The importance attributed towards the utilization of knowledge management systems (KMS) is contingent on the recognition of knowledge as an indispensable asset to be managed. While KM has gained much attention from different research perspectives, studies on its tools called KMS appear scanty and at infant stage. An important area demanding attention is the need to explore the factors contributing to effective utilization of KMS, as the success of KMS implementations depends on utilization. This paper provides a conceptual understanding aiming at an effective KMS utilization through a proposed conceptual model. The framework built on previous research frameworks and models to propose the socio-technical antecedents that can be categorized into organizational, individual and technical factors; influencing KMS utilization in organizations. Items to be used in measuring the constructs in the framework were adapted or developed based earlier studies found in literature. A reliability test based on a study of 306 individuals across different organization in Malaysia confirmed that the constructs are of good reliability as most of the constructs alpha values are above 0.8 and none of the value falls below the 0.7 threshold point. © 2011 IEEE.