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Subject:RE: outsourcing From:eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 14 Nov 2003 14:46:07 -0500
"Bill Lawrence" <scribe -at- matrixplus -dot- com> wrote on 11/14/2003 02:25:35 PM:
> I'm unconvinced that Frame and Robohelp and other
> commercial tools will be all that useful in the
> wide-open global market everyone expects.
> I think the offshore trend will be to use
> open-source tools simply because of cost.
If cost of the tool to the client was an issue and open-source tools were the
correct choice, then the move to them would/will have nothing to do with
outsourcing or overseas contractors.
The customers will still force tool or at least delivery format on the
contractors as they have always done. Based on the requirements of their
workflow and installed user base. If MSWord remains dominant in engineering,
MSWord will remain as the dominant choice of delivery format. If a company has a
workflow based on FM files, they will continue to demand that the contractors
deliver content in that format.
Seeing how much griping there is on Techwr-l about the tool choices foisted on
techwriters by upper management when the techpubs dept is local, do you really
think such far removed contractors will have a say in the tools requirements?
But once again, Techwr-l gets sucked into a tools discussion. Anyone can learn
any tool. That's why techwriting based on simple tool use and data entry is now
commoditised and a candidate for contracting and outsourcing.
You aren't going to make yourself competitive simply by learning tools. Either
you need to know how to make the tools sign, or need to master the
content/deliverables created using those tools.
Indeed my mastery of FrameMaker and FrameScript may make me more cost effective
than any number of open-source wielding competitors. How competitive you are on
the global market place isn't about tools or their cost, but the quality/cost of
the deliverables created.
An analogy that may only be tenuously appropriate: machine tools or workshop
tools. You COULD build your own. Some people do. Many don't, and there's still a
market place for both cheap mass produced tools and MEGA-expensive specialty or
high-quality tools. The reason? Sometimes the more expensive tool allows you to
be more productive, consistent, and cost effective.
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4
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