Lately, I have been writing a lot about the practical uses of Web 2.0 technology in corporate settings. In particular, I did a The use of Enterprise 2.0 technology in IT projects: Experience Report from the Community Project on the use of this technology in projects and in E2E: Enterprise SOA in Enterprise 2.0 environments. Yesterday, I was reading David Terrar's blog regarding the announcement about a new SharePoint plug-in for the Confluence. This plug-in provides the ability for individuals collaborating to Search, embed and link between SharePoint and Confluence as though they were one system
After I saw this, I had a "Wow" Experience or the old "light-bulb in the brain" effect when I realized that the Wiki (at least that from Atlassian) isn't a closed environment and that it is a possible to integrate other technologies in the wiki. I went to the list of Confluence plug-ins and saw this long list of very cool stuff. (I especially liked the one dealing with IM which display the presence status of users for a variety of Instant Messaging services). I then started to reflect on the ways of combining Enterprise SOA and other SAP-related technology in this environment.
The Integration of KM Web-services
There is the now the possibility of accessing AP Knowledge Management (KM) functionality via Web-services. Thilo Brandt has written a Getting started with the KM Web Service API (with Code Samples as well) on the uses of this technology which provides users with the ability to access this KM-base repository among other functions. Therefore, it might be possible to have similar functionality as that currently provided for SharePoint for SAP's KM. For example, it should be possible to list documents in a folder with their properties.
Of course, there are certain related issues that have to be reflected as well. For example, authentication must also be present in the web-service to be able access more than just public content. I didn't have time to examine all the details regarding the KM web-services to be able to detail this functionality. Maybe, someone from KM could provide a better description of this functionality when this stuff is released in SP13.
Project Tools in the wiki
In my blog on the wiki and IT projects, I discussed the use of Visual Composer in the wiki as some sort of fantasy. I now realize that this is indeed possible based on the idea of WIKI plug-ins discussed above. I can think about other tools as well that are useful for projects (many of which are Galaxy-related) that might be useful if included in a wiki.
Enterprise SOA
I've started just started thinking about the uses of the possibilities of combining the wiki and other forms of corporate data that are based on existing enterprise services (ES).
This usage of ES in the wiki was not mentioned in my blog about the usage of Web 2.0 technology in processes, because it is based on another way of viewing this relationship. I was discussing the use of Web 2.0 technology in processes when it is also possible to discuss the use of Enterprise SOA in Web 2.0 based environments. The first possibility is based on an assumption that the process is the center of attention. I discussed this possibility in my blog about Web 2.0 and processes. The second possibility I just realized while writing this blog suggests that the Web 2.0 environment could be the focus and Enterprise Services could be integrated into them. I've not really sure if process integration is possible in the wiki or whether it even makes sense.
Now of course, a wiki page is not equivalent to a corporate process (or at least not yet... Thinking about the changes in how you might redefine the existing corporate definition...) . Each has a different focus, different levels of complexity. A tighter integration, however,- irregardless of the form it takes- is definitely interesting..
Conclusion
I think it is critical to remember that when considering the integration of other services into wikis or other Web 2.0 technologies that a simple integration isn't enough. One must always consider that the underlying philosophy of these areas may be seen as often contradictory to typical corporate structures and behavior patterns. The challenge will definitely be the inclusion of the technologies in Web 2.0 tools without losing the corporate value of the service provided while reflecting the more collaborative nature of this environment.
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