Confluence Knowledge Management: 9 Signs You’ve Outgrown It

Executive Summary

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, effective knowledge management is essential for business success. Confluence, once a frontrunner platform in enterprise collaboration and knowledge management, has been a valuable tool for many organizations. However, as technology and business needs change, it’s critical to assess whether a platform still fits your requirements. This white paper, brought to you by eGain, the leading AI Knowledge platform, outlines nine signs that your organization may have outgrown Confluence and explores how advanced solutions like eGain can offer the capabilities needed to stay ahead in the knowledge management space.

1.
Fragmented Knowledge Silos

A major indication that Confluence may no longer suit your needs is the increasing fragmentation of information across multiple sites and libraries. While initially effective, Confluence’s structure can lead to isolated knowledge silos, making it hard to manage and access information. As your organization expands, so do the number of teams and projects, creating a web of repositories that are challenging to integrate. This results in an increased content maintenance burden and inconsistent answers for users as illustrated below:

eGain’s AI Knowledge system centralizes information into a single, accessible repository with a modern content architecture and configurable taxonomy. Our intelligent search and knowledge graph capabilities ensure that all relevant information is connected and easy to retrieve, reducing content maintenance and improving knowledge author productivity by 100% or more.

2.
Inefficient Search Capabilities

As your knowledge base grows, Confluence’s search functionality may become inadequate. Users often struggle to quickly find relevant information, which negatively impacts productivity and increases frustration. Basic keyword searches across multiple silos fail to provide trusted answers efficiently. The following is just a small sampling of negative user comments on review forums about Confluence as a knowledge management (KM) tool.

“The main thing I dislike is how hard it becomes to eventually find information when you are a big company with a lot of internal documentation.”

“The search functionality still needs a lot to be desired, returning far too many irrelevant responses.”

“Search is not showing all relevant results. Sort of forces you to have bookmarks of pages you frequently use.”

“A tree-like organization requires some rigorous planning and housekeeping. Otherwise, it can rapidly become very hard to find something.”

eGain offers advanced AI-driven search features on a centralized repository of structured content. With semantic search that understands context and intent, our platform delivers more precise results, even in large knowledge repositories. For instance, we delivered 6X reduction in wrong answers (getting up to 97% search accuracy) for a large utility client when compared to Confluence search.

3.
Outdated User Experience

An intuitive and user-friendly interface is key to successful knowledge management, but Confluence’s interface can feel outdated and cumbersome, reminiscent of traditional file search systems. This makes it challenging for employees to navigate and use the platform effectively.

eGain delivers a modern, user-friendly interface designed to enhance the user experience. Its clean design and customizable features ensure users can easily access and engage with knowledge. Additionally, embeddable widgets within workflows help boost adoption and business impact. One of our clients reported 60% improvement in knowledge adoption when compared to Confluence.

4.
Lack of Advanced Analytics

As organizations scale, insightful analytics become increasingly important. However, Confluence’s built-in analytics tools may not provide the depth of insight required to assess knowledge usage, content performance, or user engagement. This leaves knowledge managers without the data needed to improve content or identify knowledge gaps.

eGain excels in offering advanced, AI-driven analytics and reporting tools. Our platform’s AI-driven analytics provides actionable insights into knowledge utilization, empowering organizations to optimize their content and continuously improve performance. Using our analytics-driven improvement loop, businesses typically see knowledge accuracy and adoption rates double within a few months.

5.
Ineffective Collaboration Tools

Collaboration is essential for knowledge management success. While Confluence provides some collaboration tools, they may not keep up with evolving organizational needs, especially for real-time collaboration and communication. Managing feedback is one area where Confluence struggles, given its primary use case as a document management system rather than a knowledge management tool.

eGain enhances collaboration with built-in tools that support real-time interaction and knowledge sharing. Our platform promotes seamless collaboration with features like contextual feedback on knowledge content, content workflows, and contextual knowledge sharing, fostering a connected and productive work environment.

6.
Difficulty in Integrating with Other Systems

As organizations adopt new tools, seamless integration becomes vital. Confluence’s integration capabilities might not meet the growing demand for interoperability with other enterprise systems and applications.

eGain offers comprehensive integration capabilities with an API-first approach that ensures smooth connectivity with your existing tools. We provide certified connectors to CRM, CCaaS, UCaaS, and CMS systems, including Confluence, enabling easy ingestion of content from multiple silos. Additionally, our APIs for publishing trusted answers that are authored in the eGain Knowledge Hub enable you to consume knowledge everywhere across channels and apps.

7.
High Maintenance and Management Overheads

Maintaining and managing a Confluence environment can become resource-intensive, requiring significant time and effort to ensure optimal performance and security. As your organization scales, these maintenance demands can become a heavy burden.

eGain’s cloud-based platform minimizes maintenance and management overhead. With automatic updates, scalability, and built-in security features, our solution reduces IT workload, allowing teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than day-to-day maintenance.

8.
Limited Personalization and Configuration

Tailoring knowledge to meet the specific needs of different user groups—whether it’s customers, agents, or field engineers—is essential for effective content management. However, Confluence offers limited personalization options, making it difficult to manage content bloat and deliver relevant knowledge.

eGain offers extensive personalization and configuration capabilities. Our platform supports configurable workflows, single-sourced content architecture, and personalized user interfaces. This enables knowledge authors and managers to easily create and maintain tailored content for various audiences and channels.

9.
Declining User Adoption

Perhaps the most telling sign that you’ve outgrown Confluence is declining user adoption. If employees are increasingly resistant to using the platform, it’s a clear indicator that Confluence no longer meets their needs.

eGain’s user-centric design and advanced features drive higher adoption rates by addressing pain points and providing a more intuitive, engaging experience. One of our clients, a leading insurance provider, rated eGain knowledge as the #1 app out of nearly 150 on their desktop, highlighting its positive impact on user engagement.

Conclusion

Recognizing that you’ve outgrown Confluence for knowledge management is the first step toward finding a more advanced solution that better meets your organization’s needs. eGain’s cutting-edge, AI-powered platform addresses the limitations of traditional tools like Confluence, enabling your organization to improve productivity and stay ahead in today’s competitive landscape.

For a personalized demonstration of how eGain can transform your knowledge management strategy, contact us today. Let us help you unlock the full potential of your organizational knowledge and drive your business forward with the power of AI.

Contact us

Skip to content