RE: Real value (was implementing single-source) (Long)

Subject: RE: Real value (was implementing single-source) (Long)
From: Pam Mandel <pmandel -at- nimble -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 13:02:34 -0800

We dropped a packet on an XML authoring tool only to find that we also
needed a content mgmt system that cost another packet _and_ a series of 3rd
party plug ins to get what we would have got if we'd gone straight to a
vanilla HAT. Which we ended up springing for anyway, annoying the guy we'd
convinced that we needed to spend all this money on and XML tools. Oops. You
can spare me the chastisement about doing our homework, please, I've already
chastised myself in front of the executive team. Ultimately we decided that
focusing on the content was more important than focusing on the environment
in which we delivered that content. Since we're a V1 product, we have enough
worries without getting bogged down in authoring implementation details.
Don't get me wrong, I still want to pursue single-sourcing, but the further
we looked in to it, the harder it got to implement. Not something we wanted
to take on when faced with documenting a brand new product with a brand new
team. Nope.

<I dispute the ROI of any large, complex documentation systems. I think the
money is better spent on training, education, and competent management for
technical publications departments. I would rather send my writers to a
programming boot camp and make them more intelligent writers than burn
thousands on an overly complex and rigid documentation system.>

Mmmm. Vanilla hat.

Pam Mandel
Technical Communications Manager
Nimble Technology
pmandel -at- nimble -dot- com
206.268.8025






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