BOC, industrial gas supplier  has deployed a 'Wiki' solution to leverage the knowledge across its businesses. It has selected Sirius Corporation, the UK's leading Open Source specialist, to provide expert technical support for MediaWiki.

The BOC Group required a knowledge capture tool, available to all users, to be able to share information easily and gain immediate feedback. MediaWiki provides this kind of functionality.

John Hobday, Knowledge Manager, The BOC Group said: “The 'Wiki' approach has improved collaboration amongst geographically
dispersed groups within BOC. In fact it's been so well received that it's becoming an integral part of our knowledge capture and transfer processes for outsourcing and in-sourcing.”

Mike Boyle, Director of Information Management Strategy, The BOC Group explained: “My department trailed a number of Wiki engines and the most comfortable fit was MediaWiki. It provides a simple user interface for both contributing and tracking information. Its global popularity also helps to ensure an extensive support and development infrastructure.”

Joann Butler, Technology Strategy Consultant, The BOC Group said: “MediaWiki is written in PHP and MySQL. This is a relatively new technology for BOC and neither is currently part of BOC's approved technology architecture and therefore not supported by our delivery organisation. Sirius Corporation are providing us with PHP and MySQL support, which has assisted us to bring the BOC Wiki into production.”

Mark Taylor, CEO at Sirius Corporation said: “We are delighted to be working with The BOC Group. By rolling out MediaWiki they will be helping to decentralise the all-important knowledge that drives their business. MediaWiki is Open Source so there are no annual or per user license fees to pay. When you've got 14,000 potential users, you can imagine how cost effective that is!”