Like this:

                                                       Blog Assignment 4

What is a Wiki?

Accord to the creator of Wiki’s, Ward Cunningham defines a Wiki as “a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. A Wiki supports hyperlinks and has simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslink’s between internal pages on the fly.” The article “How To Use Wikis For Business” listed Wikipedia as an example of how a wiki works. Wikipedia as we all know is an online encyclopedia that is written and updated by anyone who has an interest about a specific topic or issue. In the event that the information posted is inaccurate, others have the options to revert the changes or simple modify it with the correct information. A lot of users spend substantial about of time ensuring that the content on the site is accurate.

How can a wiki be used in an organization?

A wiki can be used in an organization to share information such as corporate documents that can be access from virtually anywhere, eliminate multiple copies or different version of a file or a project; addresses file size limitation of an email attachment, encourage team collaboration and provide a secure means of transmitting information within an organization.

With four different locations across the United States, the organization I am currently employed with utilizes a wiki in the form of a Microsoft SharePoint Server. Microsoft SharePoint Server is another example of how an organization utilized the wiki concept. A SharePoint server is simply “an integrated suite of server capabilities that can help improve organizational effectiveness by providing comprehensive content management and enterprise search, accelerating shared business processes, and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business insight. Additionally, this collaboration and content management server provides IT professionals and developers with the platform and tools they need for server administration, application extensibility, and interoperability.” Despite the fact some members of my team members are located in Moffett Field, CA SharePoint enable us to work in a collaborative environment and eliminate all traveling expenses.

When should an organization consider using a wiki and when should it be avoided?

An organization should consider using a wiki when there is:

 An urgent need to secure their files and data or wanting remote users to have access to sensitive company data when they’re away from the office. This can be accomplished by implementing an intranet site.
 
The ability to manage and organize company calendar, tasks, minutes from virtually any location

 The ability to publish any corporate documents or projects that can be viewed from a centralized location.

 A need to have a project management tool that’s affordable and can be managed from any web browser. 

 On the other hand, an organization should avoid a wiki when:

 It requires the use of complex or proprietary file formats. Most wiki platforms only support text or html files.

 You don’t have someone to manage and maintain its content.

 It doesn’t support a collaborative format for your group or workplace

 You’re expecting for an exchange of views. Wiki’s are generally not a good source for airing opinions or carrying on conversations. Social networking sites are design for such things.

What are the differences between a wiki and a traditional content management system?

Differences between wiki’s and traditional content management system is that wikis are inexpensive, easy to create and don’t requires any type of software deployment.  According to the article “How To Use Wikis For Business”, they describe wikis as “Web-based and thus present little or no learning curve in the adoption cycle, and they allow the user to determine the relevancy of content rather than being dependent upon a central distribution center or a linear distribution chain. After the initial setup, users, not administrators, control a wiki, to the benefit of both.”

Unlike a traditional content management system, wikis have the ability to organize themselves. It gives users the flexibility to create their own site structure rather than have it forced on them by the traditional content management system administrator or developer.

Finally, wikis supports team or workplace collaboration whereas the traditional project management tool cannot accommodate a collaborative working environment.

Outline the suggested best practices for the adoption of a wiki within an organization. 

 Suggested best practices for adoption of a wilki within an organization involve:

 Including the participation of users group in the initial phase of execution and providing formal and informal training on using a wiki.

 Discuss its potential benefits and reasons for implementation.

 Identify a technology solution that will be suitable for everyone involved

 Verify the technology interface is stable and attuned with pre-existing technologies user are already accustomed to.

Advertisement