Top eight signs it’s time to move to XML
How do you know it’s time to move to XML? Consult our handy list of indicators.
Author: Sarah O'Keefe
How to get budget for content strategy
One common roadblock to content strategy is a lack of funding. This post describes how to get budget, even in lean years (and recently, they have all been lean years!).
The advent of intelligent content
You can justify intelligent content with efficiency–more reuse, cheaper translation, better content management. The true value of intelligent content, however, is unlocked when you connect content across the organization.
Sturm und DITA-Drang at tekom
This year’s tekom/tcworld conference reinforced the ongoing doctrinal chasm between North American technical communication and German technical communication.
I am speaking, of course, of the proper role of DITA in technical communication. If any.
The commodity trap
In a recent post on lean content strategy, I wrote about a focus on waste reduction:
After creating a nice automated XML-based process, waste in formatting is eliminated, and we declare victory and go home. Unfortunately, the organization is now producing irrelevant content faster, and the content organization is now positioned as only a cost center.
Is your content perceived as a commodity?
Lean content strategy
Lean manufacturing begat lean software development which in turn begat lean content strategy.
What does lean content strategy look like?
Roles and responsibilities in XML publishing
The roles and responsibilities in an XML (and/or DITA) environment are a little different than in a traditional page layout environment. Figuring out where to move people is a key part of your implementation strategy.
Design versus automation: a strategic approach to content
Design and automation are often positioned as mutually exclusive–you have to choose one or the other. But in fact, it’s possible to deliver content in an automated workflow that uses a stellar design. To succeed, you need a designer who can work with styles, templates, and other building blocks instead of ad hoc formatting.
More content across more devices requires scalability–and that means more automation. A strategic approach to content needs to incorporate both design and automation as constraints and find the right balance between the two.
Waterfall content development? You’re doing it wrong.
Product development, content development, and localization processes are too often viewed as a waterfall process.
This is not at all accurate.
