IFS Online Documentation
& Distributed Development
FTI Autumn Meeting
Presenters
Ulrika Bergman Isabella Pertmann
IFS at a glance
Industrial and Financial Systems
z One of the world’s leading providers of component-based business software
z Founded in 1983
z Headquarters in Linköping, Sweden
z Listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange
z Number of customers: > 2 000
z Number of IFS Applications™ users: > 600 000
z Represented in more than 50 countries on all continents, through 59 subsidiaries and more than 70 offices, as well as distributors
Our philosophy
Vision
z To have the most satisfied customers in the industry and be known for making advanced technology easy.
Mission
z IFS and partners develop and implement component-based
business solutions, IFS Applications, which enable large and mid-size organizations worldwide to obtain greater returns.
Values
z Simplicity
z Professionalism
Product Development & Support
Sweden Sri Lanka Norway Poland > 700 employeesz Commenced operations in 1997
Started with 26 employees
z 600 employees as of today
One of the largest software development companies in Sri Lanka
One of the biggest employers of IT graduates in the country
z Areas of Work
Product Development & Support
Worldwide offshore consulting services
Sales & Consulting
z Flat & informal organizational culture
IFS Applications Documentation What’s This? Sample Models Process Models
!
Activity DiagramsSetup Guides Documentation
Window Descriptions Documentation
Activity Descriptions Documentation Topic Descriptions Documentation Process Descriptions Training Material Course Navigator Training Material Products Navigator
IFS Online Documentation
Facts & Figures
IFS Online Documentation
IFS Applications What’s This Sample Models Process Models
!
Activity Diagrams Activity Desc.Topic Desc. Process Desc.
Window Desc. 742 9 931 5 576 473 38 800 16 722 text documents 23 079 terms 1 652 Translated into 10 languages
Facts & Figures
Training Material
Basic Lessons 235 Intro. Lessons 157 Key Lessons 759 Extended Lesson 272 Course Desc. 137Tips & Tricks
92 Initial Exercises 112 Training Material Course Navigator Training Material Products Navigator Training Data 1 423 training presentations
This is IFS Online Documentation
z Online documentation (F1)z Process models
z Training Material
z What´s This? (Shift + F1)
This is IFS Technical Online Documentation
Distributed Development
z Development across worksites or locations.z Working collaboratively using e-mail, Net Meeting, Web conference system, MSN and telephone.
Sweden Sri Lanka Norway Poland > 700 employees
How is the work being performed?
z Agile methodology
Small project teams
Short iterations
z Online Doc&TM integrated in the projects
z Line support to the project teams
An alyze Design Im pl eme nt Test An alyze Design Im pl eme nt Test Wis h Co uld Sh oul d Mu st
Time Zone Challenge
Shared Working Time SE/SL (green area)
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Sweden Sri Lanka 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Lunch Lunch
Documentation Organization
Roles and functions
z 1 Documentation Manager
z 4 Product Documentation Managers
z 17 Technical Writers
z 2 Linguistic Reviewers
z 8 Term Owners
z + Functional Designers, Business System Analysts, Software Engineers… etc
Sweden
Sri Lanka
Documentation Organization
Documentation Manager
z What type of documentation should we produce?
z How are we going to produce it?
Guidelines, rules, directives, process…
Support R&D Development projects and Support with directives and knowledge
Product Documentation Manager
z One PDM per product area (4)
z Responsible for that guidelines etc is followed
z Support to TW in their daily work
Product Documentation Manager Forum
The Documentation Manager is the chairman of the Documentation Forum
z Improve processes, cross-product decisions and directives
z Leads the cross-product work for Product Documentation Managers
Purpose
z To conciliate the documentation in the product groups
z Strategic outlook – business cases regarding documentation
Knowledge sharing
Exchange program in Sri Lanka to visit Linköping
z One month at a time
z 2 apartments
z 8 people at a time
Visiting Sri Lanka
z Offices in Colombo (main office) and Kandy
z > 600 employees
New office in Kandy
z Started in November 2008z Solve the space issue in Colombo
Visiting the IFS office in Colombo
IFS Guest House
z Breakfast
z Living room
z Cable TV/Video
z Daily papers
Lessons Learned
Teams Communication & Collaboration on different sites
z As a team member, invest in personal relations!
z Don’t cut the traveling budget…
z Working phone lines are CRITICAL
z Flexible lunch times can make a difference
Success factors
z Built from startz Committed people
z Exchange program
