Mac Mini Wiki Server for Small Business

The Mac Mini makes a great sales tool for small businesses when combined with OS X Server. I just said OS X Server. I am sure this can be done without the Server edition but it makes it so easy and OS X server is inexpensive to purchase. 

Mountain Lion Server Wiki Setup Screen

Enabling the Wiki server, which is very easy to do, allows your sales staff to place various information at their fingertips from their iPad or iPhone, on the go, or in the office. Having access to your work in some capacity outside of a Google Spreadsheet is a must have in todays business environment. 

When Apple touts OS X Mountain Lion Server as the server for everyone, I wouldn't quite agree with this statement. There are some services I would like to run that I can't get going for various reasons. One example comes to mind, Virtual Private Network (VPN). I want to setup a VPN in Mountain Lion Server for me to use while on vacation (I have to make the NSA earn their money) so bad I can taste it. I have not had any luck getting the service working as of today. But this is talk for another day.

Wiki Server
The Wiki service allows myself to pull up customer information before I walk in their office. Want to remember everyone's name, check on the status of any current jobs, or update the entry with new and relevant information once you have left the office? You need a Wiki! It's a handy tool for small businesses that can't afford expensive CRM software and don't want to use a spreadsheet or document to track this information.

Wiki Setup
Once the server is setup, which was not much more than a few clicks of the mouse, you are ready to start Wiki creation and editing. It did help to have an Apple Airport Extreme as my router as OS X Server configured the service with the router without my intervention. Setup requires you to define users, add those users to "groups" if you wish to have Wiki's viewable by some and not others in your organization, and then create the Wiki's.



One cryptic screen shot below that shows one of our many Wiki's. You can't tell much by them because I blurred out the entries, even small businesses need secrets, but you understand the value. Accessing this information from an iPad is super easy and very valuable.

Internal Corporate Wiki Screen Shot