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Hi Steve,
First question: can your customers modify your software? If so, they
also need to be able to modify your docs.
Second question: will your customers have their own processes,
terminology, and quirky uses for the software? We're talking business
software, for large companies, so the likely answer is "yes." Simple
fact of life.
Third question: what is the purchase price for the software? Price helps
to determine expectations about support. Being customer friendly can
generate a good reputation which can translate to additional revenue in
the long term. Charging "per page" for what people expect to be a basic
part of the product could generate negative product reviews. "Gee the
software is great but they practically double the price if you want to
modify the documentation." Your buyers (as opposed to the users) are not
going to look very kindly on that.
This info may be a bit out of date (two years since I worked on it), but
PeopleSoft provides an excellent model for how to provide your customers
with the ability to modify documentation. First, they provide tons of
reference and process information in "PeopleBooks," which is online
documentation presented using Folio technology. Purchasing companies can
modify this documentation as much as they need: they get a license for
the basic Folio editor when they purchase PeopleSoft software. It is
fully expected that companies *will* modify this information.
Next, they have basic training/reference manuals delivered in Word on a
CD that you can modify. I have no idea how many support calls they get
in relation to these documents--except for getting the files off a funky
CD, I never had to call. They may have ceased providing this level of
information because:
They introduced an additional training methodology you could purchase,
and for which they provided training on how to implement: how to modify
both PeopleBooks and the Word documents (this wasn't frivolous--Folio
isn't the most straightforward technology). The approach integrated the
use of the paper docs with the online help, so trainees would be trained
in how to use the online help, thus making it much more effective.
(Don't we always complain that users don't read the instructions? This
really seemed to be a good approach. We got much-improved results after
we implemented it.)
Perhaps instead of converting your Frame documents to Word, you could
provide companion documentation in Word? Or (and this is SUCH a radical
idea <g>) perhaps its time to switch to a different tool to provide a
more effective product for your customers? Provide copyright rules
(nothing too oppressive--a simple statement on the copyright page will
do) that you ask your customers to respect as part of their license
agreement. Customers can license the documentation *as well as* the
software.
Encouraging your company to develop a service arm focused on
documentation *could,* as you say, be a revenue generator. But you have
to watch out for distracting the company from its core business. Does it
want to be in the business of providing documentation customization
services? No? Well, if you convince them to do it and it later becomes a
problem, guess what gets axed? However, if you provide modifiable
documents as part of the core product, you may make it more difficult
for them to view you and your services as expendable.
Most importantly, remember that your docs are not inviolable works of
art. While they may be excellently written and beautifully designed,
their actual purpose is to provide accurate, useful information to your
customers and to further the success of your company. Your documents are
part of the product and you need to focus on meeting your customers'
needs, not your own. All the excellent writing and beautiful design will
mean squat if they aren't used. Finally, assuming that "amateurs" are
going to be "butchering" your babies is a pretty big assumption. You
have no idea who's going to be doing the work on your documents. Keep in
mind that implementation projects for business software frequently
include technical writers who *may* actually have a small clue. :-)
Lisa
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