However, because knowledge is so much more compact than data, the pattern-base is only a fraction of the size of the database, allowing many years' worth of patterns to be stored with ease, even when the data is no longer available. And, the knowledge access approach is more powerful because multiple types of powerful patterns are automatically merged to answer serious questions. With the analysis paradigm, business users inevitably rely on simple models and can not deal with complex situations on their own. Data mining on a very large database may take time, but pattern look-up is fast. And, because patterns are not re-computed each time for each user, the overall system efficiency is much higher.
Computations take place once, and users access the refined knowledge again and again with ease.
And, because patterns are stored in a single repository, all users get similar answers, rather than relying on fragmented analyses. This is in contrast to the data analysis paradigm where different users may draw different conclusions from the same data. With the data analysis paradigm, there is usually not enough time to continuously analyze new data and often users are forced to rely on out of date analyses. The knowledge access paradigm is a truly revolutionary idea with a multitude of business and technical benefits that reinforce each other. It will forever change the way you access your corporate knowledge.