Wiki power: enter the world of Web 2.0, where collaborative online tools are saving time and money for enterprises large and small

South Florida CEO,  Nov, 2007  by Jennifer LeClaire

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You are probably familiar with Wikipedia--the online encyclopedia that relies on Netizens (active Internet users) to fill its virtual pages. But did you know that companies use that same technology to improve organizational efficiency?

A wiki is a collaboration tool that lets you build Web pages on which users share information, edit documents or keep up to date with communications. Wikis are so easy to use and streamline communication so effectively that this technology is taking the corporate world by storm. Corporate wikis are replacing databases, reducing e-mail, and leaving a digital trail well suited to regulatory compliance-sensitive environments. Perhaps that is why Stamford, Conn.-based market research firm Gartner Inc. predicts 50 percent of companies will use wikis by 2009.

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"Wikis work because they use the Web as a platform to make specialized content more valuable by linking to [information] in context," says Jordan Frank, vice president of marketing and business development for Traction Software Inc., an enterprise wiki solutions provider in Providence, R.I. "Wikis are like information patches where the company's experts offer information anyone can search," he adds.

Elluminate USA Inc., an e-learning software company in Fort Lauderdale, initially launched an internal sales and marketing wiki to slash cross-departmental e-mail volume. But Elluminate quickly discovered the wiki helped define clear ownership of projects, deadlines and specific action items. "Our wiki serves as an information repository on every aspect of our business on one hand, and a way to streamline communication on the other," says Maurice Heiblum, president of Elluminate.

Heiblum says the wiki helps globally dispersed developers communicate about new product features and lets sales agents offer quick customer feedback to the entire company with a few keystrokes. The wiki also acts as an employee-training tool, offering background information on the firm and current projects so workers can get up to speed quickly. Elluminate even opens its wiki to external partners for specific purposes.

"We have distributors in Australia and Asia who need to access sales support material. The wiki is flexible, so we can open up parts of it to our partners and keep other parts confidential for internal use only," Heiblum says. He is referring to a hierarchy of security found in solutions like Confluence, Socialtext or Brainkeeper, wiki software vendors who offer solutions for as little as $20 a month.

Alternatively, companies can create their own wikis. That is what Avenue A/Razorfish did. Susan Kidwell, vice president and head of the Fort Lauderdale office of Avenue A/Razorfish, says the Seattle-based interactive services firm built a custom wiki that serves myriad purposes: It helps its employees find resources, collaborate with the other 18 offices worldwide and share ideas and best practices.

"Our wiki prevents information bottlenecks that slow down projects," Kidwell says. But Kidwell had to launch a grassroots effort to get employees to post to the wiki and keep it current. That effort includes travel tips, social ideas and "people pages" a la Facebook. It is much different from information found on a corporate intranet.

"The wiki has done more than make us efficient; it's had a positive impact on our culture, because people have the ability to chat and gain insights with other people in the company," Kidwell says. If an account manager is preparing to pitch a potential client in the Hispanic sector, for example, the manager can use the wiki to ask for ideas or search the archives for past advice. After two years of tapping into the power of wikis, Kidwell says she can hardly imagine the firm not having one.

But while it may grow to be an invaluable tool, a wiki may not necessarily add to the bottom line. "The benefit of a wiki is in many ways like the benefit of e-mail. It's very hard to put your finger on, but once you start using it you realize very quickly you can't live without it," says G. Oliver Young, an analyst at Massachusetts-based Forrester Research Inc. "The benefits are real, but the [return on investment] is squishy. The ROI is the million-dollar question."

Need some advice on a new technology? Wondering how to calculate ROI on the latest enterprise gadgets? E-mail your questions and story ideas to techcolumn@southfloridaceo.com.

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