Word processors have been around for a while. Aparrently IBM invented the term in the 60s. A certain product springs to mind  – Microsoft Word – an immensely successful and popular piece of software.

I have not used a traditional word processor this year, as far as I can remember. I have barely even used Google Docs word processor (which is not traditional, in my opinion).

Any documentation I produce at work is now done in Google Sites, one of the lesser-known products in the Google lineup. The rest of the team at Bienalto are also moving this way (I think it was @pureandapplied’s idea, @hurol_inan definately likes it).  We are not only producing work in a wiki, we are also sharing it with client throughout the process. This means that if a client has some information that is relevant to our work, they can easily add it in to the working document.

Moving to a wiki has had a number of benefits so far:

• Collaborative: Multiple people in multiple locations can work on the same piece of work simultaneously. While Sites doesn’t allow multiple people to edit the same page simultaneously (as Google Docs does), this has not been a major issue for us.
• Versioning/Location management: There is no need to search through a filesystem to find what you are looking for! Also, there is no chance of multiple copies of a document – there is one clear source of truth
• Licensing & Compatibility: Free! Also, works across operating systems, in a consistent way.
• (there are plenty of other benefits of Wiki use in businesses, here is a good list)

There are a few challenges as well:

• Formatting: Word gives endless formatting options, Wikis do not. This has not been a major issue for me so far, but for documents that need to be presented well (eg Proposals), a wiki does not work
• User Access: Because we are using Google Sites, users log in with their Google account. I use one account for personal and work use – so that I don’t have to log in & out all day. This is annoying when giving access to clients, as you need to ask if they already have an account to link to – which often leads to confusion. We are actually setting up an alternative, self hosted wiki, to overcome this and other issues.

For me, the pros of using a wiki outweigh the cons, hands down. How long does the traditional word processor have left? I know Microsoft are planning to release an online version of Office, will this solve the traditional problems?