Wikis in Business

By: Brandt Marine, Brandon Sohl, Andrew Doyle

Outline

• Problem Statement and Factors• Background on Wikis• Types of Wikis• Wikis vs. Email• Recommendation

Problem Statement and Factors

• The goal of this research was to evaluate if businesses can benefit from implementing wikis into their workplace.

• Factors– Productivity– Efficiency

Background on Wikis

Wikis in Business

Types of Wikis

Types of Wikis

Wiki Example

Wiki vs. Email

• Cut down on emails sent

Wikis Vs Email

Source: http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2008/03/26/wiki-collaboration-leads-to-happiness/

Examples of Wikis

• Luis Suarez, executive of IBM– Reduced email from 175 emails/week to 35

emails/week– Average of 5 minutes per email saved 700 minutes

per week

Business Types and Wikis

• Company Intranet• Corporate Documentation• Organize and Display:– Meeting Notes– Project Agendas– Calendars

• Cost Efficiency

Business Types and Wikis

• Formatting• Maintenance• Not a good conversational tool

Conclusion

• Background on Wikis• Types of Wikis• Wikis vs. Email

Recommendation

• Wikis over Email• Factors– Efficiency– Productivity

• Private Wiki or Gated Access Wiki

RecommendationConsider a wiki: Do not consider a wiki:

The company is looking to establish a company intranet The company needs to use complex file formats

The company is looking to publish a range of corporate

documents in a universal location

The company does not have a staff member to organize and

format the wiki

The company is looking to manage meeting notes, project

agendas, and calendars

The company is looking for a debate of opinions

The company is looking a cheap project management tool

accessible through your web browser

The company is looking a central location for large teams to put

documents

Sources• Carlin, Dan. (2007). Corporate wikis go viral. Business Week, Retrieved November 18, 2010, from

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070312_476504.ht

• Goodnoe, Ezra. (2005). How to use wikis for business. Information Week, Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331&pgno=1&queryText=&isPrev

• Lynch, C. (2008, December). Seven Keys to Choosing and Managing a Corporate Wiki. CIO. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://www.cio.com/article/472369/Seven_Keys_to_Choosing_and_Managing_a_Corporate_Wiki

• Mell, J. (2008, March 18). Wikis as alternatives to email – find the ROI. . Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://jonmell.co.uk/wikis-as-alternatives-to-email-find-roi/

• Schneider, Ivan. (2007). What's a wiki? part ii. Information Week, Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201400&queryText=what%27s%20a%20wiki%20part%20II

• Williams, A. (2008, March 26). Wiki collaboration leads to happiness. Wikinomics. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://www.wikinomics.com/blog/index.php/2008/03/26/wiki-collaboration-leads-to-happiness/