6 Knowledge Management System Examples for 2026

You’ve probably heard people say, “Data is the new currency.” Yes, data powers your business, improves customer support, and personalizes your customer experience. But to achieve these results, you need to turn raw numbers into a functioning knowledge system.

Too many businesses sit on mountains of siloed data just because they don’t use the right knowledge management system (KMS) to organize and utilize what they have.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to get started with organizing your data and building a knowledge management system. We’ll show you knowledge management system examples, the benefits of having such it in your business, and how to build and implement a corporate knowledge hub within your own processes. Sounds good? Let’s begin!

What is a knowledge management system?

A knowledge management system is a structured platform—composed of technologies, processes, and practices—that helps an organization capture, store, organize, share, and apply the data it has. Every business that wants to scale should know the knowledge management definition to start unifying its data.

KMS’s purpose is to make the right information available to the right people at the right time, improving decision-making, efficiency, and innovation. With a trajectory to reach USD 62.15 billion by 2033 from USD 20.15 billion in 2024, the KMS market growth proves that utilizing data is becoming more important for businesses.

A great example of a KMS is an internal knowledge base designed to help new hires onboard faster by finding all the necessary information in one place.

But what counts as “knowledge” in a knowledge management system?

A KMS typically manages several types of knowledge:

• Explicit knowledge: documents, manuals, procedures, FAQs, databases
• Implicit knowledge: know-how that can be articulated, such as workflows or best practices
• Tacit knowledge: expertise and insights, usually shared via collaboration tools, mentoring, and communities of practice

What are the benefits of using a knowledge management system?

Having your corporate knowledge well organized and always available has many benefits for the company, employees, future documentation, and customers. Let’s go over some of the main results you can expect after integrating a KMS into your corporate processes. 

• Streamlined knowledge access: You might not notice how much time information search eats out of your working day when you do it bit by bit. But post–COVID-19 research reveals that 22.34% of employees spend about half a workday per week just searching for information, while 10.47% spend up to one and a half workdays. When you have everything at hand, team members can quickly find the information they need—procedures, answers, documents—without digging through emails or asking around.
• Less confusion: When everyone uses the same, up-to-date source of truth, there are fewer misunderstandings, conflicting instructions, or duplicated versions of documents. For example, you hire a new customer support agent, and they need to check if your company ships to a particular country. They can access a knowledge management system to find the right answer without getting multiple different answers or pinging their colleagues.
• Faster team onboarding and training: It can take anywhere from six to twelve weeks to onboard a new customer support agent. New employees ramp up more quickly because all essential knowledge, like guides, FAQs, and workflows, is organized and easy to follow.
• Better experiences: Companies that lead in customer experience outperform the market with 4%–8% higher revenue growth. When you have available information and self-service options, customers or internal users get more consistent and accurate answers, resulting in smoother interactions and higher satisfaction. 
• Knowledge retention: When your company scales or you have changes in your organizational structure, preserving your know-how becomes crucial to smooth onboarding, process mapping, and standardization. Developing a KMS ensures that important knowledge stays within the organization even when employees leave, reducing dependency on individuals.
• Better team efficiency: With quick access to reliable information, teams spend less time searching for answers and more time doing productive work.

What are 6 examples of knowledge management systems?

When your business grows, so does the amount of data you have. Eventually, it splits into many verticals and can be systematized by usage. Let’s go over some of the best knowledge management system examples businesses use to organize their data into action.

1. Internal knowledge base

An internal knowledge base is a centralized, searchable repository of internal company information, such as policies, procedures, how-to guides, FAQs, troubleshooting steps, best practices, and more. A helpdesk knowledge base page that you can find on most websites and apps is a perfect example of an internal information hub. 

Usually, it not only provides information but also connects with ticketing systems to enable process optimization in case a customer doesn’t find an answer and wants to submit a ticket. 

You can see it works on the Todoist website. This task planning tool offers a clean and easy-to-use knowledge base for its customers. People can browse information about features, troubleshoot problems, and find everything they need to get started.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Content is structured into categories or topics
• Employees search or browse to find answers
• Permissions ensure sensitive info is restricted
• Teams continuously update articles to keep content current

Companies use it to:

• Reduce repeated questions across teams
• Ensure everyone uses the same “source of truth”
• Speed up work by making information instantly accessible

2. External support site

The external support site is a customer-facing knowledge base. It’s a self-service help website where customers find answers without contacting support—articles, tutorials, FAQs, and troubleshooting steps. 

For example, you might have a library page on your website or automated options like a web chatbot to provide customers with convenient and accurate information. PacSun, an American retail clothing brand, offers a great example. They have multiple customer-facing knowledge sources, like their AI-powered web chat or their help center, where customers can find information quickly.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Customers search topics or browse categories
• Articles include step-by-step solutions, images, and videos
• Integrated with chatbots or ticketing systems
• Support teams update information based on common questions

Companies use it to:

• Reduce support ticket volume
• Improve customer satisfaction with fast, 24/7 answers
• Ensure consistent, accurate responses

3. Content management systems

Content management systems (CMS) are software used to create, manage, and publish digital content—usually for websites or intranets. 

For example, many companies use WordPress to store and manage content on their websites, including web pages, landing pages, case studies, blog posts, and other content.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Users create pages or posts through a visual editor
• Content is stored in a structured database
• The CMS handles versioning, publishing workflows, and permissions
• Plugins or modules extend functionality

Companies use them to:

• Make content creation easier without coding
• Ensure consistent branding and formatting
• Allow non-technical teams to update and maintain content

4. Document management systems

Document management systems (DMS) are solutions for storing, organizing, and controlling access to digital documents like PDFs, contracts, policies, and spreadsheets. This way, you have one system where you can securely store, find, and manage digital files. 

Microsoft SharePoint is a great example of a document management system designed for large teams.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Files are uploaded and tagged so they’re searchable
• Version control tracks edits and prevents outdated documents
• Permissions restrict access to certain teams
• Audit trails show who accessed or modified files

Companies use them to:

• Eliminate file chaos and lost documents
• Ensure compliance with legal and auditing requirements
• Make documents easier to find, manage, and update

5. Collaboration platforms

Collaboration platforms are tools that support real-time communication and team collaboration, often integrating chat, file sharing, project management, and knowledge spaces. 

For example, Microsoft Teams or Notion allow different team members to edit files, create tasks, comment, etc., in real time.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Teams communicate via channels or threads
• Files and knowledge snippets are shared and searchable
• Integrations pull information from other systems
• Some platforms include wikis or shared notebooks

Companies use them to:

• Distribute knowledge quickly
• Improve cross-team coordination
• Capture conversations and decisions for future reference

6. Learning management systems

Learning management systems (LMS) are platforms for delivering, tracking, and managing training programs, learning materials, courses, certifications, and employee development. 

SAP SuccessFactors Learning is a great example where employees can learn and upskill on the platform.

Ideal usage scenarios include:

• Administrators create or upload courses
• Employees complete modules, quizzes, or videos
• The system tracks progress, completion, and certifications
• Analytics show skill gaps and learning effectiveness

Companies use them to:

• Standardize training across the organization
• Speed up onboarding and skill development
• Provide measurable learning outcomes
• Maintain compliance training requirements

How to build and implement a knowledge management system in 3 steps

Building your own knowledge management system begins by setting the right foundation. You must identify where your data sits, collect it, and organize it. Of course, it’s easier said than done, so let’s go over the practical ways to get started.

Step 1 — Identify your ideal use case

Before anything, you need to understand what problem your KMS will solve. A system is only effective if it supports a specific purpose.

To begin, ask questions such as:

• Who will use the knowledge: Will it be your employees, customers, or new hires?
• What problems they are facing today: If you want to use a KMS for customers, perhaps the problem you’re trying to solve is repeated questions or a lack of self-service options.
• What types of knowledge need to be shared: Depending on the type of knowledge, such as processes, troubleshooting, workflows, and FAQs, you’ll be able to find the right sources and organize them later.
• What success looks like: Think of the end result your KMS will provide. If the problem was inefficient customer service, success might look like fewer tickets, faster issue resolution, and more consistent service.

For example, you might build a KMS for your customer support team because it needs a consistent, easy-to-search library of help articles.

Step 2 — Collect your knowledge

This step is about gathering the information that will populate your corporate knowledge base —including explicit documents and tacit knowledge from experts.

Collect all the information you want to include in your knowledge base, such as:

• Customer support tickets
• Product documentation
• Company policies and guidelines
• Procedures and workflows

How to do it:

• Audit existing materials: policies, docs, procedures, manuals, emails.
• Interview subject matter experts: capture what they know but haven’t documented.
• Pull insights from support tickets, chats, or customer questions.
• Standardize formats: decide how you’ll write guides, FAQs, and processes.
• Remove outdated or duplicate content before adding new content.

However, gathering information manually takes time and is prone to error. That’s why companies with large amounts of data skip manual work and go for advanced AI knowledge base software to connect existing information with no human intervention.

For example, Capacity, an AI-powered customer and team support automation software, connects data across your communication tools, third-party integrations, internal channels, and more. The best part is that you don’t need to “feed” it data manually because it connects automatically and learns along the way.

Step 3 — Organize your knowledge

Once you have the content, you need to organize your knowledge base so people can find what they need quickly.

A few quick steps on how to do it:

• Create a logical organization system: Group your content into categories, subcategories, and articles.
• Choose your contributors: Identify and assign people to create and maintain accurate content.
• Write relevant content: Write or generate content to document processes and provide relevant information. Keep it concise and to the point so users don’t need to scroll through irrelevant details.
• Label and tag content: Use labels that make sense and ensure they accurately describe each piece of content. For example, if it’s a customer-facing knowledge hub for a retail business, you can use labels like order status, shipping options, and payments.
• Incorporate automation: Automation features like AI that learns from usage, natural language processing that offers smarter self-service options, or data categorization can save tons of time, reduce confusion, and limit manual work.
• Track feedback: Regularly monitor user behavior, analyze customer feedback, and use this data to improve your knowledge base’s organization over time.

What is the best knowledge management system example for my business?

Knowledge management system examples span across industries, tasks, departments—you name it. That means not all types are necessary for your business. So, let’s go over some of the main ones to help you decide which works best for your case.

Team search engine

A team search engine is one of the knowledge management system examples that unifies internal search and lets employees instantly find documents, answers, experts, and data across all company systems.

It works by connecting to tools like Google Drive, Slack, SharePoint, CRM platforms, wikis, and databases. Then it indexes content to make it easier to find the most relevant results. More advanced team search engines use AI technologies to support natural language search. For example, they can answer straightforward questions like:

• “How do we process a refund?”
• “Do we ship to Asia?”
• “Does this discount apply in this case?”

A team search engine is a great way to cut down on time wasted searching through folders or asking coworkers, reduce duplicated work, and speed up decision-making and cross-team collaboration.

A great use case for team search engines is consulting services. When you have large volumes of reports and client documents, it’s crucial to have an organized space where you can access everything with the click of a button.

Research and insight libraries

Research and insight libraries are centralized hubs where teams store market research, user insights, competitor analysis, product data, and internal findings. To make browsing easier, such libraries use tags, metadata, and summaries. You can also enable analysts, product teams, or researchers to contribute new insights.

Sometimes, the right research and insight library can save you 5,000 hours per year. Yes, you’ve read that right! PepsiCo, an iconic food, beverage, and snack corporation you definitely know and probably enjoy, had massive data silos scattered across departments and countries. 

To start organizing their data, they came to Capacity, and together, we deployed the Answer Engine®. 

This unique solution unifies your corporate knowledge across sources to allow employees to simply ask for what they need and get to-the-point answers. The Answer Engine® searches through millions of pages of content across first- and third-party connections to find answers in seconds.

As a result, PepsiCo:

• Leverages the millions of consumer insights they generate
• Saves more than 438 hours each month
• Grew monthly users by more than 2,500%

Customer support sites

Customer support sites or self-service knowledge bases are public-facing knowledge hubs where customers can find answers without contacting support.

They might resemble a business library where customers can find articles explaining how to use products, solve issues, or follow procedures. More advanced KMS solutions allow integrating search to help users quickly find solutions, often paired with self-service features like chatbots or automated ticket systems.

Every type of business can benefit from self-service options, but BPOs and customer support centers are among the best use cases. Because of large inquiry volumes, they need a call center knowledge base to educate their teams and deflect the majority of inquiries.

Online community forums

Online community forums are digital spaces where users, customers, or employees can ask questions, share solutions, and contribute collective knowledge. A great example of a forum-based knowledge base is the Apple Support Community. Apple’s customers can ask questions and help each other solve common software and hardware problems, follow updates, and share tips and tricks.

It’s a great way to:

• Leverage the power of many minds instead of relying solely on support teams
• Create a searchable archive of real user insights
• Build brand loyalty and community advocacy
• Provide product feedback from actual users

Expert locators

Expert locators are searchable directories that help employees find the right expert, specialist, or teammate with a specific skill or experience. 

For example, platforms like Microsoft Delve and Viva Topics can surface people based on their projects and expertise, while ServiceNow’s Skills Management or SAP SuccessFactors People Profile lets teams search for colleagues with specific certifications, technical skills, or past project experience.

SOP and process playbook system

The SOP and process playbook system is a structured library of step-by-step procedures, workflows, and playbooks used across the organization.

Some of the main use cases include:

• Manufacturing where workers follow standardized safety steps or equipment processes, reducing errors and downtime.
• Hospitality where hotels maintain consistent check-in, cleaning, and guest service procedures across locations.
• Startups where teams use playbooks for onboarding, incident response, sprint planning, and product releases.

A process playbook system uses knowledge to standardize and unify processes across teams, departments, and branches.

One tool to unify your corporate knowledge

Having data is important, but you reap the real benefits when you turn your data into an organized knowledge management system that helps your teams and customers. We hope this guide on knowledge management system examples, types, and use cases has given you a better understanding of the benefits and ways to build your own knowledge base system.

But you can always leave it to the experts. Capacity provides businesses across many industries with a corporate knowledge base that connects all your data into one unified ecosystem. 

It doesn’t matter if your team is scattered across countries, languages, and time zones—Capacity’s solution unifies your data into a consistent and on-brand knowledge hub. Try it for yourself—book a demo!

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