Cincom harnesses employee expertise, gains 135,000 business leads

Software firm’s free e-zine helps existing and potential customers—and boosts employee pride and productivity

Many organizations are striving to collect and harness employees’ knowledge so it can be shared and exploited internally.

Cincinnati software firm Cincom Systems, meanwhile, is harnessing employees’ knowledge so it can be shared and exploited externally.

Since 2003 the company has sent its free Expert Access e-zine to 135,000 subscribers in 50 countries; each bi-weekly issue includes about 16 articles aimed at senior-level corporate executives, IT and operations managers, and technology buyers.

There’s also an “Ask the Expert” section in which a subject-area expert answers readers’ questions.

Although the company’s stable of 30 or so experts includes many well-known external figures—mainly authors and executives from a diverse range of industries—employee authors also figure prominently in the e-zine’s content.