Easy to use, free form, searchable, forum-like. Sounds like..... Lotus Notes, all the way back in the early '90s!
Wiki capabilities are not new, just implemented better: free access, no client needed, easy to use, and open. Contributors are not (necessarily) constrained in their views or input, at least on the Web.
Wikis' success in business will be limited, if the past is any indication of the future. The "Corporate Discussion Database" available at my employer a decade ago, based on Lotus Notes, was a useful information-sharing and collaboration tool. Even in a corporate culture where ethical behavior is key, the forum eventually was shut down because a few individuals failed to demonstrate self-control.
How many discussion forums have not needed someone to moderate the content of contributors? The cost of a moderator for business wikis will require justification. Without, businesses will find the risks will outweigh the benefits.
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The WAN and the wiki generation
To equate the enterprise wiki with Lotus Notes highlights...the generational difference described by the author.
In the old days (i.e. when Notes was getting started) *maybe* online vandalism was a problem, but I doubt it. From what I've heard, Notes failure to deliver tangible benefits stems more from its inaccessibility, difficult user interface, and lack of responsiveness. These issues are solved in the wiki environment, and that is why wikis work.
As for vandalism, this is a rare phenomenon with enterprise wikis. Why? 1) Any participant can overwrite any online grafitti that is posted, and 2) every enterprise worker can see the wiki, so any display of vandalism (i.e. wasting of corporate resources) is a public act, the cost of which may be the person's job or reputation.
Wikis not yet ready for prime time
I tried using a Wiki in my company but found it cumbersome and unable to provide edit and documentation in an easy way. I think wikis are ok for simple show and tell but not for true enterprise CRM.
I found that using "My Documents" in my c: drive is just as easy of organization compared to a Wiki. Unless Opentext/Compass and others make improvements the wiki will not be used in the enterprise space for interoperability. Sharepoint provides inteoperability to other Office applicatons; including porting data to a PDA via Windows Mobile 5.0, the wiki does not provide such inteoperability.
I agree that large centralized IT projects haev a long development time before adoption and installation. The wireless world and mobile IP space will start driving applicatons that are portable.
The "user experience" will emerge as another market driver as employees and mobile workers drive customer service to the edge of the network. The Mobile IP Protocol described by Internet Engineering Task Force in RTC 3344 will play a bigger role in the wireless space as enterprise companies connected wireline services to the wireless ecosystem. My experience is the Wiki is a geat tool but not yet built for the immediate future.
F. Lopez
Sunnyvale, CA
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