What need does PortBlue fulfill?

The need is to capture plain old human know-how, the stuff that makes someone a recognized expert in some important field of human effort, and convert that know-how into software that allows others to benefit from that know-how in a very practical, problem-solving way. Technologists often call this kind of software "expert systems". However, expert systems have a rather checkered past. Most expert systems have been very expensive and time-consuming to build, and often did not deliver the expected value. As a result, they were either reduced to something PhDs tinkered with in exotic subject areas or, at the other end of the spectrum, were devoted to relatively mundane exercises that were not overly challenging. PortBlue's approach to expert systems allows this powerful technology to be applied to real business problems, at a small fraction of the cost and time of traditional implementation.

What exactly is an expert system in short?

Think of Intuit's® TurboTax®. TurboTax embodies the expertise of tax advisors into a piece of software. Now imagine having powerful tools like this, which everyone in your organization could understand and use for their various work functions. PortBlue offers you the capability to build such powerful systems, quickly and inexpensively.

Can you give some examples of expert systems?

A few recent initiatives include:

• A Web application that enables doctors to do an "A to Z" plan for building a surgical center, from space and equipment planning, to staffing, to satisfying state certification requirements.
• A Web application that teaches police officers how to improve their skills at criminal case management and modify the analysis as the facts of the case evolve.
• A Web application that helps a hospital prepare for and manage a mass casualty event resulting from a biological, chemical or radiological attack and manage the disaster as it is happening.

The know-how imparted by each of these modules comes from real live experts, usually people working at the PortBlue customer. Our customer wants to capture and distribute that know-how, either for their own use (for example, helping them sell a complex product better) or for the use of their own customers (for example, helping their customers run their own businesses more efficiently).

How does PortBlue build these "modules"?

Like a real live expert, PortBlue modules start by asking questions to help understand the situation. For example, in the case of a surgical center, the first questions may be; "what kind of medical procedures do you intend to do in the center, how many doctors will be using the center and what do you estimate your patient volumes will be?" After these initial questions, a PortBlue module begins to branch through as many layers of analyses of the situation as necessary to end up with a practical decision (for example, how likely is it that we can establish the key elements of a crime that it will lead to a successful prosecution), or complete a process (for example, the development of a hospital disaster preparedness plan).

PortBlue works with its customers to design the application around their experts' know-how, works with experts to capture and express the know-how in an effective and accurate way, and hosts the completed application so the user community, authorized by our customer, can gain access to the know-how and employ it anywhere, anytime, via the Web.

What are PortBlue modules used for?

As PortBlue modules embed expertise directly into processes, our customers use PortBlue primarily for actual work assistance. However, by embodying expertise in software, PortBlue modules also provide powerful training vehicles.

Where does PortBlue get the expertise?

PortBlue is not a domain expert. Instead, PortBlue provides the means to capture and convey expert know-how and knowledge. PortBlue's expertise is working with experts to elicit their knowledge (even unstated or tacit knowledge) and know-how. Generally, we capture that expertise in fields where expertise is reasonably developed and structured, although we've been asked to help where expertise is just emerging. For example, PortBlue could be used in sales and marketing, risk management and compliance, product launch and product configuration, in intelligence and security, or just to capture a lot of standard operating procedures that might be lost when key people retire or leaves a company.