It's true – even the Bundeswehr uses Confluence to organize their work. In fact, they use it for a great deal of their collaboration, coordination, and communication. But convincing the German Armed Forces to go digital with their knowledge base was no easy feat. In this talk, Nils Merkle, Air Force Captain, will recount how his team of Confluence evangelists promoted social collaboration in a hierarchical environment. Come hear Bundeswehr insights, use cases, and best practices that can help any organization maximize Confluence's potential. And, of course, some funny stories that came about along the way.

1. Bundeswehr Blueprint
Collaboration in the German military
NILS MERKLE | AIR FORCE CAPTAIN | BUNDESWEHR | @NILS_MERKLE

3. 236.000
EMPLOYEES

4. SOLDIERS and CIVILIANS
176.000 60.000

5. 176.000
COMBAT and ADMINISTRATION

6. 185.000
COMBAT and ADMINISTRATION
That’s me

7. Bundeswehr/Oliver Pieper
WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK I DO

8. WHAT I WAS TRAINED FOR
Bundeswehr/Nurgün Ekmekcibasi

9. WHAT MY MOTHER THINKS I DO
Bundeswehr/Jane Schmidt

10. WHAT I REALLY DO
Bundeswehr/Dörte Böhner

11. GARDENING CONFLUENCE
922
512.000
3.062.000
spaces
content (latest version)
content (all versions)

12. LOTUS SAMETIME (IM)
Service Requests
Questions
Incidents
…

13. EMAIL
Marketing
Innovation
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
Bureaucracy

14. HOTLINE
Service Requests
Questions
Incidents
…

15. PRESENATIONS, WORKSHOPS, …
The coolest part of my job!
Seminars
Workshops
Presentations
(e.g. Atlassian Summit)

16. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
MEET THE TEAM

17. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
The Boss
Dörte,
Librarian

18. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
The Padavan
Sebastian,
Librarian

19. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
The Fighter
Daniel,
Soldier (mountain troops)
The Intern
Verena,
Librarian and helicopter pilot

20. BUNDESWEHR CONFLUENCE

21. WIKI-SERVICE MILESTONES
First
uncoordinated
Media-Wiki
experiments
Concept
Development and
Experimentation
(Media Wiki)
Costumer Product
Management
project
(Switch to
Confluence 4.4)
Update to
Confluence 5.4
Update to
Confluence 5.9
2006 2009 2013 2015 2016

22. TECHNICAL SETUP
Production
Reference Development
Database
mySQL 5.6.35
Confluence
Version 5.9.12
Analytics
webtrends
Development

23. EARLY USE CASES
CLASSIFIED

24. EARLY USE CASESCLASSIFIED
Abrev.
Terminology
Regulations
Posts & units
38.332

25. EARLY USE CASESCLASSIFIED
Abrev.
Terminology
Regulations
Posts & units
3.369

26. EARLY USE CASESCLASSIFIED
Abrev.
Terminology
Regulations
Posts & units
28.669

27. EARLY USE CASES
Abrev.
Terminology
Regulations
Posts & units
2.152
Units
273
Posts

28. 1
„BeWiki“
TODAY’S USE
921
„3 KO-Kriteria“

29. Collaboration
TODAY’S USE
Bundeswehr/Thomas Funk
Coordination
Communikation

30. Collaboration
Coordination
Communication
HEALTH MANAGEMENT
Information
Schedule
Registration
Contact

31. Collaboration
Coordination
Communication
TODAY’S USE
6 weeks
250
35.000
2 years +
3000+
450.000+
Guiding principles
for the
Joint Support Forces
Act to increase the
attractiveness of the
Armed Forces

32. Collaboration
MILITARY BRANCHES
Coordination
Communication
NavyArmy Air Force

33. Collaboration
MILITARY BRANCHES
Coordination
Communikation
Cyber InformationMedical Service
NavyArmy
Joint Support Forces
Air Force

34. Collaboration
MILITARY BRANCHES
Coordination
Communikation
Cyber Information Ministery of DefenceMedical Service
NavyArmy
Joint Support Forces
Air Force

35. Collaboration
INTERNATIONAL COOP
Coordination
Communikation

36. Collaboration
Coordination
Communikation
INTERNATIONAL COOP

37. Architecture
Workshop(s)
Pen & paper.
Discover the benefits.
Prepare for lots of
discussions about
permission and
restrictions… :-/
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner

38. Qualification
Training
Confluence is easy to
use but some people
need assistance getting
started.
We offer one- or two-
day-seminars.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Stute

39. Initial Filling
Workshop
So far, every group is
stunned how fast they
can achieve great
results, after defining
what and learning how
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner

40. Collaboration
FROM DOCUMENTS…
Coordination
Communikation

41. Collaboration
…TO A SPACE
Coordination
Communikation

42. Collaboration
CHALLENGES
Coordination
Communikation
Regulation Participation
Change
Management

43. LOOK & FEEL

45. Custom HTML
Corporate Health Management Pages and spaces
Joint Support Forces Pages and Spaces

48. WIKI-DOODLES

49. WIKI-DOODLES - KINDERGARDEN

51. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Usage
User
Growth
830
430.000
2.250.000
spaces
content
(latest version)
content
(all versions)

52. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Growth
spaces
content
(latest version)
content
(all versions)
922
512.000
3.062.000Usage
User

53. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Growth
spaces
content
(latest version)
content
(all versions)
922
512.000
3.062.000
+11%
+19%
+36%Usage
User

54. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Growth
285.000
1.250.000
9.500
monthly visits
monthly hits
visits per dayUsage
User

55. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Growth
44.756Bundeswehr employees have at
least once logged in to Confluence
until 4/3/17
Usage
User

56. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Growth
52.359Bundeswehr employees have at
least once logged in to Confluence
until 8/28/17
Usage
User

57. SOME STATISTICS
Content
Usage
User
Growth
since Summit Europe
(May 2017)
+17%

58. Confluence
Community
We provide biannual
events with latest
information and
workshops about our
confluence.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner

59. BEST PRACTICE NR. 1
organize the authors, supporters and
promoters. Provide them with help,
services and assistance.
Community

60. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
Wiki-Trophy
We award enthusiasts,
evangelists and
passionate proponents.

61. BEST PRACTICE NR. 2
that are unnecessary. Bundeswehr
employees like Confluence because we
keep its usage as convenient as possible.
No restrictions

62. There are already
enough hurdles
…if you try to digitalize
a hierarchical
organization or change
the way people work
together.

63. BEST PRACTICE NR. 3
help to convince people to like Confluence.
Presents

64. Wiki-Service Bw
Merchandise
Cup: 5$.
Pen: -.50$.
Notepad: 1,25$.
Engagement of the
presentee: priceless.
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner

65. ACTION FIELDS

66. The only thing harder than
getting a new idea into the
military mind is to get an old
one out.
SIR BASIL LIDDELL HART

67. Too many
restricted spaces
and pages
Attempts to
rebuild our file
service
Use of documents
instead of page
content

68. flickr/Tim Reckmann
Bureaucracy and
documentation
Public Administration =
Paperwar
1 Update =
1.000 Pages

69. Bundeswehr/Andrea Bienert
Slow processes &
lacking adaption
Confluence lifecycle
and Bundeswehr
purchase processes are
timed differently.
Customers’ needs are
seldom recognized.

70. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
COMING UP…

71. Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner
Update to
Confluence 6.3
Collaborative Editing
vs.
Comprehensibility

72. Confluence goes
Navy
Bundeswehr/Torsten Kraatz

73. Confluence for
eLearning 2.0
Bundeswehr/Sebastian Kellner

74. Thank you!
NILS MERKLE | AIR FORCE CAPTAIN | BUNDESWEHR | @NILS_MERKLE