Wikis are used in business settings to allow for users to communicate openly and freely. They are relatively informal and inexpensive and yet still give business-men and women a chance to share ideas in a professional setting. Wikis are a step beyond email, and just short of formal group software, thus allowing users to edit information and collaborate on ideas at their own convenience, without the need for any real technological expertise. SOURCE: New York Times

The simplest on-line system to track changes to documents and provide features and functions to accommodate concurrent work are wikis. A wiki, meaning "quick" in hawaiian (source: Business Week), is a shared knowledge base in which the content is contributed and managed by the wiki's users. When a user contributes to a wiki, the system tracks who created the entry and the date of creation. The first wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham (source: Department of Education and Training). Patrick Mueller also wrote another Wiki in 1995 rumored to be the first in 1995 using RexxLanaguage(Source: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory). Wikis are so easy to use because they allow the user to edit them directly in their browser to make instant changes through a simplified markup language.

Version Management
According to Wikipedia, version management is defined as the management of revisions of the same unit of information. It is most commonly used in the engineering and software development fields. In wikis, version management allows for the ability to revert a page to a previous revision, which is critical for defending a public wiki against vandalism and spam, to allow legitimate users to correct their mistakes, and to allow groups of editors to track each other's edits. One of the most popular version management software programs used today is CVS (Concurrent Versions System). You can read more about CVS here.

Business as beginning to use wikis as a tool for knowledge management. One organization is using the wiki to reduce the amount of email that their employees must process. At Dresdner, a European-based investment bank, email volume has reduced by as much as 75% and meeting times have been cut in half. Another company, based out of Ann Arbor Michigan, uses wikis and has seen the amount of time needed to complete projects reduce by 50%. Research conducted by Gartner Group predicts that by 2009, half of all companies will be using collaboration tools.

Here is an example of how the Special Libraries Association (SLA) is using an enterprise wiki to share information among members.

At many universities, wikis are used mostly as a supplement to primary teaching tools like textbooks and labs. In one Boston College professor's classroom, however, wikis have become a primary learning tool, replacing textbooks and allowing improved collaboration among students. The wiki is even used to let students submit possible questions for examinations, many of which actually appear on tests. See this article in Computerworld.

Soon wikis could change the way we search the internet. The creator of wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, in conjunction with high-profile investors, will launch a for-profit search engine called Wikasari. It is hoped that human insight will replace Google's algorithms as the next popular internet destination for easy navigation. (source: Business Week). Jimmy Wales also recently anounced the creation of a wiki entitled "Campaigns Wikia" devoted to the hottest political issues in the U.S. The new wiki serves as a hotspot for political activists to discuss topics such as the upcoming Presidential Election, gay marriage, and environmental protection.

Reliability of Wiki Data
The reliability of information found in a wiki is sometimes questioned. Considering that just about anyone can publish on Wikipedia, false information has plagued the website and despite these facts, students are still using Wikipedia as a research reference. Here is an article written at Cornell about the issue. However, a recent study in tne British journal 'Nature' showed that the reliability of scientific information found in the Wikipedia is about as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Monday January 7, 2008 marked the launch of Wikia Search. It is the first alpha version of an open source search engine owned by Wikia, Inc. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and president of Wikia, Inc., created Wikia Search to compete with Google and Yahoo. He believes search engines should be open, transparent, participatory, and democratic.

The website, wikiscanner.virgil.gr, is a site that traces the edits to Wikipedia by cross-referencing the IP address of the editor's changes to the name of the network used. Many of the changes were made directly from within the corporation. Someone who had access to ExxonMobile's network modify an entry about the 1989 Exxon Valdex oil spill in Alaska to make the entry sound less harsh to the company's reputation. In 2006, there was a changed about Wal-Mart's employee compensation which was made by someone from the company. It seems that some employees from companies would make changes to Wikipedia to make their company more reputatble. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/technology/19wikipedia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As Stephen Colbert demonstrated back in 2006 any charismatic and well known persona can potentially destroy what was previously a factual Wikipedia article. After telling his viewers on The Colbert Report to change the Wikipedia article on elephants to say that the their population in Africa had tripled over the last 50 years Wikipedia was forced to restrict editing access to this article as a result of new users trying to log in and put in false information. Wikipedia could also be used for character assassination. In May 2005 John Seigenthaler Sr., a well-known writer and journalist, had a hoax Wikipedia article posted about him that perceived him to be 'directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby'. The ordeal was eventually resolved and John Segenthaler Sr. decided not to pursue legal action. There are still many people who believe that Wikipedia needs to be retooled however, and that it should not be used for academic purposes "without extensive corroboration."

Business Wiki's

"As a small-business manager, you need to harness the brainpower of everyone you can, collaborating freely while also staying organized. Here's how to put wikis to work for your company. Think of a wiki as a shared work space, a big user-friendly filing cabinet that contains the collective wisdom, captured in digital format, of your coworkers and, if you choose, your customers. You can use your wiki to ask questions, offer help, correct and add information to documents and presentations, brainstorm and scheme, and keep everyone on track and in touch about a particular project. 'People like sharing what they know if they get credited for their expertise,' Hammock, the owner of a small publishing firm in Nashville, TN says. 'That's the motivation for most people who share on a wiki.'" Source: http://www.cnet.com/4520-10192_1-6415671-1.html

Small businesses usually start up with a few people investing lots of time and money into projects that may or may not be successful. With small businesses being the “backbone” of America new technology is helping more businesses stay afloat. Use of small business wikis help other small business owners share, help, and advise newer startups. Larger wikis help the small business owners get access to the information easily. “The section of SmallBusiness.com that you are now reading is a part of a large-scale wiki project that allows readers like you to share your knowledge with others interested in topics related to managing a small business.” Source: http://www.smallbusiness.com/wiki/Wiki

Wikis in the business world are a useful tool for employees to “connect with more people, in more regions of the world, with less hassle and more enjoyment, than earlier generations of workplace technology." A good example of a business successfully using wikis is Geek Squad, which is a part of Best Buy. Geek Squad employees use wikis to "brainstorm new products and services, manage projects, swap service tips, and socialize with their peers. Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson says empowering employees to collaborate in unorthodox ways is all about 'unleashing the power of human capital.’" Source: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070326_237620.htm

In addition, many companies encourage their employees to use Wiki's and blogs because of the connectivity aspect. Sun Micro Systems for example, has many wikis for its employees which can be used to ask questions and seek advice, in addition to the numerous chat rooms etc.. which share information. With thousands of employees, it can be difficult to form a congregation of ideas, but with a wiki it makes the process very simple. If you visit www.wikis.sun.com, you will notice thousands of wikis that are set up with a vast amount of information that can be searched through to find exactly what you are looking for. It is quiet clear, wiki's are the future and are leading the way to efficiency.

The success of wikis in a business environment lies in the ability for multiple users to update a single document. This is ideal for group projects that require brainstorming or frequent revisions. All too often, groups lose track of who has the most up-to-date version of a project or everyone ends up making revisions individually and they never come together. With a wiki changes are made instantaneously so all users have access to changes as they occur. As wikis increase in popularity, many companies may be tempted to start a wiki of their own. After all it works for companies like Kodak, Cingular, Disney, and Motorola. In addition, wikis are cheap—if not free—which makes them ideal for smaller companies. The success of these wikis is partially due to the fact that they are safely behind a firewall and protected from the abuse of the general public. Businesses that fail to limit the users that can make changes to their wikis often find that are misused and, as a result, must be taken down. Source: http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331&pgno=3&queryText=

Socialtext is a company that sells wiki software and is a pioneer of wikis in a business setting. Their software "allows everybody in a group or even a whole company to literally stay on the same page -- that is, on their shared Web pages. That speeds up everything that involves coordination, helping to cut costs." Source: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2004/tc20041019_0375_tc182.htm.

Benefits of Wikis in a Business Setting
Companies such as Socialtext and Australian-based Atlassian offer software and hosted wiki products that limit access and allow participants to edit them as easily as they would e-mail, notes Jeff Brainard, director of product marketing with Palo Alto-based Socialtext. In addition, wiki participants can track changes and/or receive e-mail notifying them when changes have been made. Brainard says their hosted product is the most popular, costing about $4-5 per user per month. Other good reasons to choose wikis include:

• Time Savings. Wiki does mean “fast,” after all. Wikis have a collaborative advantage over e-mail and better tracking functions than Microsoft Word. “They can accelerate project cycle times by cutting down on meetings, conference calls and e-mail volleyball,” notes Brainard.
• No More Memory Loss. The ability to tag wiki pages allows users to recall those great ideas from a co-worker, the kind that used to languish in the e-mail queue and die off after 60 days. Wikis are a way to “capture group memory,” says Brainard.
• Reduces E-mail. The ability of groups to collectively edit and develop documents can save hundreds of back-and-forth posts.
• Better Venue for Client Collaboration. Wikis allow companies to work more directly with their clients on developing a finished product.
• Younger Workers Already Use Them. Workers under 30 have grown up with YouTube, MySpace, and other Web 2.0 communication tools. They are used to the wiki concept, and take to it easily, notes Matt Cain, vice president and lead e-mail analyst at Gartner.

Source: http://technology.inc.com/networking/articles/200712/wiki.html


Problems Using Wikis in a Business Setting
There are some disadvantages to using wikis in a business setting. One is that users can get into arguments on the wiki if they have different opinions on a certain subject. “When this occurs, the version history logs become less useful because of the flood of repetitive changes.” This problem can be controlled by only allowing only a certain number of changes a user can make within a 24 hour period. Another disadvantage is that in order for the wiki to be successful it requires participation. “A lone devotee cannot take advantage of the many features of the wiki; the group as a whole must be committed to using the site. In a small wiki supporting a cooperative group, a hierarchy may develop and one or two users may become the invisible autocrats of the wiki. With skill, these dedicated users may enhance usability of the overall wiki for the entire group, but they are also at risk of overpowering the rest of the team, or worse, making the wiki useful only for themselves.” Source: http://www.stc.org/ConfProceed/2005/PDFs/0045.pdf

Wikis and Productivity
Many businesses wonder if having wiki will actually lead to productivity in their organizations. A report done in the UK is September of 2007 helps put an end to those concerns. It was reported in their findings that 27.42% of people surveyed said the wiki helped them share new ideas, while another 21.07% said wikis helped them communicate more efficiently. Source: http://pennyedwards.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/final-report-september-2007.pdf\

History of Wikis
Wiki.org defines wiki as "the simplest online database that could possibly work." Inspired by Apple's HyperCard programming environment, the first wiki software was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham as a way to manage the Portland Pattern Repository's site content. Named after wiki-wiki, the Hawaiian word for quick, wikis are essentially Web pages that anyone — or at least anyone with permission — can create or edit.

The most well-known example of a wiki is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by, well, anybody who feels like it. Sound like utter chaos? Not so. It's a well-researched, well-written, and highly regarded source of information. If one person makes incorrect or inappropriate changes to an entry, others can roll the page back to the way it was before, or keep the changes and edit them further. Thousands of people police the site (or at least those areas in which they have expertise), fact-checking and editing as necessary, so the quality of the content generally remains high. Source http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=167600331