Want to learn more about Author-it Assist? Check out our product and training videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/authoritsoftware

Here’s one to start you off.

Greetings,

I’ve been playing around with our new release, Author-it Assist and I’m really impressed with what it can do. Author-it Assist is designed to be used in several situations, one is to provide performance support at the time of need. However you may find value in using this in your training environment as a support mechanism or for retrofitting more generic contextual help to your application. For system implementations there’s also a great value add in being able to link organizations knowledge repository into their suite of applications so that the contextual support shows ‘how we use this’ not just ‘how this works’.

Here’s a quick screen grab of the contextual assistance I’ve added to SAP – the great thing is that this is all drag and drop, so no developers need to be involved to add contextual ID links.

I’ve also created field support for specific buttons and forms. These are similar to a delayed popup on hover and give quick tips or cautions to the user.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them here.

Posted by Richard Ashurst

Author-it Software Corporation – Business Development Manager

Greetings,

I’ve been playing around with our new release – Author-it Assist and thought I should create a quick update on what it does for organizational learning & knowledge management. This stuff is great for companies with knowledge workers focusing on a need to improve productivity but also for training (either ongoing or rolling out new systems) as it reduces down the amount of formal training required, increases time to competency and supports a new, very effective informal learning strategy. If you produce any customizations, implement any system or develop an integration, this is a value add that will pay for itself.

Here’s a brief overview I created using Microsoft Dynamics as the platform. If you’re scratching your head about Assist you might want to start here: http://www.author-it.com/index.php?page=assist

Now Dynamics has user assistance but this only explains ‘how it works’ not ‘how we use it’. For example, what are our procedures for logging a critical support call for platinum level customers? Some organizations aim to implement an initiative whereby a users support query is resolved in less than three clicks. How will we support this? Enter Author-it Assist. By using Author-it Assist to retrofit support material you can add predicament based support links to your systems (basically any web or windows application) and link them directly to a single Knowledge Centre simply by dragging and dropping (ie. SharePoint, Intranet, LMS or Web Help etc).

Here’s the link in the web based version of Author-it Assist.

These are the links to your customized content. This content could be anything that you can link to via a URL – training and performance support you would probably want to link to simulations and videos whilst reference material would be text based. This could / should be published from Author-it or any other tool, ie. material that already exists but is underutilized.

Here’s my support page. It loads in our Web Help with the ToC configured to be collapsed on load.

Secondly, Assist provides ‘field support’ this is noted by a little green underline on the search icon:

When I hover over it I can trigger the field support for this:

So if you’re struggling to support a system built by someone else, trying to link relevant material into your suite of applications or developing customizations or integrations and you want to add some value with exceptional support material – check out Author-it Assist!

Questions or comments? Post them here.

Richard Ashurst

Author-it Software Corporation – Business Development Manager

“You know the problem with enterprise software,” he said, “It never works out the way they (the vendor) promised!” “It’s because no one knows how to use the software properly.”

He was a principal at an East Coast Private Equity firm and we were at the SIIA “All About the Cloud” Conference in San Francisco a couple of months ago.  He was obviously very experienced and was trying to be benevolently provocative but truth be told, I couldn’t have agreed more. I have long held the view that some enterprise software implementations fail; not because of any fundamental issue with the software but rather, because enterprises fail to adopt the solution. Here, I define adoption as gaining the benefits that you thought you would get when you decided to purchase.

So why does this happen? Why do enterprises fail to adopt a solution that they paid for and spent months evaluating to ensure that it met their needs? There are many reasons but at the risk of oversimplification; if I could change one thing, it would be to convince you to invest more time in planning and training for software implementations. Yes I know that’s two .

So what can we do about this in terms of Author-it implementations?

I think we understand the challenge. You’re busy. Often too busy to give an implementation project the effort it needs. Also in many cases, our clients are more familiar working with desktop tools. Most have never implemented an enterprise standard solution before.

Recognizing this, our Global Services team have created a “Discovery & Analysis” (D&A) service that we offer at the very beginning of an implementation project. Yes this costs money and at times I think it raises the question, “why are we paying to find out how to implement this?” The answer lies in the fact that every company is different. Every company has their own workflow, legacy content, project resources, project deadlines, and objectives from the implementation. By performing a D&A we are able to effectively scope/plan the project with our clients, assist them to ensure that all of the necessary bases are covered, and objectives achieved.

Years training in martial arts has taught me a bunch of lessons, some of them more than a little painful . One key lesson is; repetition of skill execution creates expertise. I heard it said once that if you spend 10,000 hours doing anything you will become world class in that activity. Now this is far from the requirement to effectively use Author-it; you can be up and running after a few days of training however, I think the point is clear. Following implementation and initial training, it is very important that you build on your base skills and start to create real expertise in the use of Author-it. Now not everyone needs to be a guru but I think at least a sub-set of users do need an advanced skill level. The rest should have a good understanding of the product to realize its benefits. So, how do we best achieve this goal? I don’t think the answer is necessarily more classroom training per see. You need access to on-going training and a program to support this. Enter the Author-it Certified Practitioner and Consultant program.

The program will set a series of levels for both Practitioners (users) and Consultants (those with implementation/training expertise). The levels will be achieved by acquiring expertise through training and/or experience and then completing online examinations to achieve “certified” status. We’re still finalizing the details and structure of the program and we expect to have it live later in the year.

Our team is very positive about the potential of this program to lift the standard of Author-it skills across our client base. We expect better skills to flow onto higher levels of adoption of Author-it. Adoption means real benefits, ROI and even higher levels of product satisfaction. It’s also a great way to up-skill and gain additional employment qualifications.

Comments or questions? Love to hear them.

Cheers
Steve

It’s a new year, and we have launched our new online training schedule for 2010.
This year we have a number of exciting courses ranging from 1 hour through to multi-sessions spread over 4 days.

We are also introducing something new for this year and will be holding YouChoose training sessions. We think it’s important to understand the training requirements of our Author-it users, so now you have the opportunity to tell us what type of training you would like. Dates haven’t been confirmed yet, but we’ll contact you well in advance to gain your input.

Also feel free to email us anytime if there is specific training you are wanting to attend. All types of feedback is appreciated.

Below is the online training schedule for January, February and March 2010. We will also be sending reminders throughout the year. Our courses were very popular last year so book your spot now to avoid disappointment by contacting your Account Manager, or email us on sales@author-it.com

Reuse Management – Jan 27
This course introduces you to the features of Author-it that allow your content to be created once and reused in many different places. More…
2 hours
13:00 PST
16:00 EST

Author-it Core – Feb 23-26
This course is essential to learning the major features of Author-it, and shows you how to maximize use of the product. More…
4 days
4 x 3 hour
10:00 PST
13:00 EST

Localization – Mar 30
Using Author-it Localization Manager. This course introduces the concepts of Localization. More…
2 hours
10:00 PST
13:00 EST

Customizing Print – Mar 30
This course introduces you to ways of customizing your printed output. More…
1 hour
13:00 PST
16:00 EST

Customizing HTML – Mar 31
This course introduces you to ways of customizing your HTML outputs. More…
1 hour
10:00 PST
13:00 EST

Structured Authoring – Mar 31
This course introduces you to how your organization can utilize structured authoring to create valid content using these rules. More…
2 hours
13:00 PST
16:00 EST

So whether you’re a beginner and wanting to learn more about the Author-it suite of products or you are an experienced user wanting a refresher course, register your training requirements now to avoid disappointment.

For further details on any of these courses, or for pricing, contact your Account Manager or sales@author-it.com

Places are strictly first-in, first-served, so register now.

Prerequisites
- An intermediate/expert knowledge of Author-it.
- Access to a copy of Author-it 5.3 and a machine that meets the minimum recommended system requirements.

Want more information?
Click here for full course details and training schedule.

Posted by Michael Lai, Marketing Executive, Author-it Software Corporation