Deploying and Maintaining a Large Single-Sourcing Solution: Now What?
Your organization has gone through the pains of developing business cases and acquiring funds to implement a single-sourcing solution. How do you proceed with choosing and implementing a solution, what are the steps you need to take to deploy the system, what are the critical success factors and pitfalls you need to consider? Once you've deployed your solution, what is it that you need to do to maintain the system, how do you handle the inevitable mountain of requests coming from all stakeholders to improve and extend capabilities?
This session will outline some of the key items to consider and plan for in each phase of a single-sourcing solution's lifecycle based upon a high-tech company's experience and learnings. The presentation will take you through some of the approaches they found to be effective for implementing and managing their combined Arbortext PE/DLM and Documentum system.
About the Presenter
Todd Nowlan is currently IT Project Manager at a large Canadian Telecom. He is responsible for maintaining and supporting the documentation and training CMSs for a large telecom equipment provider. Todd has more than 16 years experience with the methods and toolsets associated with structured authoring, XML authoring, and content management. He has held various technical and management roles supporting small and large user communities, including experience developing XML business cases, deriving technical requirements, testing, and deploying processes and systems.
More Resources
- Arbortext Community Voices Podcast: Interview with Todd Nowlan
- Panelist on the Single-Sourcing Solutions Webinar: ROI of XML
Watch the Video
Recorded: August 2010
Tweet Roundup
In case you missed attending the session live, the event had a live Twitter stream.
Read the tweets (Expand to View)
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 10:10am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: dancing that fine line between business requirement and the solution is an area that needs focus |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 10:06am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: even before implementing, we had a corporate course that talked about how use the system (overview, authoring) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 10:05am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: question: what kind of "homework" should we do before making a decision to leave traditional tools? |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 10:00am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: at one time we had 400 writers in the user community |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:58am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: .. and yet notwithstanding go out to meeting" Thucydides |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:58am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike... |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:57am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: down to one toolset and one process |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:57am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: enabled customer ability to search based on job function, metadata provided an extra dimention to content |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:56am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: enabled outsource partners to easily access source globally |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:56am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: implemented a robust metadata/taxonomy strategy |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:56am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: maximized our single-sourcing and reuse of content |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:55am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: improved our delivery for customers |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:55am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: improved our delivery channel agility |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:55am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: what we set out to do vs what we achieved? We did it all and more. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:55am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: single sourcing systems the benefits far outweigh the costs |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:55am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Very low cost that a single-sourcing environment can be. A single system with a single CMS. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:54am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: business support cost: ~5 people doing support to user community, as little as 2 people to maintain system |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:53am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: from a cost standpoint, infrastructure costs for us is around $150K (includes SW maintenance) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:52am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: communication with users, business stakeholders, and vendors is critical |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:52am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: the system as a whole was being used globally, so around the clock we had to be aware of changes/downtimes/etc |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:51am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: weekly change management meetings to review and approve required changes (inc server maintenance schedules) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:50am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: constant interaction with vendors is critical, understand (and *influence*) their future rollout plans |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:49am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: some projects had to go through architecture review board for approval |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:49am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: projects prioritized with business leaders |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:49am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: core team and/or IT scheduled to work: design, UAT, deploy; progress reports weekly with biz stakeholders |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:48am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: change management requests initiated and tracked as projects. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:48am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Info Arch. team had representatives from each of the Business Units |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:47am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: standing committee for establishing writing guidelines and standards, focused on topic-oriented writing |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:47am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: profiles very powerful concept. Centrally controlled to get consistentcy acr organizations (req by high reuse) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:46am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: custom scripts to streamline and improve writer tasks added to Arbortext Editor's UI (bulit-in) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:45am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: documentum/Arbortext editor - dtds/stylesheets download to desktop; patch upgrades w/instr. posted to server |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:44am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Largely, deployed to user desktops, citrix for users with performance challenges |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:43am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: could get separate files or merged/flattened file that would re-burst into the individ entities in CMS |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:42am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: about our CMS. It supported our ability to configure "publishables" or "deliverable" documents |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:41am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: it's amazing how much DTD changes drives effort. It can impact all books, all organizations, all stylesheets |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:41am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Arbortext Styler with extensions had much faster compose times |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:41am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: went to Arbortext Styler with extensions -- with PTC we had input into product direction |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:39am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: DTD development & matching stylesheets is a webinar topic of its own |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:38am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: hierarchical structures also give more common look & feel |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:38am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: hierarchical structures have more semantic meaning; less flexible but promotes consistent writing |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:37am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: downside later on, still need to do the work to go from "unstructred" to "structured" (no escaping it) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:36am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: we wanted people in the system first; we found this was successful |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:36am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: unstructured->docbook, topic-based->DITA; changing unstructured to structured can be a stumbling block |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:35am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: we took two pronged approach to accelerate data conversion and get in as fast as possible.. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:40am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: started with xsl-fo, large docs took (>1500pgs) took excessive amts of time to compose (sometimes hrs) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:39am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: we built an application on Arbortext Publishing Engine that did auto-output to 4 deliverables simultaneously |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:34am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: really gets you a lot of efficiencies |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:34am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: getting into the world of XML provides a tremendous amount of power over your content |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:33am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: "Before there were parsers, it was dark." - Eric Hennum, DITA Architect. No truer statement was made. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:33am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: be articulate in your UAT as a project on it's own (for each component of the architecture) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:32am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: at one point, I was branded "XML evangelist" and that's kind of what happens... |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:32am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: you'll get more skillsets around a technology that is becoming very prevalent in the industry |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:32am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: keep users aware of "what's in it for them" |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:32am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Even structured authoring in Frame can be different when you take the formatting part away from that.. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:31am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: keeping the pace of development is key to keeping the momentum going and migration of new groups in |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:31am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: prioritization of groups was based on prioritization of the development |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:29am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: setting clear acceptance criteria not only with user community, but with the leadership team as well |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:29am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Hit areas we never expected to see, all along the way, gaps appear when you do prototyping/UAT |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:28am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: UAT was something we focused on early on. Get key stakeholders involved in use casing, prototyping |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:28am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: getting more and more into the system.. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:28am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: getting them up to same level of capability, then extending, then refining formatting issues, then automating |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:27am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: first step was to get the techpubs in. They had the best/most informed view on structured authoring |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:26am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: we took the approach of prioritizing and grouping into phases, a very large project overall |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:25am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: DLM is a link repository to store links so reusable components get help for managing content and reuse |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:24am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: DLM to manage links b/c we have tremendous reuse going on w/in project and across project. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:23am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: stored content in CMS based on configuration rules |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:21am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Didn't use DITA - it was a timing thing. Focused on topic-oriented & at the time DITA wasn't ready |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:20am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: came at it from an end-to-end solution standpoint |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:20am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: xml contains content and metadata leveraged throughout entire process (authoring/cms/delivery) |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:19am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: delivery: web portal, dvd, online (onproduct) help |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:19am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: Arbortext Editor, Publishing Engine, Dynamic Link Manager & Documentum |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:18am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: key requirement to reduce publishing time frame to hours rather than days |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:18am #arbortext #ptcuser T.Nowlan: optimize by going to XML-type, single-sourcing solution, topic-based information |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:18am #arbortext #ptcuser provide a scalable ECM environment that can handle- Large vol of info, multiple content types, global access |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:17am #arbortext #ptcuser get requirements signed off early on by business owners: A lot of communication involved up front |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:16am #arbortext #ptcuser Tracking to granular level makes sure your requirements are well understood (even if it's a lot of work). |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:16am #arbortext #ptcuser the minute you deploy a new system, it becomes a legacy system. |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:16am #arbortext #ptcuser identify current-state business process, derive base requirements and trace them through tracability matricies |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:15am #arbortext #ptcuser for large program, get a variety of people involved for best success |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:14am #arbortext #ptcuser core business team (3) IT team (4) worked tightly together to develop the single-sourcing system -> ECMS was key |
| SingleSourcing Aug 28, 2010 at 9:13am "Deploying and maintaining a large single-sourcing solution" Still time to register! |
You might also be interested in...
You Don’t Have to Build Software to Do DITA
Liz Fraley, Single-Sourcing Solutions
MathFlow, MathType, and MathML in Technical Publishing
Autumn Cuellar & Robert Miner, Design Science
Key concepts
case study, make your business case, multichannel (omnichannel) publishing, single-sourcing
Filed under
About the Arbortext User Group
Single-Sourcing Solutions coordinates logistics and donates both financial and administrative support to help Arbortext Users connect through meetings and social media channels. The Arbortext User Group has a blog and a youtube channel.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks