Hello was up in less than six months with wikis, blogs, profiles, single sign-on and SSL VPN access all built with open source tools and some commercial software.

"We had silos of information with the same people working on the same stuff. We needed to unlock that tacit knowledge," he said.

They did by focusing on end users and giving them easy-to-use intuitive tools to add information.

"They used it not because it was a benefit to the firm but because it improved their work. And then we could aggregate that content," Smith said.

The common element was a profile and that became a foundational piece for collecting data and making connections.Key to success was targeting workers with five to 15 years of experience. Those workers had the knowledge that made the value of the system skyrocket out of the gate.