Wiki as a Collaboration and Information Tool in Business : Analysis and Implementation

Abstract: This thesis, carried out within the framework of the Master of Science Program in Sociotechnical Systems Engineering, investigates wiki as a collaboration and information tool in business. The author takes a broad approach to the technology and takes both technology and organisational aspects into account. It describes how wiki technology differs from other common technologies such as e-mail, instant messaging, et cetera. It also describes how such tools act as a collaborative tool seen in different aspects of collaboration. Three case studies within IBM are described where wiki technology has been used in different ways, both with collaborative and informative purposes. The author describes how a wiki was implemented for a Swedish geographically disperse service line, Application Innovation Services (AIS), of IBM. The effect on information availability within AIS is measured with two questionnaires, before and after implementation, and the result shows that the wiki implementation has affected the information availability in a positive way. Keywords: wiki, social software, collaboration, knowledge management, web 2.0