Quantum² : InfoStars : Ashima Aggarwal

Ashima Aggarwal

(l to r) Neville Cardozo (Cross Stream Consulting Pvt. Ltd) and Evalueserve's Ashima Aggarwal

“Managing internal and external knowledge is the backbone of any company,” said Ashima Aggarwal, who does just that as the Knowledge Manager for Evalueserve, a global research and analytics firm. Since she started with the company in February 2005, Ashima has successfully created the Knowledge Management department in her organization, which now spans Evalueserve’s three research centers in Chile, India and China. As a result of her effective strategy, the team has grown to about 30 information professionals that manage all aspects of research and the knowledge management function.

Ashima’s team does more than just provide information to researchers — they drive various initiatives aimed towards different buckets of the knowledge cycle. To that end, Ashima designed a knowledge management system that covers all areas of the knowledge cycle including creation, storage, access and dissemination.

“ Knowledge management strategies for each of the groups revolve around the complete knowledge cycle — starting from creation of knowledge to monetization of knowledge,” said Ashima. “Having a robust knowledge management system ensures that we leverage the firm’s knowledge and provide more value to our clients.”

A key role of Ashima’s team is creating awareness of the organization’s knowledge management tools and ensuring they are being used effectively by all employees. The tools are designed to save time, improve productivity and reduce costs for the organization.

“We have various in-house knowledge management tools which are virtual libraries, as they store data and information that will come in handy for researchers,” said Ashima. “Our current goal is to develop a new knowledge management tool that will automate and integrate other tools, as well as host information pertaining to all groups.”

Other key responsibilities of the knowledge management team include:

• Library and database management
• Planning and organizing internal knowledge seminars
• Identifying external knowledge seminars that would benefit various groups
• Creating standardized templates, macros and models that can be shared across projects, groups and locations
• Preparing and circulating weekly newsletters pertaining to various industries
• Driving the creation of white papers across the operation centers

Since Ashima started the Knowledge Management department three years ago, there have been many opportunities to learn and her team members have adapted to a great deal of change. Looking at the future, Ashima believes that information services are here to stay.

“Any industry, be it manufacturing, service, retail, pharma, or others, is dependent on information services. Knowledge is at the core of any industry and without tapping the explicit and tacit knowledge, industries and organizations cannot progress.”

Ashima Aggarwal works for Evalueserve, a company that provides custom research and analytics services to companies worldwide. Founded by IBM and McKinsey alumni, the firm currently has over 2,100 professionals located in research centers in Chile, India, China and New York. Ashima has been with the company for three years and is based in India. Evalueserve is a member of NASSCOM and ESOMAR.