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Position Paper on
Value of Technical Publications in the
Enterprise Collaboration and Content
Management Industry
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Introduction
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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.
TWB – Leading Technical Documentation
Outsourcing Company
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 cost-effectively is by outsourcing the documentation work to a relevant professional company.
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.”
“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.”
ECM Industry – Technical Publications
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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.
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 2010.
ECM Market Growth (2006 - 2010)
2,614.42,949.3 3,316.8 3,755.2 4,248.3 0.0 1,000.0 2,000.0 3,000.0 4,000.0 5,000.0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Years T o ta l S o ft w a re R e v e nue (U S $ in B ill ions )
Challenges and Solutions
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
“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 paper-based processes and the inherent latencies and costs, according to Gartner, Inc.
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.
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 2013.
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
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
Value of Technical Publications
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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
Communication for Different Levels of
Technical and Product Knowledge
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.
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 technology-centered information, while end users require task-oriented information.
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.
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.
Conclusion
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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-to-understand 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.
TWB Services
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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:
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 Technical Marketing Solutions 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
Documentation Quality Management
Copy Editing and Proof Reading
Managing Writing
Editing Services
Layout and Design
Creating SLAs Business Communication Short Reports Proposals Case Studies Lab Reports Memos Progress/Interim Reports
Writing for Electronic Media
Business Documentation
Content Management
Single Sourcing
File Version Control
Document Naming Conventions
Consistent Document Formatting
Data Transformation
Illustrations
Graphic Designing
Info graphics
2D & 3D animation
Line drawings and illustrations
Web site Development
Web 2.0 development
Web content
Web applications
Process Documentation
Installation and Configuration Guides
Operations Manual
Workflows
Standard Operating Procedures
ISO Documentation
CMM Documentation
Qualitative Analytics for Decision Support
Deployment and Support
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
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
Business Proposals
Legal Disclaimers
Policy Manuals
Style Guide Design
TWB Software Tools Expertise
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Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes:
Unstructured Content Development Microsoft Word® Adobe FrameMaker® Adobe InDesign® QuarkXPress® Adobe PageMaker® XML Structured Editors Epic FrameMaker+SGML X-Metal®
Development and Publishing tools
XSLT/XSL
EDD
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)
Macromedia Captivate Graphics/Animations Adobe Flash® Adobe Photoshop® Adobe Fireworks® Multimedia/Authoring Adobe Flash® Adobe Dreamweaver® Microsoft FrontPage® Adobe Captivate® Adobe Flash® Adobe Photoshop® Adobe Illustrator® Adobe Fireworks® Microsoft Silverlight® Graphics/Animation 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 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 Databases Microsoft Access Microsoft SQL Server XML CMS/ LMS XMetal® Microsoft Word 2003®, Microsoft Word 2007® Sharepoint® Moodle Joomla, WordPress Media Wiki CMS Builder
Author-it (formerly AuthorIT)
Alfresco Flowcharting Microsoft Visio iGrafx EDraw RFFlow Flowbreeze Smart Draw Standards SCORM 1.2 / 2004 AICC W3C Section 508 QTI XML
Industries Served
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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 – 560008 India.
Landmark: Behind Carlton Towers
Telephone: +91.80.40741400 / +91.80.41256367 Corporate Enquiries: corp@twb.in US Office: TWB
11701 Norwegian Wood Drive Austin, TX 78758
Telephone: