I had the pleasure of seeing a fantastic story from Dell at this year's SDL Innovate conference, presented by MaryLee Grant. Here's the lowdown of the story...

Dell met their Return on Investment (ROI) goals in less a year by migrating to structured content using DITA, SDL Trisoft and SDL Global Authoring Management System (Global AMS), according to MaryLee Grant, Director, Information Development.

I'm sure that most technical communicators today would list 'working with subject matter experts' among their top 5 biggest gripes about getting their job done. With departmental silos and colleagues that are 'just too busy' to bother reviewing or contributing to documentation, technical communicators find themselves fighting a battle for people's attention and struggling to convince the SMEs that their input is invaluable to supporting the customer. But that's only half the story. 

Just a few moments ago, our very own Chip Gettinger chatted with Amber Swope of DITA Strategies on one of our most successful DITA webinars ever - we had over 240 attendees. It seems the hunger for learning about DITA best practises and the future trends for strutured content will continue to grow through 2012. We certainly hope so.

If you missed it, don't fret - the recording will be available on our website as soon as possible. And here are some highlights of what our two 'gurus' discussed today, as well as some of the great questions asked.

• The Product Content Maturity Model and the DITA Maturity Model
  • You don't have to mature your DITA usage in any exact order. If you're particularly spry, you can take on more than one step at a time.
• Searching for content to reuse
  • Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should (such as reusing entire maps)
• Implementing a Component Content Management System
  • You can only reuse content that you can find. CCMS makes content easy to find.
• Intelligent sharing of content
  • Focus on content that is already designed for reuse, such as a glossary.
• Complex versioning
  • The classic use case for complex versioning is product name changes due to updated releases, re-branding, or concurrent releases
  • Keep referencing simple
  • Start small and build up over time
• Refining content models
  • Customize your authoring environment to show only supported elements by implementing DITA 1.2 constraints
  • Optimize for localization
  • Take a step back from the printed visual representation and think about what existing visual queues mean
• Provide authoring templates and automation
  • Provide boilerplate examples to get your writers started
  • Automate publishing!

With such a large group of attendees hungry to learn, there were a lot of questions for Chip and Amber. Here are some of the ones that we thought you might like to read. You can comment on this post if you want to ask any more and we'll answer them as soon as possible.

Q.) What is an example of a Component Content Management System?
A.) SDL Trisoft is an excellent example. With its unique baseline capability, support for conditions and variables, and integrations with popular desktop editors such as XMetal and FrameMaker 

Q.) Should authors recommend content for reuse?
A.) Yes, absolutely. One major benefit to deploying DITA within the organization is making writers more efficient, and by recommending reusable content they can participate in making their job easier. 

Q.) Is taxonomy a prerequisite for DITA?
A.) Actually, no. Metadata is important for reuse, and DITA 1.2 introduces a mechanism for capturing a taxonomy. However, taxonomy implementation typically doesn't materialize until the 3rd or 4th stage of DITA maturity.

Q.) What authoring tools are commonly used by SDL Trisoft customers?
A.) SDL Trisoft supports SDL Xopus, an exciting browser-based editor for any contributors (even the casual ones) within your organization. Additionally, SDL Trisoft integrates with JustSystems XMetal, PTC Arbortext, and Adobe FrameMaker.

Q.) How can we improve our review process, bringing in reviewers across the enterprise?

A.) This is a very pertinent question for 2012 and the future of structured content management. One that many organisations are asking themselves as they look to bring subject matter experts into the workflow but without putting a burden on the publishing process. One way to facilitate the review process is to reduce the complexity of authoring by allowing reviewers to access structured content for review without having to understand XML or the tools that are designed for XML. SDL Xopus is designed for such a scenario, as an online XML editor for non-technical authors and reviewers.

Q.) Where do we find the DITA 1.2 constraint mechanism?

A.) Look in the DITA 1.2 specification for the basics and search online for resources, such as tutorials on applying constraints.

We'll be updating this post as new questions come in. Thanks for attending!

Wir freuen uns, dass die Klingelnberg AG mit dem renommierten tekom Dokupreis 2011 während der tekom Jahrestagung ausgezeichnet wurde. Einen wichtigen Beitrag hierzu leisteten die SDL-Lösungen.

Pascal Kesselmark, Leiter der Technischen Dokumentation bei Klingelnberg: „Wir freuen uns sehr über diese Auszeichnung, da wir kontinuierlich an der Optimierung der Technischen Dokumentation arbeiten. Um dies zu erreichen, müssen wir nicht nur die richtigen Softwarelösungen und unser fachliches Know How einsetzen, sondern auch die Prozesse stetig optimieren. Die SDL-Lösungen unterstützen uns hierbei enorm, denn wir können damit die inhaltliche Qualität automatisiert sicherstellen. Was nützen klar definierte Schreibregeln, wenn man diese nicht einhält oder wieso akzeptiert man höhere Übersetzungskosten, weil gleiche Inhalte mehrmals in ähnlicher Form geschrieben werden? Und genau hier liegt die Stärke von SDL: Man kann sehr einfach Prüfregeln auf Wort- und Satzebene erstellen und so, ohne Mehrkosten, die Überprüfung der Inhalte seinen Qualitätsbedürfnissen anpassen. Bereits übersetzte Texte können wiederverwendet werden, so dass die Übersetzungskosten reduziert und eine sprachliche Durchgängigkeit in unterschiedlichen Dokumenten gewährleistet wird. Durch die Autorenunterstützung von SDL kann ich als Verantwortlicher für die Technische Dokumentation sicher sein, dass die Dokumente auch strukturell und formal in Ordnung sind und mich auf das Wesentliche konzentrieren – nämlich die Inhalte!“

I was really happy that Jack Molisani decided to host Lavacon this year in my adopted backyard, Austin TX. LavaCon, for those that don’t know, is a conference dedicated to digital content and this years theme was Developing Content for a Global Audience which is a perfect theme for the time we are in.

Last week, we announced the latest version of SDL Global AMS, with exciting updates for organizations that are looking to optimize their content for translation and improve consistency of the information they publish to customers.

Organizations creating structured content in JustSystems' XMetaL and PTC Arbortext Editor can now use the AutoSuggest feature in SDL Global AMS to ramp up the productivity of creating good quality, consistent content that is optimized for translation.

Today, with the help of our friend Sam, we want to tell the story of how organizations, and people like Sam, can transform their technical documentation 'towns' into engagement 'cities' that put customer experience at the heart of creating, managing and publishing technical information.

We're introducing the Product Content Maturity Model, explained simply by the video below staring our tech doc champion, Sam. 

Vom 18. – 20. Oktober 2011 findet die tekom Jahrestagung in Wiesbaden statt, die SDLs starke Präsenz in den deutschsprachigen Märkten wiederspiegelt.

Sehen Sie die neuesten Lösungen für Textredaktion und Übersetzungstechnologie – abgestimmt auf die Bedürfnisse dieser Märkte – auf den SDL-Messeständen 430 & 437 in Halle 4: 

• Eine Vorschau auf die neue Serverlösung. Diese richtet sich besonders an kleine und mittelgroße Übersetzungsteams in mittelständischen Unternehmen sowie an Übersetzungsagenturen.
• SDL Global Authoring Management System. Die Lösung für Textredaktion und –optimierung berücksichtigt Ihre stilistischen Unternehmensvorgaben, Ihre Corporate Language sowie die deutschen linguistischen Regeln und trägt somit zur Reduzierung der Übersetzungskosten bei.  
• SDL Trados Studio 2011. Die marktführende Translation-Memory-Lösung bietet mit SDL BeGlobal eine sichere, integrierte Lösung für Maschinelle Übersetzung.
• SDL WorldServer 2011. Die Übersetzungsmanagement-Lösung – in deutscher Sprache verfügbar – bietet besonders Übersetzungsteams in globalen Unternehmen sowie großen Sprachdienstleistern die Möglichkeit, den Übersetzungsprozess optimal zu managen. 

Diese und weitere Lösungen präsentiert SDL in verschiedenen Workshops, Konferenzen, Tool- und Standpräsentationen sowie bei Panel-Diskussionen. Eine Übersicht alle SDL-Präsentationen finden Sie unter: http://www.sdl.com/en/language-technology/news-and-events/sdl-events/emea/2011q4/2011-10-18-tekom-annual-conference-2011.asp

SDL bietet mit seinem Produktportfolio Softwarelösungen für Unternehmen, Übersetzungsagenturen, Übersetzer und Textredakteure. Dabei werden alle Bedürfnisse der verschiedenen Zielgruppen abgedeckt; angefangen bei den Übersetzern und Textredakteuren bis hin zu kleinen, mittleren und großen Teams in Unternehmen und bei Sprachdienstleistern.

SDL OpenExchange rundet das Portfolio ab. Diese Plattform ermöglicht Entwicklern, Applikationen zu erstellen und der SDL-Community kostenlos bzw. günstig anzubieten. Nutzer können dank dieser Anwendungen die Leistung ihrer Übersetzungssoftware weiter steigern, sei es durch die Unterstützung bestimmter Prozessschritte oder weiterer Dateiformate.

SDL OpenExchange sehen Sie live auf unseren Messeständen. Alternativ finden Sie weitere Informationen  unter  http://www.sdl.com/en/language-technology/sdl-openexchange/. Hier haben Entwickler auch die Möglichkeit, bei unserem Wettbewerb mitzumachen und einen Teil des Gesamtpreises von 10.000€ zu gewinnen. 

Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch!

This week I'm hosting a guest post from our Jeremy Harpham, Senior Product Marketing Manager at SDL.  Jeremy is on site all week, so if you're in tekom drop by and say hello... he'll be there.

This week the tekom Annual Conference takes place in Wiesbaden, Germany. The strong presence SDL has in German speaking markets is reflected at this key industry event from 18 – 20 October 2011. Come and visit the SDL stands (430 & 437 in Hall 4) to see the latest content optimization and translation technology with the arrival of key new products to address the needs of the German speaking market.

Every year in October, for the past four years, we've gotten together with our customers and anyone else interested in learning more about structured content, to discuss how DITA is enabling the current trends in technical communication. SDL has always been invested in XML, and all the various flavors it comes in, since the earliest days when it was just known as an application profile of SGML. XML's promise of separating the content from the formatting has proven itself with lowered publishing and translation costs. However, many companies wanted a better way of authoring the content, and that's where DITA came to the rescue.

Even though DITA XML has been around since 2001, it didn't become an official OASIS standard until 2005. Since then, adoption has steadily increased among the technical communication community. SDL has been involved with the DITA standard from the beginning, helping companies to more rapidly adopt DITA. We've witnessed first hand, through our own customer base, the growth in adoption, the maturity of deployments, and lately, the increasing number of content creators now asking themselves, "What's next?"

That's why the theme for this year's DITA Fest is all about coming of age. We're going to spend some time talking about expanding DITA usage beyond tradtional deliverables from technical publication groups. We'll discuss how companies can get their subject matter experts more effectively collaborating with the content creators. And most importantly, we'll take a look at how DITA can actually improve customer experience, something Support and Marketing spend a lot of time thinking about! Personally, as an avid gamer, I'm really excited to hear the keynote from Aaron Dignan, author of GameFrame, on how games and new media are changing how we do business. 

If you're at all interested in DITA, or want to meet like-minded colleagues, you'll discover a ton of useful content at DITA Fest. Oh! And it's free! This is my first year attending, and I'm really excited to participate, so I just had to share. And if the links weren't obvious enough, you can register or learn more about it here: http://www.sdl.com/en/sites/ditafest_2011/.