Value of Technical Publications in the Enterprise Collaboration and Content Management Industry

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1 Position Paper on Value of Technical Publications in the Enterprise Collaboration and Content Management Industry The Writers Block 1 1

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3 Introduction This paper presents the value and need for Technical Publications in the Enterprise Collaboration and Content Management (ECM) industry. Technical Publications in the ECM industry include a wide range of documents such as user guides, online help, business collaterals, training material, reference guides, administration guides, operation manuals, installation manuals, and Web-based training material. These documents provide information on various processes and procedures involved in the ECM industry. With businesses fostering collaboration, ECM implementation is gaining wide acceptance from various sectors around the world. This industry is witnessing massive growth with new applications and tools being developed regularly. These tools help organizations manage content and collaborate the same with teams located locally and globally. Reaching the right audience and proper implementation of technology ensure positive growth, stability and good reputation in the market. This can be achieved with proper documentation which is simple, effective, and understandable. The best way to gain expert work quickly and costeffectively is by outsourcing the documentation work to a relevant professional company. TWB Leading Technical Documentation Outsourcing Company TWB is a leading technical publisher with an excellent record of providing unmatched technical documentation to many major companies. TWB is the ideal choice for leading vendors of ECM solutions. TWB helps customers with all their technical documentation needs such as user guides, administration guides, installation manuals, process and workflow documentation, configuration documents and training materials. TWB works closely with client teams located globally, and assists them in meeting their worldwide product announcements and launch deadlines. We work round-the-clock with client teams and help them with quick responses that facilitate timely distribution of documents around the globe. Knowledge is people, money, learning, flexibility and competitive advantage. Knowledge is more relevant to sustained business than capital or labor. And yet knowledge remains the most neglected asset of a business. TWB helps you unlock and share your technical knowledge with the world. Outsourcing helps businesses get quality work from domain experts in stipulated time without burdening the existing resources or stretching into unexplored territories. TWB believes that technology cannot exist without being communicated effectively. The Writers Block 1 1

4 ECM Industry Technical Publications The worldwide ECM market has seen steady growth through the years with penetration in varied sectors like IT, Legal, and Finance. According to leading industry researcher Gartner, inc., this market is growing exponentially and will be more than US $4.2 billion in Total Software Revenue (US$ in Billions) 5, , , , , ECM Market Growth ( ) 3, , , , , Years According to Gartner's latest Magic Quadrant for ECM, the market is expected to resume a healthy growth rate by 2011, with predictions exceeding $5.1 billion in worldwide software license revenue by The industry sources estimate that ECM is growing 7 percent to 8 percent annually, which is a very healthy trend compared to the overall growth of 2 percent to 4 percent of general IT market. ECM is emerging as one of the most promising business with key players fighting for major market share. For many organizations, unstructured content is fundamentally out of control, said Tom Eid, research vice president for Gartner. Enterprise content management (ECM) can bring business process efficiencies and help the environment at the same time by reducing paperbased processes and the inherent latencies and costs, according to Gartner, Inc. Challenges and Solutions Some of the greatest documentation challenges that most companies face today include: Creating Training Packages for developers and users Maintaining accuracy and quality of documents Timely availability of quality documents for product releases Creating documentation for a global audience Improving user experience To address the challenges faced by the ECM industry, TWB with its expertise in Technical Publications provide the following solutions: Documentation in simple, easily understandable English Easy-to-read documents, catering to the global audience Accurate and quality documents Multi-staged documentation with in-depth quality reviews Timely submission and quick turnaround time Single-point-of-contact for documentation Benefits A leading vendor of ECM tools has drawn the following benefits from its association with TWB: Enormous cost savings Professional and error-free documentation Timely product releases Maximized documentation usability Improved user experience To emerge victorious in this highly competitive ECM market, it is imperative to have simple, accurate, and easy-to-understand documentation in place. This ensures professionalism which will in-turn propel the business to new heights. The Writers Block 2 2

5 Value of Technical Publications Technical Communication for Transferring Product Knowledge The purpose of technical communication is to transfer product knowledge to end users in a comprehensible manner. The strategies of communication and levels of information vary depending on the type of product and audience. Providing end users with information about a product s operation and maintenance is critical to the market performance of the product. Hence, the need for quality documentation is imperative. In today s business scenario, technical publications are often developed as an afterthought. This usually results in inaccurate and incomprehensible documentation, which, in turn, renders the users incapable of using the products. Accurate, readily understandable, and quality documents determine how a product sells in the market and results in increased customer satisfaction. Faulty Assumptions that Result in Problems in Documentation The faulty assumptions listed below result in incomprehensible document: Developers know their products better than anyone else due to time constraints and limited resources, many companies assign their documentation tasks to the programmers. This more often results in the creation of technologycentered information, while end users require task-oriented information. Communication for Different Levels of Technical and Product Knowledge In technical publications, audience is the focal point. Hence, the style, language, and content must vary depending on the type of audience being addressed. It is because every user has a specific role in the implementation and usage of the technology. Therefore, it is important that documents be created keeping in mind the role of the person who will use the document. For example, when you document a software application designed for highly technical users, it is sufficient to provide the users with quick reference information to use the application. For users who start without technical or product knowledge, it is important to provide detailed product information along with instructions on how to use the product. Attractive Publications as Useful Marketing Tools Besides transferring knowledge, technical publications are also used for marketing a product. Before a product is released in the market, information about the product needs to be effectively communicated to the customers. Well-designed, accurately presented, and attractive marketing collaterals increase the market prospects of a product and reduce support costs. Documentation of complex applications requires a longer learning curve for the writer - learning the product will not be a major obstacle for writers with the right technical background. The Writers Block 3 3

6 Conclusion Competitive Growth in the ECM Industry: Growth of ECM vendors relies heavily on an accurate, timely, and cost-effective documentation process. ECM vendors cater to a global audience and hence need simple-to-read content that will minimize localization expenses. while staying ahead of competitors. Value of Technical Publications: Technical Publications are very essential for transferring product knowledge to the end users. Provisioning of proper material to use the technology and products enables the user to accept and efficiently use the product. Faulty documentation can lead to inaccurate and hard-tounderstand content which will have a negative impact on the product s performance in global markets. Role of Documentation Outsourcing: The complexity involved in implementing an ECM tool requires that vendors and purchasers look at outsourcing their documentation needs to well-established Technical Publication Solution providers. This helps the company cut costs and at the same time deliver their products with quality documents. The Writers Block 4 4

7 TWB Services TWB is India s leader in technical communication outsourcing and education. TWB offers a complete suite of services that allow our customers to effectively publish their technical knowledge with their people and processes. TWB s customers range from Global 500 including Cisco, Accenture, McAfee, LG, Samsung, Citrix, SAP, Siemens, AOL, Intel; Indian technology majors including Infosys, Wipro; Global defense majors - Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, DRDO, HAL; and exciting technology startups. TWB's expertise in technical communication ranges from IT Products and Outsourcing, ITES, Banking, Financial, Aerospace, Defense, Ship Building to Hi-tech Manufacturing, and Discrete and Process Manufacturing. TWB s services include: Technical Marketing Solutions Datasheets Cheat sheets Solution Briefs/Solution Brochures Presentations Products/Corporate Profile Brochures and marketing collateral Web content Audio and video scripts Press releases Direct mail Newsletter design copy Sales catalogues Sales sheets Business Communication Short Reports Proposals Case Studies Lab Reports Memos Progress/Interim Reports Writing for Electronic Media Illustrations Graphic Designing Info graphics 2D & 3D animation Line drawings and illustrations Process Documentation Workflows Standard Operating Procedures ISO Documentation CMM Documentation Deployment and Support Installation and Configuration Guides Operations Manual Technical Product Datasheets Administrator s Guide API Document Configuration Guide Functional Specifications Document Installation Manual Interface Document Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) Maintenance Manual Online Help Operation Manual Product Demo Product Specifications Document Product Overview Document Quick Reference Guide Release Notes Requirement Analysis Document SDK Document Troubleshooting Manual User Manual Open Source Documentation Programmers Guides Functional Specifications Document Use Cases Online Help /Context Sensitive Help Troubleshooting Guides Qualitative Analytics for Decision Support Economic Business Research Industry Analysis Market Opportunity Analysis Competitive Business Analysis Company & Prospect Profiling Reporting Solutions Assessment of Unmet Market Needs Status and Potential of Technologies Benchmarking of Strategies Vs Competition Forecasting Sales Force Effectiveness Market Assessments Competitive Intelligence Opinion Leadership Emerging Markets - evaluation and research Documentation Quality Management Copy Editing and Proof Reading Managing Writing Editing Services Layout and Design Creating SLAs Business Documentation Business Proposals Legal Disclaimers Policy Manuals Style Guide Design Template Design Content Management Single Sourcing File Version Control Document Naming Conventions Consistent Document Formatting Data Transformation Web site Development Web 2.0 development Web content Web applications Translation and Localization Services Software Translation Services Document Translation Services Localization (L10N) Testing Internationalization (I18N) Testing Records Management Document Management Solutions Record Management Storage and Retrieval The Writers Block 5 5

8 TWB Software Tools Expertise Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes: Unstructured Content Development Microsoft Word Adobe FrameMaker Adobe InDesign QuarkXPress Adobe PageMaker Illustrations Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Adobe Illustrator CS3 CorelDRAW Microsoft-Expression Graphic Designer Xara Xtreme (Windows & Linux) CuteDraw Publisher3D(for animation) Sketsa SVG Editor (for vector graphics) Techsmith Camtasia Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Arbortext IsoDraw (technical illustrations for 2D and 3D) Graphics/Animation Adobe Flash Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe Fireworks Microsoft Silverlight Databases Microsoft Access Microsoft SQL Server Flowcharting Microsoft Visio igrafx EDraw RFFlow Flowbreeze Smart Draw XML Structured Editors Epic FrameMaker+SGML X-Metal Macromedia Captivate Graphics/Animations Adobe Flash Adobe Photoshop Adobe Fireworks Online Help JavaHelp Adobe RoboHelp 7.0 HelpScribble WebWorks Publisher PowerCHM Doc-To-Help WinCHM HelpSmith 2.1.1(Windows) Fast-Help MadCap Flare Help-Server NVU Help XML XMetal Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007 CMS/ LMS Sharepoint Moodle Joomla, WordPress Media Wiki CMS Builder Author-it (formerly AuthorIT) Alfresco Multimedia/Authoring Adobe Flash Adobe Dreamweaver Microsoft FrontPage Adobe Captivate Multimedia/Authoring/ Supporting tools Adobe Flash Adobe Flex Adobe AIR Adobe Dreamweaver Adobe Acrobat Microsoft Silverlight Adobe Authorware Adobe Director Adobe Captivate Trivantis Lectora ASP.NET JSP JAVA Standards SCORM 1.2 / 2004 AICC W3C Section 508 QTI XML Development and Publishing tools XSLT/XSL EDD The Writers Block 6 6

9 Industries Served TWB services a wide range of technology and knowledge driven industries, helping them meet their markets better, these include: Banking, Insurance and Financial Services Consulting and Business Services Defense, Aerospace and Hi-Tech Manufacturing Education and Learning IT, ITES ITES/ KPO/ BPO Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology Process Manufacturing and Allied Industries Steel, Ship Building, Construction and Aviation Telecom and Digital Communications TWB has been the preferred technical documentation outsourcing company for: The TWB Building No: 4062, 19th Main Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Bangalore India. Landmark: Behind Carlton Towers US Office: TWB Norwegian Wood Drive Austin, TX Telephone: / Telephone: Corporate Enquiries: corp@twb.in The Writers Block 7 7