© 2006 ibm corporation business partnering and dita carolyn henry mary paquet jennifer wickman

© 2006 IBM Corporation

Business Partnering and DITA

Carolyn Henry

Mary Paquet

Jennifer Wickman

Content Management Strategies conference – DITA


Goals

A before, during, and after look at the transition to DITA in a business partner relationship. We will look at:

> Benefits> Challenges> Recommendations for success



Introduction to the IBM and Rocket Software business partner relationship

Rocket Software

Rocket Software est. 1990

Rocket develops white-label products and services for some of the world's largest, most respected, software and hardware manufacturers. Currently Rocket has developed more than 60 software products for its OEM partners, which has generated billions of dollars in revenue for its partners.



Introduction to the IBM and Rocket Software business partner relationship (cont’d)

IBM’s business partner relationship with Rocket Software IBM began partnering with Rocket in the early 90s. The initial focus was working

with DB2-related products, but the partnership has grown over time to include many types of products and areas in IBM.

Real benefit to IBM because Rocket provides:– Expertise – Resources

Products that complement IBM’s existing offerings

IBM provides (for the Tools business):– Packaging– Manufacturing– Sales– Service



Workload and work experience before moving to DITA

Background:• Rocket environment – The books and help were separate

– Books: structured FrameMaker with an IBM-supplied overlay (Frame 2000) – Help: SGML files

• IBM environment – Writers used Epic Editor, SGML, book paradigm

• File management was simple (only one file per chapter vs. 700+ DITA files)

Drawbacks of previous procedures:• There was no single-sourcing between books and Help

• Structure was inconsistent and required more effort on the part of each individual writer

• The template that was used to maintain consistency was a sample book in PDF format

• Portability of files before converting to DITA was difficult – differences between editors – differing authoring environments



Starting the move to DITA

Moving to DITA was an IBM strategic direction.

IBM approached product teams at Rocket about the move.

IBM arranged education for business partner writers.



Transition Challenges Learning a new authoring mark-up language –

simultaneously with business partners

Developing and communicating best practices

Changing our writing paradigm

Educating reviewers on the new paradigm

Developing new file management strategies



Transition Recommendations

Include business partner’s products in second wave of adoption

Hold combined education sessions for both teams of writers

Have frequent checkpoints

Maintain open lines of communication

Educate all documentation reviewers early and set expectations

Schedule the transition according to product releases and needs, not as an arbitrary deadline



After the transition

Joint business partner goals:

Continue to transition all of the products to DITA

Source all new deliverables in DITA

Convert older products to DITA as time allows



Benefits of using DITA Increased productivity

Increased standardization within one organization and between business partners

Quick to get up and running with DITA

Enables reuse:

– Call same files easily for both help and books

– Small information units that can be mixed and matched

– Easily modify documentation structure to reflect changing product structures



For Example: DB2 Recovery Expert and DB2 Grouper



Sample DITAMAP



Benefits of using DITA Continued

Improved translation experience:

– Facilitated translation process

– Shared translation memory between help and books = cost savings!



Long term benefits of DITA

Open source:

– Use DITA to develop products for multiple companies

– Writing skills applicable to all companies that adopt DITA

– Growing pool of writers over time

Increased satisfaction for both partners



Questions

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© 2006 ibm corporation business partnering and dita carolyn henry mary paquet jennifer wickman

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