Knowledge Base Structure & Taxonomy

Our knowledge base is organised into a hierarchical taxonomy designed for both human browsing and AI-powered search.

CategorySub-CategoriesArticle TypesAudience
Business Processes Client onboarding, service delivery, incident mgmt, change mgmt, project delivery, sales, procurement, QA, security Process documents, policies, procedures All ASI staff
Technical - Infrastructure Networking, servers, storage, virtualisation, backup/DR, cloud (Azure, AWS, GCP) How-to guides, troubleshooting, runbooks Engineers
Technical - Security Endpoint, email security, SIEM, firewalls, identity, vulnerability mgmt Configuration guides, incident playbooks, hardening guides Security & engineering teams
Technical - Applications M365, LOB applications, SaaS integrations, custom applications Configuration, troubleshooting, user guides Engineers & service desk
Client-Specific One space per client (restricted access) Environment docs, runbooks, known issues, contact lists Assigned team members only
Service Desk Common issues, password resets, software installation, VPN, printing Step-by-step resolution guides, scripts L1/L2 service desk
Training Onboarding, certifications, product training, soft skills Training materials, course links, certification guides All staff
Internal Operations HR policies, finance, travel, office admin, IT self-service Policies, how-to guides, FAQs All staff

Article Creation Standards

Article Template

📄 Knowledge Article Template

Article ID
[Auto-generated: KB-NNNNNN]
Title
[Clear, descriptive title. Start with action verb for how-to articles. Max 80 characters.]
Category / Sub-Category
[Select from taxonomy above]
Article Type
[How-To / Troubleshooting / Reference / Policy / Runbook / FAQ]
Audience
[L1 Service Desk / L2 Engineer / L3 Specialist / All Staff / Client-Facing]
Summary
[1-2 sentence summary. This appears in search results.]
Symptoms / Problem Description
[What does the user experience? Error messages, screenshots.]
Resolution / Steps
[Numbered step-by-step instructions. Include screenshots where helpful. Note any prerequisites.]
Related Articles
[Links to related KB articles]
Tags
[Relevant keywords for search: product names, error codes, technologies]
Author
[Name]
Review Date
[6 months from creation or last review]

Writing Standards

  • Language: Australian English. Write in clear, simple language. Aim for reading level Year 10 or below.
  • Voice: Active voice, second person ("You can..." not "The user should..."). Direct and concise.
  • Steps: Number all procedural steps. One action per step. Start each step with a verb.
  • Screenshots: Include screenshots for UI-based procedures. Annotate with red boxes/arrows. Ensure no PII is visible.
  • Code/Commands: Use code blocks for commands, scripts, and configuration snippets. Test all commands before publishing.
  • Links: Link to related articles. Never duplicate content; reference the canonical article instead.
  • Version-specific: Clearly state which software version the article applies to. Update when new versions are released.
  • Accessibility: Use alt text for images. Ensure content is navigable via keyboard.

Review & Update Cycle

Article TypeReview FrequencyReviewerTrigger for Early Review
Process documents (this wiki)Every 6 monthsProcess OwnerProcess change, audit finding, major incident
Technical how-to / troubleshootingEvery 6 monthsSubject Matter ExpertProduct update, resolution failure, user feedback
Client-specific runbooksEvery 3 monthsAssigned SDM/EngineerEnvironment change, incident
Security playbooksEvery 3 monthsCSIRT LeadSecurity incident, new threat vector
Service desk scriptsEvery 6 monthsService Desk LeadFCR decline, user feedback
HR/internal policiesAnnuallyPeople & CulturePolicy change, legislative update

Review Workflow

  1. Automated reminder sent to reviewer 2 weeks before review date
  2. Reviewer checks article accuracy, completeness, and relevance
  3. If still accurate: update "Last Reviewed" date and extend review date
  4. If updates needed: make changes, submit for peer review, then publish
  5. If obsolete: archive the article (do not delete; mark as "Archived" with date and reason)

Knowledge Sharing Culture

Knowledge management is everyone's responsibility. We foster a culture of sharing through:

KB Contribution KPI
Every engineer is expected to create or update at least 2 KB articles per month. Tracked in ServiceNow and included in performance reviews.
Knowledge Champions
Each team has a designated Knowledge Champion who ensures articles are created for recurring issues, reviews team content quality, and mentors new contributors.
Post-Incident KB
Every P1/P2 incident and every PIR must result in at least one new or updated KB article. This is a mandatory step in the incident closure checklist.
Weekly KB Digest
A weekly email digest highlights the top 5 most-used articles, new articles published, and articles flagged for review. Distributed every Monday morning.

ASI AI Sentinel integrates with our knowledge base to provide intelligent, context-aware search capabilities:

  • Natural language queries: Users can search using natural language questions (e.g., "How do I reset MFA for a client user?") and AI returns the most relevant articles
  • Automatic KB suggestion on tickets: When a new incident is created, AI analyses the description and attaches the top 3 matching KB articles to the ticket. Engineers see these in the ticket sidebar.
  • Semantic search: AI understands synonyms and related concepts. Searching for "email not working" also returns results about "Outlook issues", "Exchange problems", and "M365 outage".
  • Gap detection: AI identifies frequently searched terms that return no results, flagging these as knowledge gaps for content creation. Reviewed weekly by Knowledge Champions.
  • Auto-summarisation: For long runbooks and process documents, AI generates a brief summary that appears at the top of search results.
  • Usage analytics: AI tracks which articles are most useful (measured by "resolved with this article" clicks) and surfaces these higher in search results.

Documentation Standards

Naming Conventions

Document TypeNaming FormatExample
KB ArticleKB-NNNNNN (auto-generated)KB-004521
Process Document[Process Name] - v[X.Y]Incident Management Process - v4.0
Client Runbook[Client]-RB-[System]-[Topic]AcmeCorp-RB-Azure-DR-Failover
Architecture Diagram[Client]-ARCH-[System]-[Date]AcmeCorp-ARCH-Network-202603
Meeting Minutes[Meeting Type]-[Client]-[Date]QBR-AcmeCorp-20260315

Storage Locations

Content TypePrimary LocationAccess
Business process documentsThis Wiki (wiki.asiaisolutions.com.au)All staff
Technical KB articlesServiceNow Knowledge BaseAll staff (some articles client-visible)
Project documentationConfluence (project spaces)Project team + stakeholders
Client documentationConfluence (client spaces) + ServiceNow CMDBAssigned team only
Architecture diagramsConfluence + draw.io (source files in SharePoint)Engineering teams
Meeting recordingsMicrosoft Teams / SharePointMeeting attendees
Financial/HR documentsSharePoint (restricted)Finance/HR teams

Wiki Contribution Guidelines

Who Can Contribute

  • All staff can submit articles for review via ServiceNow "KB Article Request"
  • Engineers and above can create and edit articles directly (subject to peer review)
  • Process Owners are responsible for their process document pages
  • Knowledge Champions can approve and publish articles in their domain
  • QA Lead has global editorial authority for standards compliance

Publication Workflow

StartDraft Article Created
Step 1Author Self-Review (checklist)
Step 2Peer Review (technical accuracy)
GateKnowledge Champion Approval
Step 3Published to Knowledge Base
LiveArticle Available & Searchable

Author Self-Review Checklist

  • Title is clear, descriptive, and under 80 characters
  • Correct category and sub-category selected
  • Summary is concise and appears in search results
  • Steps are numbered, start with a verb, one action per step
  • Screenshots included and annotated (no PII visible)
  • Commands and scripts tested and verified working
  • Related articles linked
  • Appropriate tags added for searchability
  • Spelling and grammar checked (Australian English)
  • Access level set correctly (internal only vs. client-visible)
  • Review date set (6 months from creation)

Knowledge Management Metrics

2,847
Total KB Articles
89%
Search Success Rate
62%
KB Attachment Rate (Tickets)
94%
Articles Within Review Date
127
New Articles / Month
18
Knowledge Gaps Identified

Metric Definitions

MetricDefinitionTargetCurrent
Search Success Rate% of searches that result in the user clicking on an article (vs. refining or abandoning search)≥ 85%89%
KB Attachment Rate% of resolved tickets that have at least one KB article linked≥ 60%62%
KB-Assisted FCR% of first-contact resolutions where a KB article was used≥ 50%54%
Article Currency% of articles reviewed within their scheduled review date≥ 90%94%
Knowledge Gap BacklogNumber of identified knowledge gaps without a corresponding article≤ 2018
Contribution RateAverage KB articles created/updated per engineer per month≥ 22.3