Aberdeen’s research has found that organizations pursuing a content reuse strategy manage to reuse 41% of their content on average (The Technical Communicator’s Transformation , October 2008). Compare this to the overall 81% reuse rate achieved by the technical publications team supporting Hewlett-Packard’s Enterprise Storage and Services (ESS) division. The group, responsible for creating support documentation for all of HP’s server hardware, did not arrive at this level of reuse overnight. Tom Erber, Program Manager for HP’s ESS Technical Documentation department points out, “We have 20 different lines of servers, with rather isolated supporting engineering teams. A lot can change between two generations of a product. Even if the product name is the same, the only thing that might stay common between two models is the height. In addition, concurrent product launches makes it difficult to get horizontal visibility into content.”

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

The term ‘double-edged sword’ may have been created with content management systems (CMS) in mind. On one edge, they hold great promise for organisations in terms of their ability to create and manage content that is more accurate, less costly to produce, and more consistent in appearance. On the other, they can present a myriad of challenges in their implementation and acceptance by the people using them - and purchasing them. Let’s examine the challenges that a CMS presents, along with ways those challenges can be overcome…

Challenge #5: Fear of Obsolescence
Another people challenge is personality problems with individuals who’ve played crucial roles because of their expertise. The one person everyone comes to when they have a problem, for example.

Once a CMS has been implemented, that person is generally not relied upon so much anymore because work isn’t performed in the same fashion.  So there can be issues from people who feel a growing obsolescence as their power base erodes.

How is this obstacle overcome? The fact is, many times it’s not.  Often, these people must be left behind in order for a better system to take hold.  Other times, however, it is possible to make the person ‘indispensable’ in a different area.

Posted by Paul Trotter, CEO, Author-it Software Corporation

The term ‘double-edged sword’ may have been created with content management systems (CMS) in mind. On one edge, they hold great promise for organisations in terms of their ability to create and manage content that is more accurate, less costly to produce, and more consistent in appearance. On the other, they can present a myriad of challenges in their implementation and acceptance by the people using them - and purchasing them. Let’s examine the challenges that a CMS presents, along with ways those challenges can be overcome…

Challenge #2: Migration
Migrating an enterprise’s existing information into this new format, requires a big investment in time and labour as the sheer volume of content is overwhelming in comparison to what it would have been 20 years ago at the time financial information was being converted.

And as this content represents 80% of an organisation’s data, the importance of the migration phase cannot be overestimated. In the end, migration requires a technology solution with some CMS’s more adept at allowing people to import content quickly, and in popular formats. Unfortunately, successful migration involves other factors, specifically the formatting of the original document. The less structured a document, the more difficult it is to import it into the CMS.For example, a manual created by a writer in the technical publications department will be relatively straightforward, since most technical writers are meticulous about style and formatting. But a manual written by a different department may present a different set of issues. We’ve seen documents created by HR, for instance, in which the writer came to the end of a line, hit the Return key, and then used the spacebar to line up the next paragraph.

Importing a manual with this lack of style involves much more labour and effort. CMS vendors without advanced migration capabilities may well propose that a company simply create all new content. But having already invested millions of dollars in their content, organisations cannot be expected to give it up lightly.

Of course, many of the same vendors are willing to provide migration assistance at a substantial cost - sometimes as much as $15 a page. One way around this is to migrate only the content that is absolutely necessary. Ie: don’t migrate manuals for products that are no longer manufactured or for procedures that have been discarded. The amount of content that can be left on the side of the road is often quite voluminous.

Posted by Paul Trotter, CEO, Author-it Software Corporation.

We all like to think that we work hard, most of the time that is true, but we certainly like to play hard as well. I don’t think that this is a bad thing, we all need to relax. If we kept working/programming our fingers to the bone, we would more than likely be dead before we hit 40, and that is definitely not my idea of fun. Also, I think that you learn more about work mates when you get them outside the work environment.

When I heard that this years Author-it Conference involved caving, rock climbing, adventure racing and partying, all with with the coolest bunch of people I have ever worked with, I was well pleased, to say the least!

Welcome to the Author-it Software Corporation Conference 2008 , which only lasted 2 hours (well the ‘work’ part of it anyway ).   We’ve had an amazing year so far and it was nice to celebrate it together.  All credit to Paul (CEO) and Steve (President) for acknowledging that this weekend was all about fun.

The first activity was the caving/blackwater rafting. Think icy cold water with a bit of mud and clay mixed in just for fun. Everyone took part, from Gung ho leaders and people of all ages and sizes from the very demure Kendra (Implementation) and Olinka (Quality Assurance) to front-rowers (for those not familiar with Rugby, think big, strong and built like a fridge!) like Adrian (Training and Implementation), Colin (IT administrator) and myself (Support Analyst).

Charging through the darkness we were positive we heard Smeagol, or was it Gollum? We could never be to sure but we felt the ‘power of the ring’, but search as we might we had eventually to settle for a chocolate fish and a hot cup of coffee.

Tracey (Office Administrator) did a fantastic job organizing the outdoor activities and the venue ably assisted by Julia (Office Aministrator) and the dinner later that evening was fantastic. I can’t remember the exact details of dinner. All I can say is what do you expect when there is an open bar!!! The evening was merry everyone talked and drank the night away.

As mentioned earlier, it is much easier to get to know people in more relaxed settings, and the night was only just beginning as we found out…

I think the presence of alcoholic refreshment was meant to make the games night harder (or more fun), either way we definitely raised the roof off the hotel! The first ‘game’ was like monopoly, where teams had to compete with each other. I was on Paul’s (the CEO) team and so the pressure was on. We did not disappoint!

We had Deidre (Financial controller) handling our finances, which involved collecting the cash and not paying out a cent, Richard (Business Development Manager) selling his services to the highest bidder, AND John (Development Director) tackling the challenges with highly organized gusto! His driving skills were also brought to the fore. I was the link man, running around directing people. It’s the only role in the game where I could wield power (the influence of the caves earlier perhaps?). And not that the result mattered but We Won!Once the award were handed out (lots of chocolate) we all drifted away to our beds, but not before we paid taxes to Gretchen (Director of User Assistance) and as long as we gave her some chocolate we were safe….. to be continued

Posted by Martin Irawan, Technical Analyst, Author-it Software Corporation

The term ‘double-edged sword’ may have been created with content management systems (CMS) in mind. On one edge, they hold great promise for organisations in terms of their ability to create and manage content that is more accurate, less costly to produce, and more consistent in appearance. On the other, they can present a myriad of challenges in their implementation and acceptance by the people using them - and purchasing them. Let’s examine the challenges that a CMS presents, along with ways those challenges can be overcome…

Challenge #1: Control & Management
Perhaps the primary challenge with managing content (which, for the purposes of this article, is defined as an organisation’s ‘human readable’ information, representing about 80% of a company’s total information base), is that there’s little or no control around creating it in the first place. Content is produced by a range of people at every level of an organisation, with usually no control mechanisms over it.

Another issue is the way content has been managed over the years. A good example is financial information. Years ago people wrote their financials longhand on paper, then in ledgers. This was followed by spreadsheet software, which simulated the written ledger in the way it looked.

Soon thereafter, the 2nd generation of software arrived which allowed users to manipulate the information more creatively, followed by sophisticated financial management software. This evolution of systems for financial information, which took place some 15-20 years ago, has not taken place for other content. In fact the majority of common tools to create content (e.g., Word, Frame, etc.) have never moved from the paper simulation stage.

Word processors essentially replicated the function of typewriters, and while they have become more visual and feature-rich they’re fundamentally still doing the same thing: storing information as linear documents. CMS’s have been instrumental in moving content creation out of the paper simulation phase into the database stage, which can’t be duplicated in a paper format. Basically, it’s a revolution in the way content is managed and mirrors the evolution of financial software.

Posted by Paul Trotter, CEO, Author-it Software Corporation

Welcome to the Author-it Blog.

It’s been an interesting journey working with our team to conceive, create and now deliver the Author-it Blog.  I previously thought of Blogs as the ramblings of people who ‘didn’t have a life’. They filled this void through endless hours of musing on subjects of great interest to themselves but of little interest to anyone else. So I did a bit of research; I looked at some blogs both within and outside our industry and ended up at the ’source of all knowledge’… Wikipedia.

A few things stood out to me in the Wikipedia definition… commentary, online diary, network, and community. The ‘community’ aspect in particular tweaked my interest.

For many years the Author-it User Group has formed a fabulous part of what we are to the marketplace.  It provides an invaluable link between users. A place where they could share ideas, ask questions, provide tips to users and feedback to us.  It really is a community.

I see the Author-it Blog extending this community aspect by providing a medium for greater participation by our Author-it team.

The vision is a vehicle to open the doors of the company. To allow our clients, partners and prospects the chance to look inside Author-it, to meet us, ask questions and share ideas.

Commercial reality dictates that some of the amazing ideas and creativity that flows through Author-it sometimes have to be restrained, but I’d like the Author-it Blog to be a place where we can post our opinions, ask questions, solicit feedback and share our perspective with you.

While we are obviously biased, our perspective is born of more than a decade in the industry, tens of thousands of prospect meetings and over 3,500 client implementations all around the world.

I expect that we will challenge some of the general thinking out there.  Author-it has never been afraid to be different where we believe we are right.  We seek to solve business problems, not the symptoms.  To us the solution is always more important than specific technology fads or standards purported to be the only way to solve the problem.  In this, I hope we are able to stimulate debate and debunk some of the myths we believe exist in the market.

A blog is nothing if not read, thought about and responded to.  Your feedback is important to us and will help us improve this blog and its value to all.  Please comment on our posts, and if you feel the need, contact me personally with any additional thoughts.

Thanks and best regards,

Mt Albert Campus
Auckland

The event is intended to allow technical communicators to get together to:

• Attend presentations on topics of interest such as documentation techniques, developments in XML, trends etc.
• Attend training workshops
• Network with other writers
• Hear about case studies of projects
• Hear about new tools, tools they may not be currently using (but could be) and ways of improving their usage of existing tools.

For more information please visit the TCANZ website.

July was a special month for the team here at Author-it.  After several years of rapid growth, in July of this year the company hit a milestone for sales that was such an achievement that it warranted a party to celebrate!

Now we don’t really need much of an excuse here at ASC to have a party (in fact most Friday nights there is a game of somewhat rowdy Texas Hold-’em accompanied by a few glasses of New Zealand’s famous Sav Blanc..) but this really was a special occasion.

ASC has been growing very quickly over the past few years, making the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific two years in a row, and looking good for a third. Maintaining such a high level of growth requires discipline, hard work and above all team-work, so for the company to achieve this particular milestone ahead of schedule was something that we were all justifiably proud of.

As part of the expansion plan, the New Zealand HQ recently relocated to plush new offices in Albany on the North Shore of Auckland (situated less than ten minutes from the beach..) and, conveniently enough, right above several of the best bars in the area. After a careful ’selection process’, the venue was hired, the band booked, and the party was on.

So, in brief, the night was a smash. The food was superb, the bar was free and everyone has a good time. Looking back on it now, the decision by management to hold it on a Wednesday night showed a highly developed sense of Business Strategy…..

Posted by Admin, Author-it Software Corporation