New Content Management System helps Ensim stop seeing double

When a routine document audit at Ensim found 'duplication' to be the order of the day, the company decided to look for a Content Management Solution. They didn't have to look far...

Ensim Corporation, is a leading provider of management software for unified communications and collaboration infrastructure. When the company decided to go through a process of analysing its documentation set recently, staff began seeing double. Then triple. Then quadruple. Then they simply lost count.

The analysis was eye-opening to say the least and Ensim identified a great deal of duplicated content among its documents, particularly for its products Ensim Unify and Ensim Pro. There were feature descriptions that needed to appear in online help, release notes, marketing collateral, and product specifications.

There were procedures that had to be incorporated into installation guides, upgrade guides, best practice guides and online help. And there was a great deal of reference material, such as company contact and support information, that appeared in virtually every document.  Duplicating content increased the cost of writing, reviewing, maintenance and translation and additionally it also increased the potential for inconsistency and inaccuracy.

Ensim decided it needed a systematic strategy for reusing content, especially across different types of documentation. Consequently, in late 2005, representatives from Ensim’s engineering, product management, IT, and technical publications departments met to discuss ways to reduce duplication and improve documentation. One proposed solution was to develop a reuse strategy using Ensim's existing documentation software.

This solution had the least impact on resources and existing processes, but it also offered the lowest potential for reusing content. Ensim also considered using one of their existing tools for online help. However, this would have required workflow changes, template design, and the migration of existing content, and it still would not have improved the management of shared content among documents.

A Content Management solution
The suggestion was then made to implement a Content Management System (CMS), which would manage the information generated so that writers could quickly find, maintain, and use documents again. The system would also incorporate the concept of 'single sourcing' – that is, having just one source of content and using it in multiple outputs instead of rewriting it.

Ensim principal information developer, Kate Wilcox, says the idea had merit.  “Implementing a CMS would take time, planning and resources,” she says, “but the promise of being able to reuse information in multiple documents from a single source, and the long-term potential for cost savings and customer satisfaction, were  compelling.” Despite the extra effort that would be required, Ensim embraced the idea.

It was decided the ultimate solution would have to fulfil a number of specific requirements.

Output: The system must be able to produce PDF and HTML documents

Migration of existing content: Ensim needed to be able to migrate existing content produced by previous documentation tools.

Support: The system would have to offer excellent customer support and self-help resources.

Translation requirements: Ensim’s content had already been translated from English into other languages; the system would need to handle localised documents.

Out-of-the-box solution: Ensim wanted a solution that could be implemented easily, with little or no need for IT intervention.

Maintenance and upgrades: The system would need a good track record for maintenance releases and upgrades.

XML and DITA capable: Although Ensim did not plan to use these capabilities immediately, it wanted a solution that could produce these outputs if required in the future.

Price: Ensim did not have a large budget for this project, which quickly eliminated many large enterprise-type CMS systems.

Ensim evaluated a number of competitive CMS systems, and even considered XML and structured authoring solutions.  Also important was the fact that Ensim was looking for both a solution and a 'partner' company that would be around for a while. After considering its options Ensim decided to implement one of the world’s most widely used content management tools - Author-it.

The philosophy behind Author-it is simple: write once, reuse many times, maintain in one place, and publish to multiple outputs. Ensim’s implementation involved multiple disciplines: planning, design, training, migration and testing. The plan encompassed four phases, each with colourful code names:

Phase 1 - Iceberg. This initial phase included installing and setting up Author-it and the SQL server in Ensim’s Santa Clara, CA headquarters; analysing current content and identifying opportunities for reuse; identifying customer requirements; developing a content model; developing new processes and workflows; and designing templates.

Phase 2 - Blizzard. This phase included testing templates and models, and migrating existing content produced by previous documentation tools into Author-it. It also involved setting up Author-it for Ensim’s Technical Publications group in Pune, India.

Phase 3 - Monsoon. During this phase, Ensim began using Author-it to produce PDF output.

Phase 4 - Harvest. This phase expanded the use of the CMS to include online help.

The results
The effort has been well worthwhile. Using Author-it, Ensim now has its content in a single searchable database instead of in multiple separate documents. More importantly, content can automatically be shared, reused and updated wherever and whenever it is needed. Content can also be shared at the topic level, when stored as distinct topics. All writers can now easily view documents in one database.

There’s no need to look for documents on a server or local machine somewhere and this also means users can view what’s being done for other products as needed, which is especially helpful for new writers.

Author-it provided three days of initial training, which gave Ensim a solid overview of Author-it’s processes and capabilities. However, questions arose during implementation, which caused Ensim to rely on the Author-it support team for guidance. “We filed many support tickets, and we always received a prompt email response,” says Wilcox.

“Their support has been excellent.” The ROI on the Author-it system has yet to be formally determined. However, the company recently moved its corporate offices, which resulted in a change of corporate address. The system has already paid dividends in this area.

“To update all of our documents would have taken several hours under our old process, because that content was not shared,” says Wilcox. “In our new Author-it process, it took less than five minutes.” Going forward, Ensim plans to expand its CMS to other Ensim groups, such as IT, marketing, and engineering. When that happens, fewer people will be seeing double, and more people will be using single source content.

For more information
www.Author-it.com

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