Why do businesses need to scale up from traditional wikis?

What is a wiki? 

A wiki is a collaborative website that allows users to easily add and modify content. It can be used to gather information from multiple resources and share it with users of the wiki. Many organizations use a corporate wiki to organize and share internal information, such as process documents, company policies, sales data, research papers, technical documentation, onboarding materials, and more. Corporate wikis help employees store and access organizational knowledge in one place.

5 reasons to switch to a modern knowledge management platform 

Traditional wikis are great tools to collate and distribute important information, but they have become a thing of the past. There are many new knowledge management solutions in the market to help curate and share knowledge. Here are the reasons why your organization should choose a modern knowledge-sharing tool:

Better control over content 

The most significant feature of a wiki is the absence of hierarchy in content contribution. Any user in the wiki can add or edit content without moderation. When all users have the same set of permissions, anyone can add information without needing approval. While collaboration is an important aspect of knowledge sharing, this lack of ownership increases the chances of miscommunication.   

Modern knowledge management tools strike a balance between collaboration and content ownership by providing fine-grained permissions for the different users in the organization. This helps to define the roles of the users in the knowledge base and control the quality of the content that gets published.

More seamless usability  

Traditional wikis can be difficult for non-technical users as they usually involve using markup language to create content. This means organizations often spend a lot of time and effort to train employees to use the tool correctly.

Modern tools are designed with a user-friendly interface that helps employees curate and share knowledge without needing any prior knowledge of markup writing.

Easier to locate information  

Knowledge in most wiki tools is organized in a folder-like structure, making it difficult to locate information. They also come with a basic search feature that requires precise search terms to find what the user needs.

Advanced knowledge management platforms organize content in a built-in hierarchy and also provide tags and categories to organize your content better. This structured hierarchy coupled with advanced search and filter options helps users to find information in no time.

More sharing capabilities 

Conventional wikis have limited sharing capabilities when it comes to sharing content with different stakeholders. It is difficult to grant secure access to other teams or external users. As the number of pages in the wiki increases, modifying permissions becomes tedious and nearly impossible to track.

Today, knowledge management solutions have improved sharing capabilities that help users conveniently share knowledge between individuals, different departments, and even outside the organization. These tools also notify users about the changes in the shared content to help them stay updated.

User analytics

The major disadvantage of most wikis is their lack of reporting tools to get usage metrics. This data is crucial to understanding how your wiki is being used and make improvements to your knowledge base.

With a knowledge management solution, you can analyze traffic and activity in your articles and see the users who contribute to your knowledge base. These performance indicators help identify gaps and create better articles that add value to your organization.

Modern knowledge management tools are built to overcome the limitations of corporate wikis and accommodate the needs of growing businesses. They bring structure to your content and also provide efficient sharing and collaboration capabilities, all in a single platform. Switching to a knowledge management solution from a wiki helps organize consistent and up-to-date information that is easy to access, share, and utilize. This helps your organization equip your workforce with all the information they need to perform their best every day.