Source: BusinessWire

Increase product volumes. Get products to market faster. Manage product quality and consistency on a global scale. The mandates of 21st century manufacturing are burdening manufacturers with an exponentially growing demand for corresponding product information. To meet that demand, more global organizations are viewing a content management system (CMS) as the way to quickly realize reduced time and costs associated with product documentation. In particular, manufacturers recognize that a CMS that supports content reuse delivers efficiencies throughout the organization, and that effective change management planning at the forefront is key to ensuring these benefits are realized.

Driving efficiencies in dynamic publishing, Astoria Software today revealed findings surrounding the adoption of content management systems as evidenced in a poll conducted during a recent Webinar titled, “Where Do We Go from Here? A Roadmap to CMS Success.” The Webinar featured guest speakers Mary Laplante, principal at The Gilbane Group, an information analyst and consulting organization, and Chip Gettinger, vice president, services and sales support for Astoria Software.

Throughout the event, the audience of over 140 C-level executives, information architects, product management directors, developers, documentation specialists and technical writers were polled on:

1) What is the most critical business challenge or initiative facing your organization that is driving your change/adoption to XML and content component management with a CMS?

33.9% of respondents said the ability to reuse content across multiple business functional areas was the leading business requirement driving adoption of an XML CMS. Other drivers included requirements for content globalization and translation (22.7%), multi-channel delivery (15.5%), customer satisfaction initiatives for content quality and consistency (13.4%), time-to-market or competitive response needs (12.4%), and support of regulatory or compliance initiatives (2.1%).

2) Select the factor that you think is most critical to meeting your CMS project objectives.

34.8% of respondents said successful change management planning in concert with technology was the most critical factor impacting the success of their project objectives. Additional audience responses named gaining executive buy-in for the project (31.8%), adoption of information standards such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) (25.8%), and recognized validation of Return on Investment (ROI) (7.6%) as the most critical factors influencing the success of CMS project objectives.

The Webinar offered a best-practice approach to ride out a “perfect storm” in product information management. The approach integrates business change management and adoption of key information standards, like DITA, with supporting technology solutions, like XML content management systems, to create a flexible, efficient way to manage documentation. This enables manufacturers to deliver a rich end-user experience with accurate, relevant, and consistent product information in local languages across every customer-facing channel in any media type. The net effect is an increase in customer satisfaction driven by improvements in both operational efficiencies and margins.

Attendees learned key milestones for a fast, successful CMS project:

• Strategy considerations around a CMS
• Gaining executive buy-in and capturing ROI metrics
• Best practices in organizational change
• Leveraging information standards like DITA for technical publications
• How to utilize new Software-as-a-Service technology to eliminate long, costly CMS projects

An archived version of the Webinar is accessible at http://www.bulldogsolutions.net/ASTSW/AST03082007/frmRegistration.aspx

For more information on Astoria Software, please visit www.astoriasoftware.com.

About Astoria Software

Astoria Software drives efficiencies in dynamic product documentation with on-demand delivery of structured content management. GE Healthcare, NCR/Teradata, Texas Instruments, and other Forbes Global 2000 manufacturers rely on Astoria to meet rigorous market demands — increasing product volumes, accelerating time-to-market, and concurrent global customization. Astoria reduces documentation costs up to 90% and compresses product launch cycles from months to weeks. Astoria Software is based in San Mateo, California. For more information, visit www.astoriasoftware.com.

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