The report clearly indicates that best-in-class performers follow the DITA standard, a topic-based approach to authoring technical communications. The report also reveals that the deployment of a content management solution is a key technology enabler to support the DITA documentation process. In fact, best-in-class performers are twice as likely to use the DITA standard, while 42% of them are more likely to use content management and translation memory systems to reach their documentation objectives.
As mentioned in the report, one of the prime challenges for global organizations is to keep localization costs down. Content management solutions that manage the localization process coupled with translation memory tools enable organizations to closely monitor content that is being sent to the translators.
“We are very proud to sponsor this Aberdeen report which reflects IXIASOFT’s vision that DITA will help organizations efficiently re-use content and enable multi-channel deliveries. This report clearly demonstrates that the topic architecture of DITA, combined to a content management solution, will help organizations deliver product documentation on-time and on-budget.” said Eric Bergeron, President of IXIASOFT. “The DITA CMS Framework developed by IXIASOFT is truly designed to manage the entire DITA documentation process and addresses the specific challenges of technical communicators by providing better collaboration, facilitating content re-use and lowering translation costs.”
“Today’s technical communicators are facing serious challenges: multi-lingual documentation, shorter release schedules, more complex products and tight budgets. Our findings are clear that best-in-class organizations are authoring, producing and delivering documentation using the DITA standard.” said Chad Jackson, research analyst at Aberdeen and author of the report. “Technology enablers, like IXIASOFT’s DITA CMS Framework, play a crucial role in the adoption and exploitation of the DITA standard.
Key highlights of the report indicate that best-in-class organizations:
- Use structured authoring applications to create technical communications
- Use a topic-based review process
- Deliver multi-channel publishing with customized documentation
- Use the combination of content management and translation memory tools to support the localization process and keep costs down
- Track number of support calls as measure of communications’ success
The report is also accessible from the IXIASOFT website at www.ixiasoft.com
About IXIASOFT
IXIASOFT is the leading provider of XML content management software to organizations worldwide. Its flagship product, TEXTML Server, is a native XML database used to store, index and retrieve large volumes of XML content. It is an embeddable component which has been integrated into various content management applications. Also, IXIASOFT offers the DITA CMS Framework, a content management solution designed specifically for technical communicators to efficiently author, manage and publish DITA-based documentation. The DITA CMS Framework truly leverages the topic-oriented DITA standard by facilitating single-sourcing and content reuse, enhancing team productivity and collaboration, lowering translation costs and enabling on-time delivery of personalized documentation.
