Content Quality Management
The need for measurements and metrics with meaningby Scott Abel, TheContentWrangler.com
What is content?The stuff that runs your business
What is management?In a word: Control
Are you in control?Chances are you’re not
Why control?Content is a business asset worthy of being managed
just like any other business asset
Paradigm shiftDocuments aren’t authored, they’re manufactured
example: films and music
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Paradigm shiftWe create content for reuse in a variety of mediums
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example: modular, reusable, structured XML, syndication
Paradigm shiftWork shifts from authors to content managers
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example: managers track hours, personnel, cost per reuse unit
Paradigm shiftNew tools, standards, and customer-expectations
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example: DITA, XML authoring, “the perpetual beta”
Current stateTech pubs is often viewed as a cost center
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...but no one really knows what the actual costs are
does anyone know?
Current stateIt’s difficult - if not impossible - to get funding
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...so we chug along, doing our best with what we have
Current stateWe lack the ability to quickly see what’s going on
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...we can’t easily provide actionable data to decision-makers
Current stateWe often settle for mediocrity
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...and we make excuses for our inefficiencies
Solving the problemAdmit that we must manage content as an asset
...content management involves imposing order
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Solving the problemCapture exactly how we do our jobs today
...detect patterns that may have eluded us before
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Solving the problemMake intelligent decisions based on metrics
...metadata must be accessible and used to guide decisions
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Solving the problemChanging our roles and communicating business value
...sell both the value of improvements and their benefits
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Solving the problemSpeak to leaders in a way they understand
...it’s about profitability, plain and simple
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Solving the problemWork like a professional
...prove your ideas have merit and are based on fact
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Inmedius HorizonDashboard acts as a content command center
...define and control tasks, employees, processes, and content
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Inmedius Horizon helps youDetermine the cost of creating information products
...work hours, number of staff, cost per unit
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see things that were previously invisible
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Inmedius Horizon helps youDetermine the actual cost of reusable content
...measure creation, compilation, and reuse costs
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process costs may surprise you
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Inmedius Horizon helps youProfessionally manage your content life cycle processes
...and can help you make the case for change
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easily making the business case
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More informationScott Abel [email protected]
For more information about Inmedius Horizon call
1-800-697-7110 or visit www.inmedius.com
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