Global Authoring the VMware Way –Global Authoring the VMware Way Improving Documentation Quality with SDL TechnologyS ec o ogy

Tom Smith Louise GalindoProduct MarketingSDL

Senior Technical EditorVMware

Polling Question

Which of these best describes your job?a) I am a technical writera) I am a technical writerb) I am an editorc) I am a manager of a technical publications/documentationc) I am a manager of a technical publications/documentation

teamd) I am a project managere) I am a translatorf) I am a translation/localization managerg) I am a marketeerg) I am a marketeerh) Other

2

Make your selection using the polling window.

Agenda

• SDL• VMwareIntroductions

• Challenges for managing global content• Challenges for authoring teams

Global Content and Global Authoring

• Why is there a need?Style, terminology and Why is there a need?• What technology exists to help?

Style, terminology and reuse

• Technical Documentation at VMware• Challenges of global authoring

VMware – the challenges Challenges of global authoringchallenges

• SDL Technology• DITA authoringVMware – the solutions

• To authors, editors and VMware documentation• What the future holdsVMware – the benefits

• Submit your questions in the Q & A box inQ & A S i

3

Submit your questions in the Q & A box in WebexQ & A Session

OOur Mission

We help corporations drive global revenues and reduce costs by providing the software andreduce costs by providing the software and

services to deliver global content

SDL

Award-winning and profitable with longRecognized Leader in Global Information Management

Publicly traded company with $250m annual revenuesOver 2000 employees in 50 offices

32 t i

Award winning and profitable with long term financial stability 80%+ of the global translation supply chain use SDL software

5

across 32 countries 500+ deployments of enterprise technologies

sdl.com sdltridion.com sdltrisoft.com lspzone.com translationzone.com click2translate.com freetranslation.com

End-to-end Process for Global Information Management

6

VMware – The Proven Industry Leader

Company OverviewCompany Overview• $2 billion in 2009 revenue

• Over $2 billion in cash

• 20%+ operating margins

• ~7,000 employees worldwide

• 5th largest infrastructure software gcompany in the world

Proven in the Trenches• 150 000+ VMware customers• 150,000+ VMware customers

• 100% of Fortune 100

• 100% of Fortune Global 100

• 96% of Fortune 1000

• 95% of Fortune Global 500

7

The Solution – Business Infrastructure Virtualization

Virtualizing all IT assets – from the desktop through the datacenter to the cloud – using a common virtualization platform, t t d i fl ibl i f t t f th b ito create a dynamic, flexible infrastructure for the business

8

Challenges in Managing Global Content

Proliferation of global content and the Internet

Time-to-market pressures

Damage to source content

9

Research into the Market Today

Do you write documentation for a global audience?

40

50

20

30%

10

20

0Yes Yes, but not translated No Don't Know

10

Businesses need to think about writing clearly for global audiences and to facilitate translation

Research into the Market Today

Are your authors in one location or are they geographically dispersed?

60

70

30

40

50

%

10

20

30

0In one location Geographically dispersed

11

Authors need to be following the same, global style rules

Technical Documentation at VMware

Technical Documentation based in Palo Alto California withTechnical Documentation based in Palo Alto, California with groups in India, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Israel – 50+ writers and 4 editorsAll types of guides online help and release notes for the full rangeAll types of guides, online help and release notes for the full range of VMware products, including VMware vSphere®Main tools used to be Adobe FrameMaker®, using Adobe Acrobat®

d PDF d i W bW k li h l dto produce PDF and using WebWorks to create online help and librariesMoved to JustSystems XMetaL® and DITA, but API and SDK documentation remains in Adobe FrameMakerUsing XSL:FO to produce PDF and WebWorks to create online help and librariesa d b a es

12

Polling Question

Which tools are you using to write your source material?material?

a) Adobe FrameMakerb) JustSystems XMetaLc) PTC Arbortext Editord) Adobe Robohelpe) Microsoft Wordf) Adobe Indesign) M dC Flg) MadCap Flare

h) oXygeni) Other

13

i) Other

Make your selection using the polling window.

Research into the Market Today

Have you ever noticed inconsistent uses of terminology within source content that is to be translated?

50

60

30

40

%

10

20

0Yes, it occurs frequently Yes, it occurs

occasionallyNo, terminology in the

source content is always consistent

I don't know

14

Terminology is not being controlled when source content is created

Consistency in Terminology

Costs

Translation Quality

Brand

Customer Satisfaction

15

Global Writing Style and Standards

Without a global writing style, errors may occur:Omission of determiners (the, a, an)British vs. American spellingPassive voice

Clarity and

Human

Clarity and Ambiguity

Machine

Translation

16

Translation

Style and Grammar Challenges at VMware

Style guide is critical to VMware but there are always challengesStyle guide is critical to VMware, but there are always challengesWith writers all over the world, it was difficult to adhere to the VMware style globallyBritish English was used when American English was the corporate styleNo contractions (e.g. ‘don’t’, ‘can’t’) and no abbreviationso co t act o s (e g do t , ca t ) a d o abb e at o sCreating a ‘controlled’ vocabulary

17

Reuse at the Sentence Level

WARNING: Switch power off only when the fan has stopped

WARNING S it h ff th f h t dWARNING: Switch power off once the fan has stopped

WARNING: Disconnect power only when the fan has stopped

WARNING: Never switch the power off until the fan has stopped

WARNING: Do not power down until the fan has stopped

WARNING: Do not power down before the fan has stopped

WARNING Y t it til th f h t d b f it hi ff thWARNING: You must wait until the fan has stopped before switching off the power

WARNING: Wait until the fan has stopped running before switching off the power

WARNING: Do not disconnect power if fan is running

WARNING: Fan must be stopped before disconnecting power

18

Authors need to see the correct way of writing and reuse that content

DITA at VMware

DITA is a step forward for VMwareDITA is a step forward for VMwareInitial learning curve and training for writers and editors to adopt new concepts of DITA as a standardMost product documentation written in DITA in JustSystems XMetaLDITA content moving into the SDL Trisoft Component ContentDITA content moving into the SDL Trisoft Component Content Management systemImproves opportunities to reuse content and allows writers to focus on what the customer needsfocus on what the customer needs

19

Polling Question

Are you using DITA in your organization?a) Yes we have implemented DITA as part of our writinga) Yes, we have implemented DITA as part of our writing

processb) Yes, but we are yet to fully implement itc) No, but we are considering moving to DITAd) No, we are not considering ite) What is DITA?

Make your selection using the polling window.

20

Challenges for Authoring Teams

How do we maintain consistency and quality globally?

Global Style Guide

How do we use a common vocabulary and maintain branding?

Terminology Management

How do we author efficiently and control translation costs?

Terminology Management

How do we author efficiently and control translation costs?

Reuse at sentence level

21

A Tool for Terminology, Style and Reuse

22

SDL Solutions for VMware TechnicalDocumentation

Complete solution for managing technical contentSDL Global Authoring Management SystemSDL Global Authoring Management SystemSDL Trisoft Component Content Management systemDITA

23

SDL Global Authoring Management System at VMware

What did you first like about the SDL Global Authoring Management System?g y

Immediately identifies any style guide mistakes by the writersLocates terms that we did not want to use in our documentationImproves our writing standards and provides consistency p g p yacross VMware documentation

24

SDL Global Authoring Management System at VMware

What have been the benefits to you as a Technical Editor and your writing team?y g

More productive – allows us to focus more on development issuesIrons out the small, but important errors that are sometimes missedUsed as a training tool for new writers across the globeg gAs DITA grows and style rules change, we can easily update the profile for all our international writers to use

25

Documentation Now and in the Future

How do you see technical documentation changing?DITA is becoming increasingly importantDITA is becoming increasingly importantExploration of crowdsourcing and community-based design – how it will be used in technical documentation

26

Poll

Do you think crowdsourcing will play a part in technical documentation in the next 5 years?

a) Yes, I think it will have significant impactb) Yes, I think it will have some impactc) No, I do not believe it has a place in Technical

Documentationd) What is crowdsourcing?d) What is crowdsourcing?

Make your selection using the polling window.

27

Questions?

To ask a question, use the Q&A window on the right h d id f thhand side of the screen

SDL and Adobe Partnership

Adobe FrameMaker 9 users can download SDL AuthorAssistant for FREE

dl / d b dl29

www.sdl.com/adobesdl