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At its core, Kyield (www.kyield.com) offers a knowledge management system that accommodates multiple file types from fully structured (spreadsheets, databases) to fully unstructured (video and audio files). When customers set up the Kyield platform, they incorporate information about their organization on all levels—enterprise wide, departmental, teams, and individuals. Kyield then uses this organizational information to provide semantic context for the imported content, and also to provide ratings for that content.

In addition, the Kyield platform uses other information in the organization as well as user-entered metadata to build descriptive wrappers for the content, essentially fleshing out the semantic context for all the information in the system. This semantic context enables predictive capabilities that customers can use to prevent crises, improve productivity, and increase innovation in the organization.

Kyield also includes an incentive and accountability capability that on the one hand, encourages knowledge workers in the organization to properly input and metadata tag content, and on the other hand, ensures the content is complete and accurate. This “carrot and stick” approach is fully configurable, so that each customer can decide what system of rewards and consequences make sense for their particular culture.

The ZapThink Take

Kyield’s offering essentially consists of a body of intellectual property rather than a specific product. Their go-to-market strategy is largely partner-based, both via OEM and solution provider channels. The OEM strategy is perhaps their best option at this point, because their offering is too nebulous and flexible for many enterprise customers to understand sufficiently. Success would then depend upon convincing key vendor partners to incorporate their technology.

Supporting the solution provider channel is also a viable alternative, because purpose-built solutions that leverage the Kyield platform have the potential to offer well-defined value propositions for particular industries. Without the support of the OEM or solution provider channels, however, Kyield will likely run into challenges defining a clear product strategy with a value proposition that enterprise customers will understand.

Kyield: Startup Potential (1 – 5 light bulbs)
Game-Changing Potential Combining semantics, predictive intelligence, and incentives has the potential to redefine the role of semantics in the enterprise.	Partner & Exit Potential Once one major vendor OEMs Kyield’s technology, then other major vendors will want it.
CIO Appeal Kyield’s value proposition is too nebulous for most CIOs to fully grasp.	Reality Check Kyield has many key components of a successful business model, but they need to put them together into a winning product strategy.