Bob Buckman, Buckman's founder and CEO, has outlined the characteristics of an ideal knowledge management system. Such a system would enable information transfer, which, ultimately, updates the company's explicit knowledge to create the knowledge base of the future. Systems can do this by reducing the number of transmissions of knowledge between individuals to one. The network should facilitate direct communication, removing the distortion caused when information is passed upward through an organizational hierarchy. One of the primary barriers to communication is the global configuration of companies.
Technology can help bridge distance and time zones.
A system that is too complex is a system that won't be used. Simplicity is a virtue. Humans learn best, and teach best, when they can think freely. The system should handle the translation, not the user. Every AstraZeneca site accesses these data using the same portal, facilitating global communication and making system maintenance easier for the company's informatics staff.