Imagine a business putting its prized product documentation online, and inviting customers, partners, or anyone who happens by to drop to collaborate on it, then just hope for the best. Such a model may work in the FOSS community but, realistically, that lack of control isn't right for every product or company. In fact, corporate transparency requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may outright forbid it in some situations. Allowing outsiders to drop into a corporate intranet unaccompanied is preposterous, but building an impenetrable moat around the company isn't the answer either.
Enterprise collaboration software vendor MindTouch added a Collaborative Knowledge Base to its list of offerings this week. It's designed for businesses to let customers and partners access corporate documentation without turning over the keys to the entire store. MindTouch's latest idea combines the ability for people outside a company to collaborate on projects with the security businesses need to maintain order and control.
