MeansBusiness signed up 30 publishers, and now its site is packed with 867 book and articles and 16,000 synopses. But MeansBusiness has some powerful rivals for publishing partnerships. London-based KnowledgeRich also hopes to be the premier source of new business information. The company's headline product, KnowledgeRadar, gives subscribers personalized daily updates on what competing businesses are up to as well as news and information the person may be interested in. London Business School is using KnowledgeRich's tools as well as MeanBusiness'.
Critics wonder how much knowledge-management systems can benefit corporate education.
And a flexible approach like MeansBusiness' is the right one, says Christopher J. Budzynski, vice-president for educational services and technology at investment bank Legg Mason. MeansBusiness is building an impressive client list. SkillSoft, an e-learning company with 250 clients, adopted MeansBusiness in September. The big question is whether Wilcox will be able to market his services directly to companies. One Canadian organization served by Success Profiles promises 30,000 registrations to MeansBusiness by yearend, according to Sucess Profiles President Thomas Olivo.