$610 Mil. Sales Target Based on Financial Sector Advantage

The domestic info-tech industry is one of the strongest in the world. But in reality many sub-sectors in the IT industry, such as servers, storage, and enterprise software, are controlled by foreign vendors. Among these, one segment where a domestic company takes a controlling share is knowledge management or KM for short. KM is part of the fundamental infrastructure for the whole IT industry. Although many foreign KM companies have set up shop in Korea, they have not been able to dominate the industry because of strength of domestic firms. We visited domestic KM leader OnTheIT and asked how it grew and what its plans for the future are.

by Jonathan Pang, Reporter / jjpang@ittimes.co.kr

OnTheIT (www.ontheit.com), established in April 1999, aims to make the nation a KM powerhouse and to help organizations take advantage of knowledge management.

The company was launched by eight former Samsung SDS employees with paid-in capital of 1.4 billion won (approx. $1.2 million). Unlike other IT firms putting money into marketing first, OnTheIT set up a Info-tech research center at the same time as its establishment. In March 2000, it brought to market its first KM solution called Knowledge Plus.

Knowledge Plus improved the problems of Enterprise Information Portal that integrates information system in one side only. What's special about the product is that its KM model is developed entirely in-house by OnTheIT.

Korea Technology Credit Guarantee Fund recognized the technology by selecting OnTheIT as a "promising company." The company was cited by the Maeil Economic Daily, Korea Standard Association, Korea Software Industry Association, Export Assistance Center, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and Ministry of Information and Communication. It also won an ISO9001 certification from Germany TUV.

OnTheIT launched in May last year a new KMS (Knowledge Management System) and EKP (Enterprise Knowledge Portal) packaged solution called Knowledge Plus TM.

OnTheIT's library of solutions include KnowledgePlus4.net and Knowledge Plus Enterprise4 (KMS solutions), K-SPIM (Knowledge Management Strategy Planning & Implementation Methodology), and Zestar (search engine solution).

KnowledgePlus4

KnowledgePlus4 is a product that integrates EIP-based KMS with knowledge-type workflow so that it can be operable in a single platform. OnTheIT says that this product features one-click data backup and upgrade, template-based system reconfiguration, scalability, and compatibility.

.Net-based KnowledgePlus4 can be customized to client's environment. It also can define, collect, accumulate, share, and assess all the knowledge available. A proven methodology with 50-plus successful cases, K-SPIM is more than a simple system design method that encompasses strategy, process, and change management.

The Zestar search engine provides optimal full-text search function under Windows 2000 and NT server environments. It enables many types of search service including formatted field search.

With excellence in product development and consulting know-how, OnTheIT secured more than 200 clients in private and public sectors. Clients include Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Industrial Systems, Hanjin Industries & Construction, Woori Bank, Mirae Asset, Dongbu Insurance, Doosan Construction, POSCO, KPMG, KT, Camis, Core Information System, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Environmental Management Corporation, Daebul University.

OnTheIT has a dominant position in financial industry, the biggest IT spender, where many IT companies are struggling to gain recognition. Thanks to this, the company realized 4 billion won (approx. $3.5 million) sales last year. It expects this year's sales to increase more than 70 percent to 7 billion won.

Starting second half of this year, OnTheIT will try to expand its markets beyond the financial sector while maintaining its grip on the sector with superior service.

Meanwhile, it plans to increase partnerships with small software developers as well as leading solution providers. It wants to extend its reach to China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the U.S.

Beom-Soo Kim, CEO of OnTheIT said, "From now on, we will pursue a strategy to increase our profitability rather than volume. For that to happen, we will focus on the domestic market for the time being."

OnTheIT has been KM specialist for the last six years since its founding. The company still wants it that way so that it doesn't expand to other areas and concentrates instead on R&D in knowledge management. It has spent approximately 20 percent of its sales on R&D.

The company attempts to be first mover in the EKP business because it perceives that it is the way to go for the future. OnTheIT's Kim predicts that his company will be an international KM solution vendor within three years.