Streamlining Your Processes

Our consultants can work with your team to perform a detailed analysis of the current state of your technical information and training assets, and make concrete recommendations for improvement. The initial analysis would include:

1. Understanding who the current consumers of your technical information assets are and who else can benefit from them. Information consumers may be your customers, your service team, trainers, marketing staff, etc.

2. Understanding who in your organization takes part in developing the documentation content. For example, in addition to the technical communicators, there may be engineers, project managers or others who actively take part in writing, editing and reviewing the documentation.

3. Understanding the current state of your documentation set: the source formats used for authoring, the complexity of the documentation, information architecture, problems being encountered with the source documents, formats used for delivering content to customers, and more.

4. Understanding the current processes for authoring, editing, reviewing, releasing and publishing the documentation.

5. Understanding the short- and long-term requirements for how the documentation is expected to serve the organization.

Following the analysis, we compile a detailed report which includes concrete recommendations for improving your processes, methodologies and tools. We present these recommendations and discuss them with your team to arrive at a set of concrete, attainable goals. Recommendations often include:

1. Whether a modularized, topic-oriented architecture for authoring and managing information would be beneficial, and if so, how migration to this paradigm can be implemented.

2. Whether migration to XML or other structured format would be beneficial, and if so, which one.

3. Whether a different authoring format or tool set would be beneficial, and if so, which one.

4. Whether a CMS would be beneficial, and if so, which applications could provide a suitable platform under given budget restraints.

5. Road map proposal for the adaptation of new structures, methodologies and processes, conversion to structure and smooth implementation of the tools, including building the expertise in your group to maintain the solution successfully.