Sure the name “Wiki” sounds flaky. Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word wiki wiki which means quick, and its speed and collaboration capabilities are making a difference to companies globally. According to a recent survey by the Gilbane Report, most companies with revenues of less than $25M annually have a wiki. Ron Wilkinson of Black and McDonald, an executive with a Calgary, Alberta, Canada based construction and maintenance firm have found wikis to be an ideal way to communicate with their 3,000 staff.
Why change from using Microsoft’s Outlook and Public Folders?
Simply, Black and McDonald were were tired of sending bulky emails to staff and knowledge was structured in files that no one could easily find. They also had no global search feature to simplify office productivity. At Helix, we have also found in supporting our clients we use wikis to execute our project environments in and also all client deliverables are structured effectively for long-term use ensuring knowledge is not lost in the organization. So often consulting firms give reports electronically or in CD’s but they are not organized into an effective knowledge environment so companies can easily source this information….wikis can help change consulting firm’s customer value with their clients and improve knowledge sharing and harvesting capabilities.
A wiki is a type of website that allows readers to easily, add or edit content. Atlassian, a leading wiki software solution provider, has found that a wiki can accelerate project productivity from 25-30%. So with this major productivity advantage, why are Canadian companies so behind in using wikis and Web 2.0 tools like Blogs etc.
In our partnering discussions with IBM - we decided to do something about this gap. Together, Helix and IBM Canada are now offering the first integrated Web 2.0 Blog and Wiki training program to help close this knowledge and productivity gap.
Check out our NEW blog and wiki IBM training course. Dr. Bill Ives, leading KM Authority and a Helix Senior Associate will be the lead trainer on Blogs featuring his new book on Blogs . Bill will also be joined by Martin Cleaver, Helix Wiki Practice Manager, and Dr. Cindy Gordon, CEO Helix Commerce who will share results of her recent research on Web 2.0 to be issued in a new book on Software as a Service, called Why Buy the Cow, written with Subrah Iyar, CEO of WebEx.