Document management, Content management

[Kate Stout <stout -dot- k -at- comcast -dot- net>]

Take this as "first cut, thinking aloud", and give me a hand with how to 
focus my thinking by giving me some better questions to ask :-) .

I'm working with a small company that makes a software product for a 
very specialized audience. Currently the developers have create a User 
Guide and some code samples, and have some JavaDoc for the customization 
of the product. The product has several components, so the customer can 
order different configurations. Doc is shipped with the product, or via 
e-mail.

As time goes on, they would like to be able to do the following:

-Allow the customers to access a web site that has material specific to 
the configuration the customer uses.
-Update the documentation as a product component changes
-Allow some of the material to be viewed by pre-sales customers.

Right now, these requirements are still forming. But these needs are clear:

Need to
-Manage different versions of documents (both source and final versions)
-Have a mechanism that allows access to groups of documents, controlled 
by username/password, or a similar scheme
-A web presentation of information (which can include download of 
documents in pdf)
-Simple enough to use that most of the dev team could use it without 
extensive training (i.e. can't have to many "tech writer" concepts as 
the mental model).

My first round of research suggests that a simple document management 
system may be the answer. However "content management" is the new buzz, 
so I'm going to look at that as well. However, I am concerned that 
content management schemes that I've looked at so far require too much 
analysis and design for correctly structuring the content for 
reusability. In an ideal world, that's a great goal, but realistically, 
there'll probably be several different doc models/designs before we can 
settle into the best way to do this. (And there's no dedicated doc staff.)

Thoughts? Issues I should be considering? The scale is that there are 
currently about 10 customers, and might be 30-50 within two years.

Thanks,

Kate



--
Kate Stout

Making It Clear

Writing and Editing Services
http://www.katestout.com
phone: 978-470-1192


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