iQuest Studios

This post is in response to the currently ongoing competition at Blog4biz.sg, about Intra-Business tools. Check out the entries at the Blog4biz site

I would think that some of the contributors here over-estimate the power of the Wiki script, maybe because of Wikipedia’s popularity over the net. Let me explain why Wikipedia isn’t the way to go.

As a past time web developer myself (I work mainly with PHP and MySQL), I have played around with Wiki several times, installed it across multiple servers and played around with the administrative panel much more times than I would actually like. I have even dived into the lines and lines of code that make up MediaWiki (which I assume is the script you mean when you say “WIKI” - MediaWiki is used to power Wikipedia). I have also examined many other Content Management System (CMS) which may be suggested here. (eg. PHPNuke, Joomla, PostNuke) etc.

MediaWiki definitely does not do well as a collaborative tool. Why? It is simply not designed to be a collaborative tool for business use. Its power lie in displaying the information to the rest of the world, not in collaboration. Do you see Wikipedia users collaborating THROUGH Wikipedia about what they are going to write? No, they, in very simple terms, just overwrite other’s content. Even though Wikipedia now exercise much more stringent rules about overwriting content and maintaining the content on its sites, the basic concept of a Wiki is as such listed above - overwriting other’s content in the name of “sharing information”.

Don’t get me wrong - I do use Wikipedia excessively, and the inter-linkage of related topics is actually something that can be adopted in a intra-business collaboration tool, but one must understand, MediaWiki is definitely not suited as a collaboration tool on its own. I would think even a forum will do better. Morever, there is the issue of security. MediaWiki is designed to display information to the general public, and not designed to contain cooperate secrets in the database. Imagine what would happen to the company if someone managed to steal some new business idea from the company Wiki. MediaWiki is, after all, not designed to be secure, and unless one goes in and close all security loopholes and develop additional security for the script, there is the danger of exposing all your cooperate secrets to the rest of the world. Moreover, MediaWiki does not support multiple power levels of the users, maybe except administrators and contributers. It means that anyone can edit the contents of anything. A factory worker can actually edit something posted by someone on the Management team, if he was given access to the Wiki. And he can also steal ideas from the Wiki and sell to other rival companies. So again, the security of the MediaWiki, or rather, the lack of security of MediaWiki is actually a major issue that must be tackled before using it in the business model.

Another point against MediaWiki is the lack of flexibility. Yes, there may be quite a number of “Extensions” for it, but compare this number with those of other scripts like Joomla or Wordpress. Strangely, with such a huge user base, the number of plugins designed for it remains relatively small when compared against other popular scripts. Hence, we can conclude the MediaWiki is not designed to be flexible. After all, it is designed to be just a very simple way of displaying content. Different business have different ways of managing, and without this flexibility, MediaWiki cannot be a suitable tool to promote collaboration within the business.

Moreover, there is the issue of jealousy. Let’s say for a moment, you are an employee in the think-tank of Company A, and you just came up with a brilliant idea that will propel the company’s dropping sales figures. You are confident it would work and you thought through it thoroughly. So you post on the Company Wiki this brilliant idea, confident that you would get a promotion. But a fellow employee sees it first on the Wiki, decides it’s going to put his job at risk, and goes on the Wiki and overwrite your content or comment on it such that it actually looks like the stupidest idea in the world. There goes your promotion.
As for storing meeting notes and lessons learnt, why use MediaWiki when any Content Management System will actually do? Even the blog authoring script, Wordpress will do a much better job than MediaWiki. Moreover, MediaWiki will not integrate well into the current IT infrastructure, as it is designed to be a stand alone tool for displaying content to the rest of the world. It will just stick out like a sore thumb in the exist IT infrastructure of a business. Also, who would ensure the integrity and the accuracy of the content posted on the Wiki? Remember, the Wiki is meant to encourage free expression and correction of ideas and contents. Who will really be responsible to ensure no one abuses the system in one way or another? The management?

In conclusion, because of the way MediaWiki was designed for, and the function it is supposed to serve, MediaWiki will not serve well as an intra-business tool.

So then, which is the right way to go?

I believe to really develop a successful intra-business collaborative tool, business can only go for a custom web application. Only then, they can ensure that the security needed to protect cooperate secrets are in place, and that it actually works like a collaborative tool to pool business ideas, lessons learnt and other knowledge together. Moreover, such a tool can be integrated tightly into whatever existing IT infrastructure they have, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. Such a tool can integrate elements from the popular blogging script, Wordpress, other Content Management Systems like Joomla, forum software like phpBB and Project management software like Copper. Different companies have different ways of running the company, and only through developing a customized web application can one company ensure the perfect balance to actually run the organization in the most efficient manner.

Yes, the price is one setback. Such an application will cost at least tens of thousands of dollars, plus much more for maintenance. But, to just increase the security of MediaWiki, the company would also have to pay quite a huge sum, especially if the protection required is very complicated. And that is just to increase the security of the script. What is a business tool without something to manage projects or sales report? Add another few thousand. Sooner or later, the price will reach about the same as a customized application.

In conclusion, MediaWiki definitely cannot be a suitable intra-business tool, and only through the development of a customized web application, can companies actually take full advantage of their IT infrastructure.

I am rather proud of it. Took me about 45 minutes to come up with the entire essay. (I want to win that Nokia phone, my current phone is really screwed up)

Wish me luck

Till next time,
cheers