Tacit Software

Tacit Software was a Palo Alto, California-based technology company focused on helping organizations discover expertise and reusable knowledge hidden in email, documents, and employee networks. Founded in 1997 as Tacit Knowledge Systems by David Gilmour, the founder of Giga Information Group, the company emerged during an early phase of enterprise knowledge-management software, when businesses were seeking alternatives to static intranets and manually maintained employee directories. Its first major product, KnowledgeMail, was released in late 1999. The system analyzed email and other documents to build profiles of users' interests and areas of expertise. Rather than requiring employees to enter detailed skills inventories, Tacit's approach attempted to infer knowledge from ordinary work communications and make that expertise searchable. This positioned the company at the intersection of enterprise search, collaboration software, expertise location, and organizational knowledge management. In 2003, Tacit introduced ActiveNet, a browser-based development of the KnowledgeMail concept. ActiveNet was tested by a number of large organizations, including GlaxoSmithKline, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin reportedly evaluated Tacit's technology against several competing expertise-location products before piloting and later deploying it in its Space Systems Division. The use case illustrated Tacit's central proposition: an organization could solve difficult technical or operational problems more quickly by identifying employees who possessed relevant knowledge, even when those employees were not already connected. Tacit's technology was designed for both public and private knowledge contexts. Its intellectual-property portfolio included patents concerning the construction of user profiles, the assignment of confidence levels to topics associated with users, and methods for accessing profile information. The company received financial backing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Woodside Fund, Alta Partners, and the Royal Bank of Canada. In-Q-Tel was also an early investor, while Draper Fisher Jurvetson partner Steve Jurvetson served as a company director. In 2006, Tacit broadened its ambition with illumio, a consumer-oriented service that exposed its expertise-location technology to everyday Internet users. The product reflected a shift from closed enterprise knowledge systems toward broader question-and-answer and people-discovery applications. Despite this expansion, Tacit remained primarily known for enterprise expertise search rather than becoming a large standalone consumer Internet platform. Oracle acquired Tacit in November 2008. The transaction brought Tacit's search and expertise-location capabilities into Oracle's collaboration and enterprise-software portfolio, with the acquired assets associated with the Oracle Beehive collaboration platform. Oracle subsequently shut down the Tacit product in 2010. Tacit therefore survives primarily as an example of an early enterprise knowledge-discovery company whose ideas anticipated later approaches to organizational search, employee expertise graphs, and AI-assisted retrieval, rather than as an active independent brand.

Tacit Software began in 1997 under the name Tacit Knowledge Systems. It was founded by David Gilmour, who had previously founded Giga Information Group, an analyst and information-services company later acquired by Forrester Research. Tacit was headquartered in Palo Alto and developed software for locating expertise inside organizations. The company's initial concept was that useful expertise could be identified from the digital traces of ordinary work. Instead of relying exclusively on employee-created profiles or formal skills databases, Tacit's systems analyzed email and other documents to infer subjects associated with individual users. Those profiles could then support searches for people likely to possess relevant knowledge. This approach addressed a recurring enterprise problem: employees often knew that an answer existed somewhere in the organization but did not know which colleague had it. Tacit's first product, KnowledgeMail, appeared in late 1999. It functioned as an expertise-location system and formed the foundation for the company's later products. In 2003, Tacit released ActiveNet, a browser-based version of the technology. During 2003 and 2004, organizations including GlaxoSmithKline, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin trialed ActiveNet or related Tacit technologies. Lockheed Martin tested Tacit's system against several other expertise-location vendors and subsequently deployed it in its Space Systems Division. The reported value of the deployment was the ability to connect employees with complementary knowledge, including specialists who worked near one another but were not aware that the other person could solve a particular technical problem. The company attracted investment from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Woodside Fund, Alta Partners, and the Royal Bank of Canada. In-Q-Tel also participated as an early investor. Steve Jurvetson of Draper Fisher Jurvetson served as a director. Tacit developed intellectual property around user-profile generation, the separation of public and private profile components, confidence ratings for topics associated with users, and access to profile information. These patents reflected the company's effort to make inferred expertise useful while managing the different visibility levels that could apply to personal and organizational data. In 2006, Tacit introduced illumio, an effort to make its expertise-location capabilities available to ordinary Internet users rather than limiting them to corporate deployments. The consumer-facing direction expanded the company's original enterprise thesis into a broader service for finding people who might answer questions or provide specialized knowledge. The available record does not establish a sustained commercial scale for illumio. Oracle acquired Tacit in November 2008. The acquisition transferred Tacit's technology and assets into Oracle's broader collaboration portfolio, including work associated with the Oracle Beehive platform. Oracle later shut down the Tacit product in 2010, ending the brand as an active standalone software offering. Tacit's history is significant within the development of enterprise search and collaboration software because it pursued automated expertise discovery before such capabilities became common in modern workplace-search, recommendation, and artificial-intelligence products.

1. 2010Tacit product discontinued

   Oracle shut down the Tacit product after incorporating the acquired assets into its collaboration-software activities.

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2. 2008Acquired by Oracle

   Oracle acquired Tacit Software in November 2008.

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3. 2006illumio introduced

   Tacit launched illumio to extend its expertise-location technology to general Internet users.

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4. 2003ActiveNet introduced

   The company introduced ActiveNet, a browser-based version of its expertise-location technology.

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5. 1999KnowledgeMail released

   Tacit released KnowledgeMail, an expertise-location system that analyzed email and documents to construct profiles of user interests and expertise.

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6. 1997Company founded as Tacit Knowledge Systems

   David Gilmour founded the company in Palo Alto, California, initially under the name Tacit Knowledge Systems.

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Tacit positioned its software as a way to uncover organizational expertise automatically from existing communications and documents, reducing dependence on manually maintained directories and helping employees find colleagues who could answer specialized questions.

• KnowledgeMailEnterprise expertise location1999

  KnowledgeMail was Tacit's first major product, released in late 1999. It automatically examined email and other documents to develop profiles of users' interests and areas of expertise. The system was intended to let employees identify colleagues who possessed relevant knowledge without requiring the organization to maintain a complete manual directory of skills. It established Tacit's central product direction in enterprise knowledge discovery.

• ActiveNetBrowser-based enterprise expertise search2003

  ActiveNet was introduced in 2003 as a browser-based version of Tacit's KnowledgeMail and related expertise-location technology. It provided an organizational interface for discovering people and knowledge through inferred user profiles. Organizations including GlaxoSmithKline, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin evaluated the technology during 2003 and 2004, and Lockheed Martin later deployed it in its Space Systems Division.

• illumioConsumer expertise and people discovery2006

  illumio was introduced in 2006 as Tacit's attempt to bring expertise-location technology to everyday Internet users. Whereas the company's earlier offerings concentrated on private organizational knowledge, illumio applied the same broad idea of matching questions or information needs with people likely to possess relevant expertise. The service was later discontinued following Oracle's acquisition of Tacit.

• 2008Sell the company to OracleM&A

  Tacit's expertise-location and knowledge-search technology fit Oracle's enterprise collaboration and software portfolio.

  What changed. Oracle acquired Tacit Software in November 2008 and absorbed its assets into Oracle-related collaboration activities.

  Aftermath. The assets were associated with the Oracle Beehive collaboration platform, while the Tacit product itself was subsequently discontinued.

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• 2006Expand expertise discovery to Internet users with illumioStrategy

  After developing enterprise expertise-location software, Tacit explored a broader consumer application for its technology.

  What changed. Tacit introduced illumio, making its expertise-location concept available to general Internet users.

  Aftermath. The consumer initiative did not prevent the company from being acquired by Oracle in 2008, and the Tacit product was later shut down.

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• 2003Move from desktop-oriented expertise capture to browser-based ActiveNetProduct launch

  Tacit sought to make its expertise-location technology easier for organizations to access and evaluate through a browser-based product.

  What changed. The company introduced ActiveNet as a browser-based version of KnowledgeMail and its underlying expertise-search capabilities.

  Aftermath. ActiveNet was trialed by several large organizations, including GlaxoSmithKline, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin.

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• 2010Oracle shuts down Tacit product

  Oracle discontinued the Tacit product after the acquisition, while the acquired assets had been associated with the Oracle Beehive collaboration platform.

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• 2008Oracle acquires Tacit Software

  Oracle acquired Tacit Software in November 2008, bringing the company's expertise-location and knowledge-search technology into Oracle's collaboration-software activities.

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1. Tacit Software