Re: Is it possible to single-source online & print and author in HTML?

[Gwen Thomas <gthomas -at- PAYSYS -dot- COM>]

Chuck Martin (and others) have written about moving to a single-source solution for text that needs to serve multiple purposes and appear within multiple media.

However, there seems to be a larger issue at hand:  The company needs to make Knowledge Management decisions before doc decisions can be made.

Obviously, a lot of company resources have been invested in creating this content.   That makes it a corporate asset - an information asset.  And, whichever approach is taken regarding media delivery choices, content storage, and doc processes, the company is going to be spending a bundle more.  So, some tough business decisions need to be made to decide on the best ROI for the company regarding tools, processes, training, etc.

The person making these decisions needs to be sure of the company's Value Proposition regarding spending on information deliverables.
( If we spend $_______ doing __________, then we expect ____________ to happen, with a value of ____________.)

Even if your company has never stated that Value Proposition out loud, it's a sure bet that Somebody Influential has something like this in mind.  If I were in Chuck's shoes, I'd check this out before planning solutions.  I'd also try to discover senior management expectations regarding customers' access to doc.  I'd get buy-in (and sign-off) on Knowledge Management issues before tackling Doc issues.

(BTW, I have a list of KM questions to use as a starting point, if anyone's interested.)

Gwen Thomas
Knowledge Management Consultant
CIBER Information Systems


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=