You’ve got some serious content woes and you need some new tools to better manage it. But regardless of how much you complain, your management team doesn’t seem to listen and get you the help you need. Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems and Joan Taggart of Welch Allyn will explain how to turn your story into a business case that will attract management’s attention and get you the tools you need. (If you are interested in the CCMS ROI Calculator and CCMS Business Plan Template that was presented as part of this presentation, please go to http://www.vasont.com/company/contact.html and request the files.)

1. TURN YOUR STORY INTOABUSINESS CASE
Suzanne Mescan
President, Vasont Systems
Joan Taggart
Sr. Analyst, cCMS, Welch Allyn

2. #Spectrum16
Introduction- Vasont Systems at a glance
• Founded: 1992
• Business: Component content management solutions and
data services
• Part of the TransPerfect family of companies
• Corporate Headquarters: New York, NY, USA
• Employees: 3,500+ Worldwide

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Introduction– WelchAllyn at a glance
• Founded: 1915, by Dr. Francis Welch and William Noah
Allyn
• Business: Medical Device Technology
• Part of the Hill-Rom family of companies
• Corporate Headquarters: Skaneateles Falls, NY, USA
• Employees: 2,500 Worldwide
• President: Alton Shader

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Tell your story
Here’s how our story went…

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cCMS journey
2005-
2007
• cCMS
vision
• Feasibility
• Framework

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Challenge: Customer-facingproduct information was being
developed in silos
Group Material Produced
Technical Communication Directions for use, ref cards, labels, install guides,
package artwork
Marketing/Marcom Spec sheets, brochures, catalog, web descriptions,
training CDs
Clinical Consultants Customer product training materials (outlines, cards,
tests)
Service Eng/Tech Support Service bulletins, service manuals, tech training
materials, fact sheets
R&D UI/Display text messages
Sales Sales support information

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Old Process: Unstructuredauthoring using a variety of tools

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Risks with “silo” approach to product information development
• Potential customer confusion and regulatory risk of
mislabeling:
• Lack of consistency
• Conflicts in product information
• Inefficient, costly development cycles
• Same reviewers reviewing similar content multiple times: Eng,
Mktg, QA, RA, Tech Support, others
• Little reuse
• Increasing time and costs of translations
• Longer time to market
• Decreased customer satisfaction and reduced revenues

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Initial Investigation
• Research solutions to support company roadmap
• Learn best practices for developing and localizing product
information in order to
• Support globalization
• Meet regulatory requirements
• Technical Communication staff requirements

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cCMS journey
2005-
2007
• cCMS
vision
• Feasibility
• Framework
2008
• High Level
Training

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High level training forTech Comm staff
• Structured authoring
• Minimalism
• Writing for translation

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New Process:ImproveTech Comm’s tools/processesto enable
content reuseand improve localization

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System Framework
Tech Comm would need:
• XML-authoring tool
• Component Content Management System (cCMS) to manage
content and translations, and output content into multiple formats.
• XSL-FO formatting tool (Extensible Stylesheet Language –
Formatting Objects) to transform the content at the time of output
into the desired format (PDF, HTML, etc.).

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Benefits we gain
• Reuse localized manual content for multiple outputs
• Reduce translation costs
• Eliminate Desktop Publishing costs
• Reduce development time
• Increase consistency in output, reduce risk of mislabeling
• More efficient use of organizational resources
• Increase customer satisfaction, increase revenues
@VasontSystems

15. #Spectrum16
cCMS journey
2005-2007
•cCMS vision
•Feasibility
•Framework
2008
•High Level
Training
2009
•Process
documentation
•Requirements
•RFP

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Document processes
• Documented the workflows as they were
• Documented the workflows as we envisioned for the
future
• Researched vendors
• Saw many product demos
• Narrowed selection to a handful of vendors
• Published our RFP

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What will it cost?
@VasontSystems
2008 2009 2010
XML/CMS
Project phases
Tech Comm project labor,
Consultants, & cCMS
vendor
2.5 FTE 2.5 FTE 1.5 FTE
Add resources to Tech Comm:
Define
reqmnts &
workflow, do
pilot
Define
reqmnts &
workflow,
do pilot
Implement
Steady-
state

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Tangible Savings Estimates
@VasontSystems
Total Investment Cost $270,000
2010 2011 2012
Savings
Labor DTP 8,325 8,325 8,325
Writers 30,000 30,000 30,000
Reviewers 30,000 30,000 30,000
Expense Translation 45,200 45,200 45,200
Other Reuse TBD TBD TBD
Sub Total $113,525 $113,525 $113,525
Additional Costs Service/Maintenance 20,000 20,000 20,000
Savings/Year $93,525 $93,525 $93,525
Average tangible savings $93,525.00
Financial Payback (years) 2.89

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Intangible Savings
• Improved process management
• Increase in collaboration across groups and processes
• Improved content quality and effectiveness
• Consistency
• Speed to market
• Improved project management
• Eliminate need to hire additional personnel beyond
current levels
• Improved control of file processing, control, versioning,
and tracking
• Competitive advantage

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Transformingthe Story into a Case
Estimate a return on investment

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Transformingthe Story into a Case
Write a business plan that resonates with management

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So, how did the story end?

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cCMS journey
2005-2007
•cCMS vision
•Feasibility
•Framework
2008
•High Level
Training
2009
•Process
documentation
•Requirements
•RFP
2010-2011
•Selection
•Implementation
•Team training
•Pilot project

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New Process: ImproveTech Comm’s tools/processesto enable
content reuseand improve localization
@VasontSystems

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cCMS journey
@VasontSystems
2005-2007
•cCMS vision
•Feasibility
•Framework
2008
•High Level
Training
2009
•Process
documentation
•Requirements
•RFP
2010-2011
•Selection
•Implementation
•Team training
•Pilot project
2011
•In production

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Software Strings
• We wanted to leverage our cCMS to incorporate the
string management to:
• Manage translations
• Output to required formats for product integration

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cCMS journey
@VasontSystems
2005-2007
•cCMS vision
•Feasibility
•Framework
2008
•High Level
Training
2009
•Process
documentation
•Requirements
•RFP
2010-2011
•Selection
•Implementation
•Team training
•Pilot project
2011
•In production
2014
•Incorporated
software string
management into
the cCMS

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TranslationCost Savings
@VasontSystems
2010-2012 2013 2014 2015
Total Spend 363,500 203,328 245,880 201,456
Vendor TM savings unknown 55,344 78,356 75,579
cCMS TM savings 250,000 79,973 125,826 294,817
Total TM savings 250,000 135,317 204,182 370,396

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Cost Savings
@VasontSystems
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
400,000
<2012 2013 2014 2015
Total Spend
cCMS TM savings

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Content Reuse
• Using DITA XML standard and the cCMS, we are currently
reusing 50% of our content.
• Translation Memory (TM) has built up to the point where
69% of content is in our TM.

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What we did right
• Had executive support
• Had clearly defined requirements
• Started change management early on
• Conducted high level conceptual training first
• Held product specific training later
• Held authoring tool training and let writers adjust to structured
authoring first
• Conducted cCMS training after writers were comfortable with
authoring tool
• Kept staff engaged throughout the process
• Partnered with the right vendor for our requirements

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Contact Information:
Turn Your Story into a Business Case
Suzanne Mescan
President, Vasont Systems
smescan@vasont.com
Joan Taggart
Sr. Analyst, cCMS, Welch Allyn
joan.taggart@welchallyn.com