ROI in S1000D is tough to spot if you are not fully aware of the entire S1000D process, the role of modern technical publications and the opportunity presented through Industry 4.0.
On my training courses, we look at RoI, and it is always a question asked of me. The first thing I will do is ask the course attendees to stop comparing S1000D to what they believe is a technical publication. I am clear, comparing S1000D to a traditional technical publication will only result in one outcome. S1000D will lose, every time. Naturally, not the students’ fault; this is a symptom of the bad messaging broadcast over the years around why we use S1000D.
If a critical decision make perceives S1000D to be nothing more than a technical publication, then rightly they will ask, why bother?
Helping organisations look at the Return on Investment, the RoI categories, and the modern platform’s nature is central to ensuring we have a balanced view of S1000D.
Comparing S1000D to a traditional technical publication is understandable, but the wrong place to start. S1000D is much bigger and more flexible and business supporting of a monolithic technical publication.
During our training course, we cover RoI’s by domain, why RoI is different, and examples of the problems S1000D is solving for projects, beyond a simple technical document.
Evolution in the S-Series of specifications advancements in the Internet of Things, connected platforms and user drivers are all impacting why we must use modern information production methods.
Naturally, suppose a project has a short lifespan, lower budgets, small support documentation requirement. In that case, it is often hard to justify investment in S1000D simply because the RoI for S1000D is unlikely to be realised.
S1000D is not for all projects and certainly not for all technical documentation requirements. S1000D struggles to scale and requires a great deal of upfront work, software and skills. All reflecting poorly on the ‘technical publication’.
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Learn more about our course “Contracting for S1000D” where we cover the RoI and what we need to be looking for.
