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ikis have been around for over a decade. During this time they have proven to be an extremely useful tool for many organizations and the internet at large. Wikipedia.org is one of the top ten websites and the poster child of what a successful wiki should be. It is no accident that an immense number of websites reference Wikipedia via hyperlinks; including this one. Nevertheless, creating a vibrant and successful wiki within a larger organization is not a trivial task. We will describe many of issues to consider while engaging such project.

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a web software application which allows people to create, edit, publish and search information via wiki web pages on a network. The network could be the world-wide-web or an intranet. These pages are generally interlinked to one another, thus making navigation easy. A person only needs to use a current web browser such as Firefox, Google chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc., in order to create wiki pages and/or modify existing pages.

It is the somewhat subtle corporate strategic advantages that are worth their weight in gold.

Since software tracks and backs up every change made to a wiki page, it is extremely easy to undo changes, restoring the wiki back to a previous state. Wikis are based on the premise that literally anybody within the organization can and should contribute to the wiki: Collaboration is Key!

Of course, one could set up security permissions which would restrict the viewing or modification of portions or all of the wiki. However, this is generally not the correct approach because collaboration is Key.

Advantages

There are many technical advantages to a wiki such as:

• Wide range of data types; text, video, sound, images, files, etc.
• Wide accessibility since anyone can edit it
• It is easy to train people on how to use a wiki
• Universal access to up-to-date information
• Ease of simultaneous collaboration
• Unlimited number of document revisions
• Non-techies can create content and publish it quickly
• Widely available Open Source software offerings

As compelling as the technical advantages are, it is the somewhat subtle corporate strategic advantages that are worth their weight in gold. Over time, wikis can embody the organization's intelligence, policy, direction and culture: An important component of Enterprise 2.0.

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