Knowa Reviews

Pros

The support team has been really helpful and the product offers a lot of customization which makes it fit our needs well.

Cons

Uploading items can be a bit awkward since we have to rely on your team to handle it. It would be much better if we could set everything up on our own.

Pros

Feels user friendly to use and offers a lot of flexibility, while still being efficient and dependable.

Cons

I haven't run into any issues, overall, I'm very happy with it.

Pros

So getting to what I need is easy and the papers available through meeting stands are laid out in a simple, accessible way. The search function is very capable too... it works well with both phrases and single words and it brings up relevant material even when you do not know exactly what you are looking for.

Cons

At first, the navigation felt a little difficult to understand but it provided a short training session and after that we picked it up quickly.

Pros

Handling meetings across a wide mix of people from different organizations is much more manageable with this tool. It does a really good job of helping schedule and organize everything, while also giving everyone involved a secure place to contribute and collaborate.

Cons

The design of the main layout could be a bit more polished visually.

Pros

Using it has been very simple and it offers a wide range of functionality. The customer service has been first class and I really appreciate that new features are being developed and added on a continual basis.

Cons

I honestly don't have any complaints. It's a much better product than others I've used in the market and it comes at a competitive price.

Pros

Having a secure online portal has been really valuable and it's simple to use. The feature I rely on most is building meeting packs because it saves a huge amount of time as well as paper, ink and postage. It feels essential now that working from home is so common and older ways of doing things are no longer very practical. The voting and Must Read features are also very useful. Also, the Knowa support team has been efficient, responsive and consistently helpful.

Cons

One area I'd still like to see improved is the document storage structure, as I would much prefer something laid out more like Windows File Explorer. We also seem to have the biggest challenge when trying to interact with the Trustee board and advisers through it which means the discussion threads have not been as useful for us as they probably could be. Unless I'm missing something, Knowa doesn't seem to offer quite the same flexibility as email in that respect. Another part I personally find tricky is keeping track of posts that are still waiting for replies. It seems this has to be managed through the star function and/or by archiving completed discussions so that only open ones remain visible.

Pros

We've been using it to share project documents and build a clear audit trail for future reference.

Cons

We haven't run into any issues with it at all and it's been very useful for our needs.

Pros

Polished look stood out for me right awayy and it's been a real time-saver for both me and my team. A lot of the more manual parts of my job no longer feel like such a chore which has made a big difference day to day. It also connects nicely with the other tools we already use so I'm not stuck entering the same data across multiple systems.

Cons

At this point, it genuinely covers everything I need. Will regularly lets me know when new features are available and most of the time I end up using them and wondering how I managed without them before. Even the occasional suggestion I've shared with the Knowa team has been welcomed with real enthusiasm and a clear willingness to build it out. They're genuinely lovely to work with.

Pros

Running meetings feels much simpler with it than it did before we started using it. Being able to review and discuss sensitive documents without dealing with passwords is a huge plus.

Cons

It's difficult to figure out whether the extra add-ons are actually worth the cost unless you pay for them first.

Pros

They're using modern technologies and the pace of new development has been really good.

Cons

Setting up subfolders and assigning access permissions wasn't completely user friendly although that's probably down to my own lack of experience.

Pros

Having everything in one place for audit, board decision-making, meeting packs, minutes and filing has been a huge advantage. It's been extremely effective for tracking breaches in a single system across the whole organisation and it has significantly strengthened our compliance process.

Cons

It would be even better with more scheme-specific KPI dashboards. There are also still quite a few touchpoints although that really depends on how the system is used and the quality of the data entered.

Pros

Right from the start, our bespoke compliance dashboard has been simple to use. The training we received was high quality and their team was available throughout the implementation to provide help and support whenever needed. The weekly Knowa notification messages are also useful and new features can be added without difficulty which they already have been. Overall, our experience with it has been very positive.

Cons

We're still in the early stages of using it but at this point nothing specific comes to mind.

Pros

Knowa keeps everything clean and simple which is exactly what I want in a portal. A lot of platforms tend to overcomplicate simple tasks but this one stays simple and user-friendly. The support we get from their customer support has also been outstanding. He is always willing to help, gives helpful guidance and explains everything in a very clear way.

Cons

Nothing specific comes to mind, as I'm very happy with it overall.

Pros

Keeping key documents, meeting packs and decisions together in a user-friendly front end makes Knowa a really valuable tool for trustees. The platform keeps evolving technically and the security and backup features add a strong sense of confidence and reliability. It's also very useful to give the company and advisers access to selected areas and adjust that access over time as roles change which makes it feel like a tool that will continue to work well in the future.

Cons

A few parts of the functionality are not as user friendly as they could be. For example, sub-items in meeting packs can't be dragged between main items. Also, if you upload a file to a meeting pack, it can be difficult to locate it again when you want to upload it somewhere else, even though the reverse process works well. It would also be helpful to have a permission level that allows users to upload documents without being able to read or download them especially when several advisers need access to the same group but commercially sensitive information should stay restricted. I'd also really welcome a mobile app although the Outlook plugin is excellent.

Pros

It really filled a long-standing gap in the market by offering a modern, user-friendly platform that helps trustees and scheme managers handle scheme governance properly. After working with several older, outdated systems before this, using Knowa felt like a breath of fresh air.

Cons

Nothing negative comes to mind. Any time I've suggested an improvement, the team has been quick to take it on board and act on it.

Pros

Right from the start, it came across as a really capable platform that can be adapted well to fit what we need. The meeting pack feature makes it simple to create packs that are simple to access, read and review. The voting function is also very strong when it comes to maintaining solid audit trails. Also, the interface feels user friendly and moving between meetings, discussions and documents only takes a few clicks, with anything needing attention clearly highlighted.

Cons

Because it is so flexible, it took a bit of time on the admin side to get fully familiar with the system and configure it around our requirements. That said, there is plenty of support available so getting up to speed happens quite quickly. It is really only an admin consideration though, as end users will simply see the finished setup.

Pros

Very simple to use and it's clearly been built with pensions in mind. The Knowa team is also incredibly helpful and quick to respond whenever needed.

Cons

I honestly can't think of anything I dislike about it.

Pros

Having everything in one online platform for storing documents, including meeting packs, while also recording Scheme history and Trustee decisions in a single place feels genuinely innovative. It makes the whole setup far more portable and putting together meeting packs is much simpler as well. More than anything, the team behind it has been outstanding and incredibly responsive.

Cons

The document management feature still has room for improvement.

Pros

Working with it has been really simple and the platform feels very user friendly. The drag-and-drop feature is especially useful and moving items around while putting together meeting packs is simple and convenient. I also really appreciate being able to choose specific people to view particular items instead of having to make everything visible to everyone or no one at all.

Cons

Don't have any complaints. I'm a big fan of Knowa and would choose it over anything else we've used.

Pros

Getting started with it felt very natural. Once you understand a couple of basics, it's simple to use and fit into daily work. The initial training was excellent as well, with a clear focus on what users actually needed to understand. It also makes meeting preparation much simpler because documents and papers are visible as they come in. Also, the discussion and decision trail outside of meetings is clear and easy to follow.

Cons

There's nothing major to complain about although there is a small glitch in the sign-on process that would be worth fixing.