The choice of business wiki can help or hinder a business. My article how to choose the best wiki is a general introduction to choosing a wiki. It describes features you need to consider when choosing a wiki for any use. In the ‘choose the best wiki’ article, you are left to decide which of these features are your highest priorities. In this article I discuss, what I consider the essential features of a business wiki.
Security of information
Security of information is the top priority for a business wiki. Secure information on a business wiki is:
- Intact and uncorrupted
- Available only to those with appropriate permission
- Authentic, ie the source of the information is accurately identified
The many threats to information security all need addressing. Issues to be considered include:
Server security
- Control of access to server
- Stand by server available in case of failure
- Geographical distribution of backups
- Back-up power supplies
- Long-term viability of hosting service
Information integrity
- Robust software
- Copies kept of previous editions of pages
- Can revert to previous editions
- Protection against spamming and vandalism
- Can restore from back-up if need to change wiki software
Secure data transfer
Data encryption when data is transferred between the server and the business wiki.
Information privacy and authenticity
- Hosting service has robust privacy policy
- Access to wiki through a secure individual login system
- Access to wiki pages finely defined for individuals or groups
- Every action on wiki automatically attributed to the correct participant
Ease of use
Editing and navigation of a business wiki must be intuitive. For most businesses, this will mean WYSIWYG editing and a range of navigation tools including menus, tags and search. Uploading and access to attached files must be simple.
Integration with normal business workflow
A business wiki works best when it is integrated into normal business workflow and the wiki is not an optional extra. The role of the wiki is to improve not add to business operations. The most useful integrative functions of a business wiki include:
- Email, replacing most internal email and integrating with external email
- Announcements, for pre-defined groups
- Personal calendars and shared calendars, for organisational tasks
- Personal and group task lists
- Instant messaging
- Read-only access to ‘look-up’ documents
Customisable home page for individual users
With a customisable home page, participants can make the wiki their own. When a participant opens a customised home page, he or she sees information and links that are highly relevant to their needs.
Essential features for a business wiki
Your business is unique, only you know what you want from a wiki but be careful not to overlook:
- Security of information
- Ease of use
- Integration with normal workflow
- Individually customisable home pages
You have chosen to go for a business wiki. That is a good choice. Now make the choice of which business wiki, a good choice as well.
Tagged with: business • FAQs • Wiki
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One Comment
For many business users, Moderation is a door 1 requirement, but generally overlooked in Wiki deployments. The Moderation feature in Traction TeamPage makes it possible to manage draft and published versions - and restricting the view of the Edit History for most people to the set of Published versions only, or even restricting edit history altogether. This is especially important, for example, in the case of an HR Policy wiki or a Customer FAQ wiki.
http://traction.tractionsoftware.com/traction/page/Product/Page%20and%20Comment%20Moderation
Get in touch with me to do a review and put this wiki software on your list.