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Working With a Technical Content Development Partner
Your ideal technical content development partner can both develop all types of content and design and implement the optimum infrastructure to support it. Contiem Technologies is that partner. We manage the quality of the work we produce by consistently following our proven processes and provide comprehensive reporting to keep our Clients informed every step of the way. You can depend on Contiem to provide comprehensive project management — our goal is to make it simple for you.
Not all technical documentation projects are the same. Make sure your budget is consistent with your expectations and with the realities of your content development project. As with many other things in business and life, you get what you pay for. There is a large difference between simply revising a mature document for an interim product release and building a new set of product documentation. Similarly, graphics‐intensive documents that require numerous review cycles, or documents for which source material is difficult to obtain, obviously require a greater investment.
Technical content should be integrated into the product development cycle from the beginning. It is not unusual for companies to spend time and effort on internal documentation – such as product requirements, specifications, and engineering change notices — and to delay producing customer and user documentation so long that the product release date is jeopardized.
High‐quality technical content relies on the participation of the in‐house staff who have expert knowledge. They must actively participate with the technical content development partner in the collection, review, and approval of all details. No technical writer or technical documentation services firm, regardless of how good they are, can compensate for lack of participation and buy‐in from your valuable subject matter experts.
Assuming your technical content development provider has the exact IT infrastructure needed to run, test, and document your product is risky. Anticipate what is needed to replicate your product environment, whether high‐tech or low‐tech, and build those considerations into the planning.
Meeting deadlines requires everyone’s participation, and outsourcing technical content development services does not eliminate the need for timely reviews and approvals. Make sure your documentation plan spells out the specific responsibilities of each reviewer. When you delegate final approval authority to your technical content development partner, clearly define the criteria for acceptance of the technical content.
Your partner’s technical content development team should provide an extension of your company’s capabilities. As such, there may be overlapping roles for which you assign final responsibility. For example, is the final document quality assurance completed by the partner or by in‐house resources?
Ignoring the translation needs of your technical content can save some time and money early in the technical content development cycle but, inevitably results in much higher costs later. Content intended for multiple global markets requires a specialized approach to writing, illustration, and formatting that can add time to the front end of the project; however, time and cost are quickly recovered during the translation phase.
Technical content is most efficient and cost‐effective when it is designed to meet the needs of the target audience. Know the reading level, technical sophistication, and usage preferences of your content’s audience. It is also critical to understand what the audience needs to know, versus what is non‐essential, so that you don’t waste time and cost developing and maintaining unnecessary information.
An effective content development organization requires an infrastructure that can scale to meet department and company needs. Look for evidence of mature accounting, operations, IT, and project management and a track record of success.
Complex technical content development projects usually have numerous milestones with various dependencies that make project management expertise essential. Make certain your technical content development provider can supply that expertise.
Contiem has been the trusted content partner of choice for companies and organizations such as American Express, the U.S. Federal Government, The Home Depot, Cisco Systems, UnitedHealthcare, eBay, Facebook, and many more.
When you engage Contiem, we take the time to listen and develop an in-depth understanding of your immediate needs and longer-term challenges. Then, leveraging the capabilities that make us unique, we will provide a best-in-class, client-focused solution designed to achieve your business goals.
Experienced in a host of authoring software and with a wide variety of industries, we specialize in delivering a blend of services for documenting products and processes, training development, translation and localization, and content management.
Whether you need a complete training program to augment a new product or service, or you require job aids for internal learning, Contiem has the experience and skills to deliver the results you are looking for.