benefits of KM Implementation •2020: Surge due to remote work adoption. •2024: Rapid growth driven by AI integration. •2030: KM recognized as a strategic business asset. 25 www.agilechennai.com
- 26. It’s not the end… the KM journey continues ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ ➢ Cross domain scaling models Capability maturity assessments AI based automations for backlog templates Flow metrics in Power BI dashboards Product Management features in ADO Automated pipeline creation … and many more 26 www.agilechennai.com
- 27. KM@Agile - Share, Learn & Practice Driving Impactful KM in Agile community www.agilechennai.com
- 28. KM Life Cycle Process 29 Enterprise KM Portal Integrated platform ecosystem Premium Asset MarketPlace for curated content orgnization Harvest Organize Share Promote Reuse Measure & Reward Knowledge Harvesting • Capability presentations; proposals • Case studies, best practices, lessons learnt • Templates, golden samples, team building techniques, Tools / Accelerators • Tag based , Artificial intelligence driven search • KM Campaigns, Knowledge nuggets • Master classes, SIG’s, community connects, book clubs • Sharing culture in community • One stop shop for all asset needs • Effectiveness measurement through ROI / Dashboards • Integration with iSpace, mainspring, Be.Cognizant and other portals Rewards and recognition through Gamification • BU Maturity Index, User Feedback (NPS) • Talent block level dashboards • Cbank points for effective usage and contributions KM Lifecycle Objective : Make Agile Community a sustainable differentiator through sharing & effective reuse of knowledge www.agilechennai.com
- 29. KM – Roles & Responsibilities 30 BU KM Champion Community KM Champions – Agile Talent Block POCs (Agile Community KM Evangelists) Agile Community Members (KM Contributors / Users) • Drive KM initiative in Agile community, in alignment with BU • Bring out best practices for better KM usage • Share KM effectiveness dashboards with Leadership & community • Sustain the effective usage of KM, by working closely with KM evangelists, and providing guidance • Approvers for Agile community assets • Create awareness on KM within the Talent Blocks, closely working with Agile KM Champions • Encourage TB’s to follow best practices on KM usage • Connect with TB members and work out KM effectiveness improvement plans • Effective usage of KM platform • Contribute new assets • Search and re-use assets • Cultivate the sharing culture in community • Drive KM initiative at CDE BU level KM Pyramid www.agilechennai.com
- 30. KM Asset Harvest Process 31 Asset Upload Asset Tagging Security Controls Approval Workflow Asset Published Asset Harvesting Process ▪ Single / Bulk upload of assets to the BU Reuse Library ▪ Tagging of assets (content types and meta-tags) as per Taxonomy of the BU ▪ Criticality Type (C1, C2, C3, C4) ▪ Access Restriction (Enterprise, BU Restricted) ▪ IRM Protection for C1 Assets ▪ Every asset goes through approval workflow ▪ Approvers group established for the BU get mail triggers for approval (Sheba John (109349) & Vijay Srinivasalu (234179) for Agile community) ▪ Assets can be accessed from the BU site (EE) and through Global Search Criticality reference : Not All Data Is Created Equal – Classifying and Protecting Data (cognizant.com) C1 – Restricted: Client or Cognizant business information that is critical to protect due to its high value or sensitive nature. It must be limited to specific individuals within Cognizant on a "need-to-know" basis. C2 – Confidential: Client or Cognizant business information that is highly sensitive and whose level of protection may have additional obligations due to law, regulation and/or contractual requirements. It is for “internal use” and must be limited to Cognizant’s workforce members on a "need-to-know" basis. C3 – Private: This is the default classification level for all client or Cognizant information until a classification is assigned. It may be shared with specific associates, clients, contractors and business partners who have a business need, but may not be released to the public due to the negative impact it may have on our business. C4 – Public: This is client and Cognizant information for which no legal or contractual obligation to restrict disclosure exists and includes information that has been approved for release to the public. Please review with TB Lead before uploading the assets in KnowHub www.agilechennai.com
- 31. Outcomes 32 Increased Competitiveness Enhanced winnabilty for sales teams through access to best-of-breed solutions and competitive intelligence Reduced Cost of Delivery Reuse of accelerators and automation assets Enhanced Productivity Reuse of tools and best practices Increased Client Satisfaction Effective management and integration of client knowledge with Cognizant’ processes Improved Service Excellence Reuse of standards, golden samples, frameworks to improve delivery quality Improved Employee Engagement Improved learning for associates towards self- development www.agilechennai.com
- 32. Guidelines for Contribution 33 Summary • You can contribute CASE STUDIES, BEST PRACTICES, POVs, etc • Your contributions should be based on your / team’s experience in pursuit or delivery • To upload your documents, guidelines are given in the next set of slides, please follow the same • Once you upload your document, it will be approved by the CDE APPROVER group and then published for all users DO’s • Prepare Case Studies, Best Practices, POVs, etc • While uploading your documents in CDE KnowHub site (https://knowhub.cognizant.com/bu/C DE) , ensure you tag your content to the right CONTENT TYPE and also provide the right TAGS (Content type, Asset Category, Community, Industry etc.) • Make sure you provide the right Points of Contact inside your document so that users can reach out to the right people / team for support • Ensure you are uploading your document to the right FOLDER in Knowhub DON’Ts × Mention Customer Name (unless there is written permission from customer) × Mention any confidential / sensitive information pertaining to the engagement/ customer × Upload any document / content that violates Cognizant or Customer confidentiality × Disclose any financial information www.agilechennai.com
- 33. 34 2025 Q2 & Beyond www.agilechennai.com
- 34. Sarada Jayaraman Lead Agilist – Cognizant Technology Solutions www.agilechennai.com