Excerpted from CIO.com, November 1, 2004
The link between knowledge and power has always been evident to the thinking individual. Sir Francis Bacon's prophetic words dating back to the late 16th century, "knowledge is power", are timeless in the message they convey. Since then, countless rulers and leaders have worked unceasingly to gather information, often developing far-reaching and clandestine networks to gain an edge over rivals. In the modern world, knowledge remains an essential element of business success. However, rather than hiring a team of spies to infiltrate key competitors, your company may be better off looking at what your own data is hiding. Often, companies are sitting on information silos, filled with valuable data on everything from customers and inventory to competitive intelligence and sales forecasts. Without the ability to search for and find even the most rudimentary links across silos, companies never get the full value of their data's intelligence. Instead, they are forced to accept a perpetually fragmented picture of the reality, akin to a jigsaw puzzle that is missing pieces. Read full story on CIO.com