Intranet Wiki

An Intranet Wiki is a collaborative platform for an organization to manage information about related topics for use by the members of that organization.

A Intranet Wiki is viewed very differently by (a) Intranet content managers and (b) Intranet end-users.

Intranet content managers

This group generally are concerned with accurate, consistent information about a specific sector. They are, more often than not, the users who determine the way an employee sees his organization. For them an intranet should portray the corporate branding, contain positive, inspiring mission statements, organizational visions and other corporate propaganda.

Content managers are often also moderators that have excellent content management and communication skills and background, but may be found lacking technical content knowledge on certain specialized topics.

Intranet end-users

End-users rely on intranets for business information to perform their job. For them an intranet should be accurate, stripped of nice-to-have's, and contain up to date information. This group will more often than not feed content managers with relevant information at the fast pace their fellow users require it.

End-users are the technical source and target of the information, but they on the other hand, may not always have the content management and communication skills to match that of the content manager colleagues.

Issues

Organizations should determine the value they want out of their intranets. Intranets are usually costly investments (products, infrastructure, staff) and should therefore not be treated any different from any other investment when it comes to demanding Return on investment.

Where an intranet is used extensively as a business tool, it may be sensible to opt for an intranet wiki, so that your business tool is updated continuously. However, if an intranet is used as a moral soundboard, it may be wise to stick to the more conventional intranet, which is governed very strictly by an organizational content management system.