Organizations create tremendous volumes of content to support their products, services, and business processes. Getting content out to the right people at the right time and in the right format is critical to an organization’s success. Not only is there a tremendous amount of content to get out, it may also be published in a number of different formats and for many different media (such as paper, the Web, and wireless devices, such as PDAs and cell phones).
This chapter introduces the concept of unifying content within an organization, including the causes and effects of the “Content Silo Trap™” and the components of a unified content strategy.
A typical organization has multiple content creators who design, create, manage, and distribute information. Virtually every department within an organization touches content in some way. For example, marketing and public affairs departments produce information targeted to customers and potential customers, as well as for the general public and the press. They create such things as newsletters, brochures, product information sheets, proposals, press releases, speeches, presentations, and annual reports. These “information products” may be published on paper, but often reside on the company’s Internet site, as well as on the intranet for internal consumption. Content may also be delivered through portals.
Likewise, HR departments produce many materials that are published to different media (web, paper, portals) for different audiences. HR departments create information such as employee training materials and orientation programs (web-based or classroom-led, self-paced or guided), corporate policies and procedures, employee newsletters, and job openings and descriptions.
Technical publications is another area where much internal and external information is created, managed, and stored. Technical publications departments typically work on the information that accompanies products, including user guides, online help, reference documents, development guides, and application guides. They also create much of the internal documentation that supports products, such as specifications and reference materials for the company’s frontline support staff. In many organizations, technical publications departments, along with HR, have been influential in making internal information available online via the company intranet.
Product/service development departments conceive of and build the products or services an organization produces. They design the computer programs, the medical devices, the coffee machines, the handheld devices. In their capacity as developers, they produce functional specifications, design documents, and quality assurance test plans.
Customer service departments respond to requests for information and assistance as rapidly as possible. To assist customer service representatives in responding to customer inquiries, they produce and maintain frequently asked question (FAQ) sites and problem-tracking databases.
Training publications and staff help customers embrace new products through practical customer-oriented instruction. They produce such information products as classroom or web-based course materials, application guides, and customer-specific courses.
Although these examples are not all-inclusive and not necessarily representative of how all organizations are structured, they serve to illustrate the many possible variations and iterations of content, churned into various information products, into a number of different media, for a number of different people. The number of iterations lend themselves to repetition (sometimes necessary, sometimes not) and to inconsistency. However, a unified content strategy brings together all content, so it is managed through a definitive source. Whoever needs information can find and access it through the definitive source, and wherever information is repeated, it is consistent rather than created “from scratch” each time. Naturally, one of the biggest challenges in implementing a unified content strategy is identifying and breaking down the “silos,” which is where we’ll begin.
Too often, content is created by authors working in isolation from other authors within the organization. Walls are erected among content areas and even within content areas, which leads to content being created, and re-created, and recreated, often with changes or differences at each iteration. We call this the content silo trap (see Figure 1.1).
For example, a company develops a new product. A design document is created that explains the functionality and positioning of the product. Marketing rewrites that content for their product launch materials and all the supporting marketing materials such as brochures, press releases, and the web site. The material is written differently to accommodate each medium (such as web and paper). The training group works from the design document and works with the product development team to create an overview of the product and the functionality. Their content does not draw on any of the marketing materials because they are being developed simultaneously. Customer support works from the design document and with the product development team to create a product functionality overview. They also work on their own to create these materials. Three groups have essentially created the same content, often multiple times to accommodate paper and web requirements. However, every instance of the content is different because it has been created by different people with different requirements in mind. The reviewers have had to review it all multiple times. Now it needs to be translated into six languages. The cost of translation is very high because a minimum of six (two per department) variations of the content exist. Translation costs grow as last-minute changes need to be incorporated in multiple places. This organization spent a lot of time, money, and resources essentially creating, re-creating, and re-creating the same content. They were victims of the content silo trap.
Most organizations do not set out to create silos; rather, silos are a result of organizational pressures and structure. Frequently, authors lack awareness of what others are doing elsewhere in the organization. They have a great deal “on their plate”: always too much to do, rarely enough time to do it in, and never enough resources to do what needs to get done. There simply isn’t enough time for them to find out what other groups are doing, especially when those other groups are just as busy focusing on their own activities.
All this struggling to get things done can result in isolation and a sometimes deliberate desire to “block out” other activities. Authors are often unaware how their behavior may impact others.
Further adding to the frustration of trying to get the job done is the inconsistent amount of information communicated throughout the organization. Whereas some employees do not get enough information, others get too much. Also, information is seldom prioritized for viewing; it merges into an overwhelming information flow, with little or no information being actually consumed.
Lack of awareness of other initiatives, shortage of time, and inconsistent amounts of information are leading contributors to silos within organizations. The content creation process itself is one that often occurs in isolation, leading to potential inconsistencies and extra work. Many authors believe that because content is displayed differently it must be created differently, and that because their audience is different, or the type of content they are creating is different, it must be created differently. Authors take great pride in the materials they create. They may have strong ideas about what is appropriate for their content areas, how that content should be organized, structured, and displayed, and how they believe it is different from other content being created in the organization. So, rather than relying on “outside” content, many authors prefer to handcraft their work.
In addition, when creating documents, authors often lack the tools or time to search out existing content, perceiving that it is faster to start from scratch than to spend the time figuring out whether content already exists. In a typical organization, content is stored in file systems that allow searching only by file name or file date. This makes it very difficult to search through multitudes of files on multiple servers; to find content, authors have to know exactly what they are looking for and where it is likely to be stored. If an organization does have a content or document management system, the content is seldom organized or classified with reuse in mind, so authors may have to search through volumes of incongruent content to identify the piece they want to reuse. When authors know their content very well, the difficulties in finding other authors’ content make that content seem inaccessible by comparison.
Traditionally, information reuse opportunities have been difficult for organizations to identify. Members of each content creation group develop their own processes, and although interrelated processes typically occur for content review cycles, they do not occur for content creation cycles. Unless groups identify the commonality of their content, content creation processes remain isolated, making it difficult for content to be identified and reused across an organization.
Content silos can have detrimental effects on organizations, resulting in increased costs, reduced quality, and potentially ineffective materials. The effects of content silos are numerous and insidious, as illustrated in the following sections.
When groups within an organization work in isolation, vital information is poorly communicated among all the areas that need it. Poor communication is evident when one group fails to inform another group that something has changed, that something exists, or that something has been discontinued. Poor communication can also occur within one group.
For example, a company’s proposal authors, working to meet a tight deadline, might not have the most current information about a product offering. As a result, they include information about repositioned, repriced, and even discontinued products. In this company, as in many, the proposal authors don’t have time to check with product development or engineering to find out whether something has changed each time they write a proposal. Instead, they assume that if the information in a recent proposal is correct, it is still correct. However, this is not always the case and presents conflicting messages to potential customers and can cost the organization money.
Authors work on many different types of projects. They create content for different media (such as paper and the Web), for different customers (such as decision makers and end users), or for different contexts (such as support and training). Authors normally bring much experience and expertise to their work and use their knowledge to carefully craft content both for the users’ needs and for the presentation format. Because of their deadline-driven environment, authors do not share their good ideas, lessons learned, and finished work with others working on similar projects, and they do not expect others to share with them. This can result in inconsistencies, mixed messages to the customer, and increased costs of development as each author “reinvents the wheel.”
For example, a corporation is launching a new product that requires technical documentation and a variety of instructional materials. The technical communicators meet with the engineers and product marketing group to learn how the product works so they can create the user guide, the reference guide, and online help. The instructional design team also meets with the engineers and with product marketing personnel to gather the information they need to develop the training materials.
Both the technical communicators and the instructional designers document the same tasks, but they have documented them differently, resulting in confusion for customers. Additionally, they have consumed twice as much of the engineers’ and product marketing groups’ time.
Within an organization, problems and resolutions are rarely restricted to just one area. Frequently, multiple groups within an organization experience the same problems, and to resolve them, each group often launches independent initiatives, likely duplicating another group’s efforts. An initiative that one group is working on may benefit—or harm—another group, but because they are working in silos, they are not aware of the effects of their efforts outside their own departments.
If all the initiatives come to fruition, they may result in incompatible technology solutions, disparate process changes, and increased costs. In addition, one group may be forced to use a product or to implement a process that is inappropriate for their purposes, as in the following example.
In one organization, the web management group needs a content management system. They carefully specify their requirements, solicit proposals from vendors, and make a selection. The customer support area, which encompasses documentation, training, and front-line customer support, also needs a content management system. After careful research, they present their business case to management for the product they have decided to purchase. However, the web management group has already purchased its system, and is expecting it to be installed any day, so the customer support area is told to use the same system.
Although the selected web content management product meets the needs of the web team, it is neither flexible nor comprehensive enough to meet the needs of customer support. As a result, customer support has to make their requirements fit the solution, incur extensive costs to customize it to meet their needs, or settle for an ineffective partial solution.
When content is created in multiple areas by multiple authors, it invariably differs, resulting in mixed, or even incorrect messages. This not only causes confusion, it can be potentially dangerous, as illustrated in the following example.
In this case, a company’s product is potentially hazardous if used incorrectly. One group is responsible for publishing product information on the web site; another group is responsible for writing the materials that accompany the product. Each group is careful to document the hazards and provide warnings on the potential dangers of using the product incorrectly. However, because the authors work in silos, the warnings are inconsistent in the level of detail provided. Unfortunately, a customer has experienced a problem using the product and has successfully sued the company based on the inconsistencies in the product warnings.
When content is created multiple times, by multiple people, and delivered in multiple ways, the costs to create and deliver it increase by the number of times the content is re-created or “massaged.” Multiple versions of content also require that the content be managed and handled multiple times. Additionally, if content is translated, it must be translated each time it appears.
These costs are illustrated in the content silo trap example earlier in this chapter. See Chapter 3, “Assessing return on investment for a unified content strategy,” for details about calculating actual costs.
It is not only organizations that suffer from content silos; content users suffer, too. When the same, similar, or related information exists in multiple places, it often differs in content and message. Users cannot tell which one is correct.
For example, a customer has just finished product training and is starting to use the product in the workplace. He gets stuck on one task he has forgotten how to do. Rather than looking it up in the material from the training he has just completed, he requests online help. The help is clear and understandable, but he thinks that it isn’t telling him to do it in quite the same way he learned during the training, so he is uncomfortable about following the directions. Instead he takes the time to find it in the training material. This is a frustrating experience because the training material isn’t indexed for quick access to information and he can’t remember exactly which lesson covered this task. After an hour of digging he finds the information, and discovers that it really is different from the online help directions he was given. Which one is correct? Is one more current then the other? Not wanting to cause a problem, he calls customer support. The customer support representative verifies that the information is different between the training materials and the online documentation, and says she will get back to the customer as soon as possible with the correct information. The customer support representative gets back to the customer the next day with the correct information, which isn’t exactly the same as either document; then she posts an FAQ to the web site explaining the correct steps. The customer wasted a tremendous amount of time determining the correct steps to take. The customer support representative wasted time tracking down and documenting the “correct answer.” And the next customer that encounters this problem will now find three different ways to perform the task. Which one is correct?
A unified content strategy can help your organization to avoid the content silo trap, reducing the costs of creating, managing, and distributing content, and ensuring that content effectively supports your organizational and customer needs. A unified content strategy is a repeatable method of identifying all content requirements up front, creating consistently structured content for reuse, managing that content in a definitive source, and assembling content on demand to meet your customers’ needs.
You start by analyzing your audiences, information, needs, processes, and technology. You examine such things as:
Who needs and uses what information (what content needs to be created, for whom and by whom)
How the information currently supports the users
How the information is produced
After you have a thorough understanding of all the information needs within your organization and the processes you use to create it, you can determine how to start unifying it, first from the authoring perspective. In a unified environment, departments and authors need to work together as a team to create content “objects” that can be assembled in a number of different “information products,” for a number of different delivery methods. Rather than write entire documents, authors create “elements” that are compiled into an information product, such as a press release or brochure. Some elements are the core—that is, the information that is reused across information products—whereas other elements are unique to a particular information product.
However, writing reusable information elements does not mean that authors no longer have ownership of their information or that they will lose control over the structure of the final output. Rather, it means that one author may be responsible for creating the core information (the elements that are reused) whereas others are responsible for identifying how their information set differs from the core and creating the additional elements. Or it may mean that a number of authors work on different aspects of the core and work together to ensure that all the information is integrated.
When authors create elements in this way, they must work to defined standards for content creation and display to ensure that when elements are compiled into one information product, they are written and structured consistently. For example, a product description should follow the same model each time it is written so that it can be easily incorporated into a brochure, the Web, an e-catalog, in an introduction to a manual or training materials, and in a presentation. Every time that product description is presented in a specific medium, such as the Web, it is displayed in the same way for that medium. However, rather than fuss over the format, authors use style sheets to automatically convert the product description to the proper format, depending on its medium. This does not mean that creativity is stifled; rather it means that creativity is used where it has the most value—in creating effective content. Even though a product description is standardized, authors employ creativity in optimally explaining the benefits of the product or its key applications. The sometimes tedious process of content creation is facilitated by standardization and the creative process is unleashed to write really good content, or to customize it for specific customer needs.
Just as a unified authoring process and standardized models are required, appropriate technology is required to enable the unified content strategy. Too often technology is perceived as the solution, but technology on its own is not a solution. To support a unified content strategy, technology must be based on business needs; it must facilitate the authoring process, making it easy for authors to create standard content, store it, automatically reuse existing content, and facilitate customization where appropriate. Technology should also automatically route content through the review and publishing cycle, enabling automatic publishing without hands-on intervention. Technology must provide automation wherever possible in the content life cycle process to eliminate the burden on authors. For example, authors should not have to know that a piece of reusable content exists, then go out and search for it; rather, the system should automatically provide authors with the reusable piece when they begin to write. A definitive source for content ensures that authors are reusing the most current, applicable piece of approved content. No longer do authors have to spend time searching for content and ensuring that content is the most accurate.
A unified content strategy is a coherent content strategy. Organizations can rely on content being the same wherever it appears, providing both internal and external customers with a consistent message, brand, and accuracy. No longer do organizations have to worry about contradicting themselves with differing information; where duplication occurs, the same content is used. Additional benefits include:
Faster time to market
Faster time to market is achieved through shorter and simpler content creation and maintenance cycles. Authors spend less time repeatedly authoring content because they reuse existing content wherever possible, supplementing it with new or modified content where appropriate. Reviewers also spend less time reviewing content because they have to review only the content that is new or changed; existing content has already been reviewed and has received sign-off.
Better use of resources
In a unified content strategy, resources are optimized because the repetitive processes of creation and maintenance are reduced. Because they are required to do less repetitive work, everyone involved in the content creation process can do more value-added work or respond to new requirements.
Reduced costs
In a unified content strategy, the costs of creating and managing content are reduced. Less work is required to get a product to market, not only decreasing internal costs, but potentially increasing revenue. Content is modified or corrected only once, reducing maintenance costs. Translation costs are reduced because reusable content is translated only once; derivatives of that content are eliminated or reduced.
Improved quality and usability of content
A unified content strategy helps to improve the quality of content. Content is clearly modeled for consistent structure, increasing its readability and usability. Most importantly, content is accurate and consistent wherever it appears. Issues of inaccurate content, inconsistent content, or missing content are reduced or eliminated.
Increased opportunity to innovate
A unified content strategy can make it easier to focus on innovation. The time normally spent on creating, managing, and distributing content is reduced, which leaves more time for innovation. Time, budget, and resources to focus on innovation can improve the quality of your content and help you to differentiate your product in the marketplace.
Improved workplace satisfaction
A unified content strategy results in an effective content life cycle. An effective content life cycle results in greater satisfaction from authors because they can focus on effectively creating content and reduce or eliminate mechanical tasks such as repetitive updates and formatting; reviewers gain satisfaction through a reduced review workload and assurance that changes have been correctly incorporated; the organization gains greater satisfaction through an integrated, consistent, and accurate content across all aspects of content.
Increased customer satisfaction
A unified content strategy increases customer satisfaction through consistent, accurate materials of all types. Customers receive an integrated message that ensures they have the right information, at the right time, and in the right format.
Implementing a unified content strategy means thinking about creating, managing, and storing content in a new way. A unified content strategy consists of three components:
Content management system
Reusable content
Unified processes
These components, along with implementation strategies, are discussed in further detail throughout the book.
A unified content strategy requires a robust content management solution that manages content in a definitive source. Most content management systems provide traditional document management functionality, such as secure access to content (check-in/check-out), revision control, reporting, powerful search and retrieval mechanisms, and metadata. However, content management is not just about technology; it is about the nature of your business and content, people, processes, and tools.
Authors need content management to assist them in authoring. Specifically, they need help to find and distribute or publish content, and to ensure that the content they are distributing is accurate and appropriate. Organizations need content management to support the business needs, their product or service, and their corporate processes. Customers need content management to ensure that they get the right content at the right time, at the right level of detail, and in the right format.
A content management solution starts with analysis of your needs (customer, authoring, processes, cultural, technological), definition of your strategy, implementation support (information models, metadata, templates, and stylesheets), workflow (automated processes that support your content processes), and content delivery (dynamic content and multiple media delivery).
Content reuse means writing content once and reusing it many times. Traditional documents are written in files that consist of sections. Reusable content is written as objects or elements, not documents. Documents are therefore made up of content objects that can be mixed and matched to meet specific information needs. For example, a product description (paragraph) could be used in a brochure, on the Web, in a parts catalog, in product support documentation, or even on a package.
Reusable content is broken down into the smallest reusable object (section, paragraph, sentence). When information is broken down to this level it is easy to select an element to reuse or repurpose it. However, even though content elements are reused, copying and pasting is eliminated. Instead, elements are stored in the database or content management system and are referenced (pointed to) for inclusion in a virtual document. In this way, the element can appear in multiple places, but reside in only one.
A unified content strategy also involves people and unified (collaborative) processes. The unified processes must break down the silo walls to create a collaborative environment in which authors share in the development of content to create a single definitive source of information. The ultimate goal in defining unified processes is to ensure that all departments are aware of what content exists, all authors can reuse existing content automatically, and all processes are repeatable and transparent, regardless of which department and which authors are following them.
A unified content strategy fits everywhere content is used, created, stored, and managed throughout an organization. In fact, if your organization is like most, there are already a number of initiatives underway to address problems related to content creation and management. Many companies focus on web content management, but other initiatives include product support and training materials. However, as the content silo trap illustrates, creating content in isolation—and addressing content problems in isolation—solves only the immediate problem. It does not address content creation and use in a unified way, and hence, may compound problems. As the name implies, a unified content strategy fits everywhere in your organization. Some areas where a unified content strategy may be integrated into your organization are described in the following list:
Customer data
Many organizations have begun to focus on customer relationship management to more effectively manage and support their customers. A unified content strategy ensures that every piece of content or information that reaches your customers reflects your initiatives accurately and consistently. It also ensures that information you receive from interaction with your customers is reflected back into the definitive content source, for reuse by others, including customers (dynamic/personalized content), and to help enhance his/her relationship with you.
Web site and e-commerce portal
Your web site also represents key information for your organization. A unified content strategy not only ensures that your web content is effectively managed, but also that the content “feeding” the web site—or that is fed by the site—is managed. Plus, it helps to ensure that your message and branding are consistent across your entire content set, on the Web or off.
The e-commerce portion of a web site provides your customers with an alternative and potentially more effective way to purchase your product. A unified content strategy ensures that all your customer purchase strategies are consistent and accurate and that they portray the same level of customer excellence your customers demand.
Product support and training materials
Product support materials form a continuum proceeding from marketing materials through training, product support, troubleshooting, and problem solving. Your customers also perceive this information as a continuum; they don’t care, and shouldn’t have to care, which department initiates and manages the information. A unified content strategy ensures that your product support and training materials provide the continuum your customers expect, and like the information on your web site, reflect your branding accurately and consistently.
Policies and procedures
Internal policies and procedures ensure that all tasks performed within your organization are performed accurately and uniformly and that all staff have consistent information, targeted toward their needs. It’s also critical that staff can access the most current information, whenever and wherever they need it. A unified content strategy ensures that policies and procedures can be instantly and dynamically adapted to reflect changing roles and responsibilities so your organization can adapt to change as required.
Proposals
Proposals help an organization acquire business or make sales, so it is imperative that your corporate branding, positioning, industry experience, pricing, and product or service details are correct. A unified content strategy ensures that content is consistent wherever it is used, and that when content changes, any new proposals reflect these changes.
Regulatory reports
Industries that are regulated produce large volumes of content to clearly detail their product or processes for regulatory approval. Frequently content is common across many of these reports. A unified content strategy ensures that reused content is consistent and accurate wherever it appears. The content management component of the strategy ensures that there is a clear and verifiable audit trail and that content is reviewed and an electronic signature applied to verify approval and sign-off.
This chapter has described many opportunities for managing enterprise content through a unified content strategy. Your unified content strategy can encompass the content created by a department, across departments, across an organizational group or division, or across the whole enterprise. You may choose to start in one area and then expand to other areas, or remain in the one area alone. You need to determine what makes the most sense for your organization, now and into the future. The remainder of the book helps you to identify your organizational needs, the processes for creating a unified content strategy, and the technology for supporting it. Chapter 22, “Transition plan” helps you to identify how you can transition to a unified content strategy in phases.
Content is created in every area of your organization. However, content is often created in “silos,” with areas working in isolation from each other, and even authors within an area working in isolation from other authors. This isolation leads to increased costs, reduced quality, and inconsistency of content. Working in content silos is known as the Content Silo Trap.
A unified content strategy can help your organization avoid the content silo trap, reduce the costs of creating, managing, and distributing content, and ensure your content effectively supports your organizational and customer needs. A unified content strategy is a repeatable method of identifying all content requirements up front, creating consistently structured content for reuse, managing that content in a definitive source, and assembling content on demand to meet your customers’ needs.
A unified content strategy results in:
Faster time to market
Better use of resources
Reduced costs
Increased quality and consistency
A unified content strategy consists of:
A content management system to manage your content in a definitive source
Reusable content objects that enable you to write content once and use it many times
Unified processes that encourage people to work collaboratively, which results in processes that are repeatable and transparent, regardless of department or author
A unified content strategy fits everywhere in your organization, such as customer relationship management, the web site, e-commerce, product training and support, corporate policies and procedures, proposals, and regulatory content. Only a unified content strategy can ensure that your organization is addressing all the problems of content in a coherent unified manner. Your customers will benefit from a unified strategy and your employees will, too. The entire organization will benefit from a unified content strategy because it brings value to the organization as a whole.