1. Position Paper on
Value of Technical Publications in
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
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3. Introduction
This paper presents the value and need for qualitative TWB – Leading Technical Documentation
Technical Publications in companies providing
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.
Outsourcing Company
TWB is a leading technical communication outsourcing
Technical publications include a wide variety of
company that provides services in technical
material such as Process and Workflow
documentation.
Documentation, User Guides, Online Help, White
Papers, Classroom Training Materials, Reference
Guides, Administration Guides, Standard Operating TWB is the ideal choice for leading vendors of ERP
Procedures, Installation Manuals, Web-based Training solutions. TWB helps customers with all their technical
Materials, and Product Demos. documentation needs such as user guides,
administration guides, installation manuals, process and
workflow documentation, configuration documents and
ERP implementation in an organization results in
training materials.
extensive changes in staff and work practices. These
changes necessitate documentation of the updated
processes and workflows, along with the creation of TWB works closely with client teams located globally,
user manuals for the software and its modules, training and assists them in meeting their worldwide product
material for employees, and product-specific announcements and launch deadlines. TWB’s
configuration documents. documentation services enable customers launch their
products with world-class documentation.
Industry analysts predict that every major
manufacturing company will purchase and implement
“Knowledge is people, money, learning, flexibility
the software, with leaders redirecting 50% to 75% of
and competitive advantage. Knowledge is more
their R&D budgets to e-commerce. Further, the rapid
relevant to sustained business than capital or labor.
growth and evolution of ERP has led to the
And yet knowledge remains the most neglected
development of ERP II, which is intended to help
asset of a business. TWB helps you unlock and
businesses gain a competitive edge.
share your technical knowledge with the world.”
However, despite the rapidly increasing popularity of
ERP solutions, the complexity of the implementation of
the software makes quality documentation important to
both the vendors of ERP solutions and those
organizations that purchase them. The documentation
needs to be simple and comprehensible to end users,
which necessitates the involvement of Technical
Documentation Specialists in the creation of these
documents.
In this paper we will discuss the importance of
technical publications to ERP, to facilitate the growth,
implementation and evolution of ERP solutions.
“TWB believes that the technology cannot exist
without being communicated effectively.”
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4. ERP Industry – Technical Publications
Growth and Penetration of ERP in India Challenges and Solutions
ERP software in India was originally treated as support
software and used for back office functions. As Some of the greatest documentation challenges that
companies began to understand the diverse applications most companies face today include:
of ERP, it was shifted from maintenance of back office
functions to the whole of the company.  Timely availability of quality documents during
product release
 Cost cutting in a multi-vendor business
Asia-Pacific
environment
 Managing large volumes of documentation for new
15.10% products releases
Projected CAGR
12.40% Asia-Pacific An enterprise system is implemented to develop a
business or make it more effective. This is a large
investment, and with competition increases and lower
10.10%
profit margins, keeping implementation costs low is
important.
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year
Up to 80% of the total cost for an ERP system is
connected to maintenance activities. A major factor
that affects the maintenance of the system, positively
or negatively, is the quality of documentation. If the
“The Indian ERP market experienced CAGR documentation is not satisfying, it needs to be
(compounded annual growth rate) of 25.2 during the restructured, which leads to a sizeable increase in
period of 2004 – 2009. The market was $83 million in maintenance effort and total costs. TWB provides
2004 and is projected to be over $250 million in documentation with professional quality.
2009, according to a research report.”
Further, ERP systems are standardized systems,
which often need modifications to suit the
Growth and Penetration of ERP Globally requirements of a specific organization. It is essential
for the documentation to be updated accurately and
effectively, to reflect the changes made after
The first marked increase in the ERP market was in customization.
2004. The 14% increase made ERP a USD 23.6 billion
business.
Benefits
The total revenue increased to over USD 28 billion
by the end of 2006. It is of note that ERP license
revenue increased by 18% in 2006, according to For a leading vendor of ERP systems, association with
AMR Research Inc.’s ERP Market Sizing Report TWB has benefited them immensely in saving costs
2006-2011. and producing professional documentation along with
services such as:
“Overall, this is the healthiest the ERP and
enterprise applications market has been since the  Transferring complex technical data into easily
1990s.” Jim Shepherd, Vice President, AMR. understandable language
 Protecting technical and commercial data of newly
developed products
The ERP license revenue increased markedly in 2007,  Managing knowledge management and content
growing to 19%. The sale of ERP packages remained management solutions, single sourcing, and data
stable to small, medium, and large businesses alike. migration.
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5. Value of Technical Publications
Technical Communication for Communication for Different Levels of
Transferring Product Knowledge Technical and Product Knowledge
The purpose of technical communication is to transfer In technical publications, audience is the focal point.
product knowledge to end users in a comprehensible Hence, the style, language, and content must vary
manner. The strategies of communication and levels of depending on the type of audience being addressed. It
information vary depending on the type of product and is because every user has a specific role in the
audience. implementation and usage of the technology.
Therefore, it is important that documents be created
keeping in mind the role of the person who will use the
Providing end users with information about a product’s
document.
operation and maintenance is critical to the market
performance of the product. Hence, the need for quality
documentation is imperative. For example, when you document a software
application designed for highly technical users, it is
sufficient to provide the users with quick reference
In today’s business scenario, technical publications are
information to use the application.
often developed as an afterthought. This usually results
in inaccurate and incomprehensible documentation,
which, in turn, renders the users incapable of using the For users who start without technical or product
products. knowledge, it is important to provide detailed product
information along with instructions on how to use the
product.
Accurate, readily understandable, and quality documents
determine how a product sells in the market and result in
increased customer satisfaction. Attractive Publications as Useful
Marketing Tools
Faulty Assumptions that Result in
Problems in Documentation Besides transferring knowledge, technical publications
are also used for marketing a product. Before a
The faulty assumptions listed below result in product is released in the market, information about
incomprehensible document: the product needs to be effectively communicated to
the customers.
 Developers know their products better than anyone
else – due to time constraints and limited resources, Well-designed, accurately presented, and attractive
many companies assign their documentation tasks to marketing collaterals increase the market prospects of
the programmers. This more often results in the a product and reduce support costs.
creation of technology-centered information, while
end users require task-oriented information.
 Documentation of complex applications requires a
longer learning curve for the writer - learning the
product will not be a major obstacle for writers with
the right technical background.
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6. Conclusion
 The Importance of ERP: An ERP system provides support by combining different internal and external
organizational functions. These systems are often customized to meet the specific needs of specific
organizations. Documentation in an ERP project serves two functions: first, to specify the changes that have
been made to the standard ERP package; and second, to help the users operate the system. Good
documentation is clear, easy to read and simple to understand. It helps users operate and maintain systems with
ease. Good documentation allows the ERP system itself to be used effectively to enhance the business and its
processes.
 Value of Technical Publications: Technical Publications are very essential for transferring product knowledge
to end users. Provisioning of proper material to use the technology and products enables the user to accept and
efficiently use the product. Faulty assumptions about documentation lead to inaccurate and hard-to-understand
material. This also decreases the chances of marketing the products in the global market.
 Role of Documentation Outsourcing: The complexity involved in implementing an ERP system requires that
vendors and purchasers consider outsourcing their documentation needs to well-established Technical
Publications Solutions providers. This helps the company cut costs and at the same time deliver their products
with quality documents.
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7. TWB Services
TWB is India’s leader in technical communication outsourcing and education. TWB offers a complete suite of services that allows
our customers to effectively publish their technical knowledge with their people and processes. TWB’s customers range from
Global 500 – including Cisco, Accenture, McAfee, LG, Samsung, Citrix, SAP, Siemens, AOL, Intel; Indian technology majors –
including Infosys, Wipro; Global defense majors - Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, DRDO, HAL; and exciting technology startups.
TWB's expertise in technical communication ranges from IT Products and Outsourcing, ITES, Banking, Financial, Aerospace,
Defense, Ship Building to Hi-tech Manufacturing, and Discrete and Process Manufacturing.
TWB’s services include:
Technical Marketing Technical Product Documentation Quality
Solutions Documentation Management
 Datasheets
 Administrator’s Guide
 Datasheets  Copy Editing and Proof Reading
 API Document
 Cheat sheets  Managing Writing
 Configuration Guide
 Solution Briefs/Solution Brochures  Editing Services
 Functional Specifications Document
 Presentations – Products/Corporate  Layout and Design
Profile  Installation Manual
 Creating SLAs
 Brochures and marketing collateral  Interface Document
 Web content  Interactive Electronic Technical Manual
(IETM)
Business Documentation
 Audio and video scripts
 Maintenance Manual  Business Proposals
 Press releases
 Online Help  Legal Disclaimers
 Direct mail
 Operation Manual  Policy Manuals
 Newsletter design copy
 Product Demo  Style Guide Design
 Sales catalogues
 Product Specifications Document  Template Design
 Sales sheets
 Product Overview Document
 Quick Reference Guide
Business Communication Content Management
 Release Notes
 Short Reports  Requirement Analysis Document
 Single Sourcing
 Proposals  SDK Document
 File Version Control
 Case Studies  Troubleshooting Manual
 Document Naming Conventions
 Lab Reports  User Manual
 Consistent Document Formatting
 Memos  Open Source Documentation
 Data Transformation
 Progress/Interim Reports  Programmers Guides
 Writing for Electronic Media  Functional Specifications Document
 Use Cases Web site Development
Illustrations  Online Help /Context Sensitive Help
 Web 2.0 development
 Troubleshooting Guides
 Graphic Designing  Web content

 Info graphics  Web applications
Qualitative Analytics for
 2D & 3D animation
Decision Support Translation and Localization
 Line drawings and illustrations
Services
 Economic Business Research
Process Documentation  Industry Analysis  Software Translation Services
 Workflows  Market Opportunity Analysis  Document Translation Services
 Standard Operating Procedures  Competitive Business Analysis  Localization (L10N) Testing
 ISO Documentation  Company & Prospect Profiling  Internationalization (I18N) Testing
 CMM Documentation  Reporting Solutions
 Assessment of Unmet Market Needs Records Management
Deployment and Support  Status and Potential of Technologies
 Document Management Solutions
 Benchmarking of Strategies Vs
Competition  Record Management Storage and
 Installation and Configuration Guides
Retrieval
 Operations Manual  Forecasting
 Sales Force Effectiveness
 Market Assessments
 Competitive Intelligence
 Opinion Leadership
 Emerging Markets - evaluation and
research
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8. TWB Software Tools Expertise
Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes:
Unstructured Content XML Structured Editors Multimedia /Authoring
Development
 Epic  Adobe Flash®
 Microsoft Word®  FrameMaker+SGML  Adobe Dreamweaver®
 Adobe FrameMaker®  X-Metal®  Microsoft FrontPage®
 Adobe InDesign®  Adobe Captivate®
 QuarkXPress® Macromedia Captivate
 Adobe PageMaker® Graphics/Animations
 Multimedia /Authoring /
Illustrations  Adobe Flash® Supporting tools
 Adobe Photoshop®
 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional  Adobe Fireworks®  Adobe Flash®
 Adobe Illustrator CS3  Adobe Flex®
 CorelDRAW Online Help  Adobe AIR®
 Microsoft-Expression Graphic  Adobe Dreamweaver®
Designer  Adobe Acrobat®
 Xara Xtreme (Windows & Linux)  JavaHelp
 Microsoft Silverlight®
 CuteDraw  Adobe RoboHelp 7.0
 Adobe Authorware®
 Publisher3D(for animation)  HelpScribble
 Adobe Director®
 Sketsa SVG Editor (for vector  WebWorks Publisher
 Adobe Captivate®
graphics)  PowerCHM
 Trivantis Lectora®
 Techsmith Camtasia  Doc-To-Help
 ASP.NET
 Arbortext IsoDraw (technical  WinCHM
 JSP
illustrations for 2D and 3D)  HelpSmith 2.1.1(Windows)
 JAVA
 Fast-Help
 MadCap Flare Standards
Graphics/Animation  Help-Server
 NVU Help
 SCORM 1.2 / 2004
 Adobe Flash®  AICC
XML
 Adobe Photoshop®  W3C
 Adobe Illustrator®  Section 508
 Adobe Fireworks®  XMetal®  QTI XML
 Microsoft Silverlight®  Microsoft Word 2003®,
 Microsoft Word 2007®
Databases Development and Publishing
tools
CMS/ LMS
 Microsoft Access  XSLT/XSL
 Microsoft SQL Server  EDD
 Sharepoint®
 Moodle
Flowcharting  Joomla,
 WordPress
 Microsoft Visio  Media Wiki
 iGrafx  CMS Builder
 EDraw  Author-it (formerly AuthorIT)
 RFFlow  Alfresco
 Flowbreeze
 Smart Draw
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9. Industries Served
TWB services a wide range of technology and knowledge-driven industries, helping them meet their markets better. These include:
 Banking, Insurance and Financial Services  ITES/ KPO/ BPO
 Consulting and Business Services  Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
 Defense, Aerospace and Hi-Tech Manufacturing  Process Manufacturing and Allied Industries
 Education and Learning  Steel, Ship Building, Construction and Aviation
 IT, ITES  Telecom and Digital Communications
TWB has been the preferred technical documentation outsourcing company for:
The TWB Building US Office:
No: 4062, 19th Main Road, TWB
HAL 2nd Stage, 11701 Norwegian Wood Drive
Bangalore – 560008 Austin, TX 78758
India.
Landmark: Behind Carlton Towers
Telephone: Telephone:
+91.80.40741400 / +91.80.41256367 +1.512.586.8357
Corporate Enquiries: corp@twb.in
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