Four Noble Truths-- Nirodha, Sammudaya, Magga (2nd 3rd 4th Noble Truths)
Avoiding the Software Marketing Trap: Understanding Lies and Near-Truths When Vendors Try To Sell...
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Avoiding the Software Marketing Trap: Understanding Lies and Near-Truths When Vendors Try To Sell You Content Management Software Steve Manning Principal Consultant, The Rockley Group Inc. [email protected]
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Presented at DocTrain East 2007 by Steve Manning of The Rockley Group -- It really is a buyers market in the content management software world. There are hundreds of software packages that call themselves Content Management Systems, from big, expensive enterprise content management systems to free open-source systems of various capabilities. With so many choices, there has to be a system out there for you, right? But, how do you find it? With so many choices, the competition for your dollar is fierce and vendors are looking to close the sale. The effectiveness of your content management selection will depend on your ability to define the functionality you need in a content management system and to dig through the marketing speak of the vendors to find out exactly what their system offers. This session will equip you with the questions you need to ask initially and the questions you need ask to get to real truth.Should be simple.Now factor in that there are different categories of content management systems, like Web Content Management and Component Content Management, to manage different kinds of content like transactional content, business content, product content and persuasive content. They all have a slightly different emphasis on the functionality that is key to their role. You need to figure out if their functionality meets your needs.Now factor in that there are over a thousand applications that refer to themselves as Content Management tools. That really makes it tough for the vendors. It means they have to make sure that they can get themselves clearly in your focus. They do so by playing up their “Wow!” features and hiding (or minimizing) their weaknesses. That sometimes means vague answers to your important questions. This slide deck will help you to better understand: * When you really need a content management system * How to figure out what kind of CM you need * Core content management functionality required * The difference between optional and nice-to-have functionality * How to dig through the marketing speak to get to the truth
Transcript of Avoiding the Software Marketing Trap: Understanding Lies and Near-Truths When Vendors Try To Sell...
Avoiding the Software Marketing Trap: Understanding Lies and Near-Truths When Vendors Try
To Sell You Content Management Software
Steve ManningPrincipal Consultant, The Rockley Group Inc.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group Inc.
Summer 2007
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group sample clients
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Are you looking for an XML Editor??
I’ve got a great one:Light-weight editor (not complex)Low costSupports DITA (maps, conrefs and specialization)Supports any kind of XML markupEasy to learn
….
It’s Notepad!!
The need for content management
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
A scenario – Insurance bureau
Maintain 5 manuals in ~1000 individual Word filesFiles are assembled into manualsOne individual (not a trained writer) who updates occasionallyHeaders/footers/TOCs generated manuallyCan’t find older versions of files (need to roll back changes)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
A scenario – Medical Devices Company
Large volume of repeated information for similar productsRelated information for patient’s and physician’s manuals, but different language/detailNo reuse, but plenty of opportunityFrequent updates to existing manuals for regulatory changes – changes not being propagated to all affected manualsSmall tightly-knit staff of writersShort turn-around times
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
A scenario – Telecom company
Increasing dependence on web site for a communicating information, including streaming videoWide range of contributors (not trained writers)Some contributors my go two years between contributionsCorporate branding very, very importantPrimary content: short news blurbs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
A scenario – Printer company
Large number of products – short turnaround cycleFrequent format changes – FrameMakerProfessional writing staffHeavy translation load – up to 28 languagesLong turnaround times for translation – jeopardize ship dates Ship to translation dates fall before software freeze dates
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The common problems
“Can’t find information”“Takes too long to create content”“Too many errors, inconsistencies, and gaps”“Too many people contributing”“Too many different formats”“Difficult to share/reuse information”“Too much duplication”“Can’t be sure I’ve got the right version”“Translation is too expensive”…
Choosing a CM
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Success is in analysis
Know what your needs areUnderstand your content lifecycleKnow you content and content needs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Know your content life cycle
Content creationReviewContent managementPublication and delivery
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Know your users
Content authorsReviewersPublication staffInformation technology
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Know your content
A content audit is an accounting of the information in your organizationA how content is used, reused, and delivered to its various audiencesUnderstand how can be reusedCreate information models
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Understand the problems to be solved
What is CM a solution to?If you can’t clearly identify what the problem is, you will not be able to pick the right solution
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Writing requirements
Most RFP’s include a detailed list of requirementsVendors walk through this list and “tick” off what they can doVery difficult to understand how they can address the requirements (out-of-box, easy-to-use interface)What do the requirements mean in your context?
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Requirements are good but…
Scenarios/use cases are betterA scenario/use case is an expression of your desired goals and objectives and how you envision working in the future
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Solving the problem with CM
Choosing a CM means matching the problem to the CM functionality that will eliminate the problem
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Types of CM
Component CMDocument ManagementWeb Content ManagementLearning Content Management …
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
CM Key features
DITA, XML or Other?Granularity of access (files, elements) Segmentation/Bursting (level/flexibility of granularity)Module management (relationships, links)Metadata (customization, manipulation, application, inheritance)Access control (check-in/check-out)Version controlVersion linking (specific versions/current versions)Repository (data format, scalability)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
CM Key features, cont'd
Search and retrievalArchivalTranslation managementStaging and deploymentBLOB managementWorkflowAudit trailOffline managementCertification (by regulatory bodies)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
CM Key features, cont'd
Integration with authoring tools and publishing tools (and a clear statement on what “integration” means)
Now consider this advice
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Understand the vendors motivation
Their job is to sell softwareThey sell it by positioning it as a solution to your problemsGood vendors will walk away when they are not a good fitVendors will rarely tell you if they are not the best fit.
And your job is to find the BEST fit!!
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The answer will follow the question
Ask your teenage son or daughter this question:How was school today?
Ask a vendor:Do you support DITA?
So ask specific questions:How does your system support DITA conrefs?And get a demo
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Understand the value of the generic demo
Generic demos are good when you want to learn about content management But the generic demos usually focus on product strengths and hide product weaknessesIt may look cool, but it won’t necessarily solve your problems
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Get a customized demo
Describe your business processProvide samples of your contentAsk for a custom demo that will demonstrate the specific support you need.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Get real users in the demo
Get the people who will use the system in on the demosGet them to ask their questions
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Understand what “we support”
Does it mean “we can handle it”Or does it mean “we’ve created specific functionality for it”
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Understand what the tool was created to do
Word (memos and letters)Vs.
Frame (long documents)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Get references
Talk to people who use the softwareAsk about the implementation process
On time?Painful?Unexpected issues??
Ask about supportTimely?Effective?
And what about training and documentationEffective?In existence???
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Ask about the less successful projects
When you ask vendors for references, they give you the good ones.Go ahead, put them on the spot and ask about the failures
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Consider the intangibles
Support and maintenancePartnersVisionStability
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Know what your organization can support
What can you or your IT group reasonably support!!
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Be realistic with your demands
I need a full POC in 1 week !!!
Be realistic with what you ask forGive vendors time to prepareBut push them to show how they will support your business processes
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Consider getting some professional help
IT might be able to help you outConsider consultants
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Best practices
Identify your goals and objectives.
Determine your pain points
Develop a series of use cases to illustrate your requirements.
Identifier your requirements
Identify your differentiators for selection.
Develop a weighting system for your requirements.
Develop a list of vendors to investigate.
Send out an RFI/RFP to selected vendors that includes your detailed criteria and ask them to respond to your questions.
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Cont.
Evaluate the responses
Pick three vendors that most effectively meet your requirements (best ranking).
Ask vendors to use a sample of your content and create a content-specific demonstration for you.
Narrow your selection further to one or two vendors.
Conduct a proof-of-concept to test the required functionality and determine if the product meets your needs
Purchase the product if it performs well in the proof-of-concept.
