As of 12:01 AM Saturday, May 9 the ink has dried and both Jay and I are officially employed by Deloitte LLP. While for all practical purposes the BearingPoint Enterprise Wiki was a resounding success, its future remains unclear. Starting on an old laptop in my basement, served through a cable modem hack, the 16,000 person community has grown to produce over 100,000 unique pages and garnered over 1 million page views in 1 year of production. As a community we pushed the boundaries of what traditional wikis were asked to do, and through a wirearchy of avid and enthused users, proved a novel approach to enterprise application deployment. Whether this model will translate into our new company are both an exciting challenge and a somewhat bittersweet realization.

Essentially for Jay and I, the BearingPoint Enterprise Wiki is over. Sure, there may be a next step that looks the same and meets the same ends, but the experience where we cut our Enterprise 2.0 teeth is going the way of the dodo. In realizing this, I wanted to say thanks to some people who helped us along the way.

To the early adopters and long time supporters – For believing that from the moment we got up on the soapbox, we were not just tool jockeying the app du jour, but striving to make our company a better, more transparent place. You had the faith to participate, advise, lobby your own teams, provide top cover when we stepped a bit too far out of line, and pass the hat to fund our early pilots. As the leaderless organization virally grew outward, you were both the messenger and the artist, crafting the theme of transparency into something that met your individual needs. From the early adopter Managing Directors to the core support team that just hung up their admin spurs on Friday, thank you for your support.

To Atlassian, Contegix, and Customware – For believing that while it may take a while, we would turn out to be a decent investment. You always treated us fairly and are shining examples of how proper business should be conducted. We may have been a little late to pay from time to time, but you stuck with us, focused on the longer term relationship. From the support engineers and sales staff to the developers and executives, you were critical to this process and I thank you for your support.

To Kevin King – For being the unsung, high-side hero of the project and believing from the very, very beginning, that this was a good idea. You were untiring in your contribution to the team and put in hours beyond my understanding to make sure the ship kept afloat. Jay and I both know that we couldn’t have done it without you.

While the parties above represent the core of responsibility for the project, there are thousands of individual contributors and champions throughout the firm. They each helped to make the BearingPoint Enterprise Wiki a success, and if it were possible to sum their collective experiences, you would find the elusive and sought after white rhino of Enterprise 2.0 – Return on Investment. I can only tell you for certain, that it has changed my life. I am better at my craft. I produce better content. Conceivably, I am a better consultant. However, most importantly I have the opportunity to thank the people who helped me get here. That…is enough return for me.

UPDATE: We’re Back…

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