New to DITA? Here’s How Ariza Can Help

Build your dita business case

Ariza’s High Level Assessment and Recommendation service provides organizations who are considering DITA for their publications with the following:

Documentation Review and Analysis – Review and analysis to aid in the recommendation of the XML data model selected.

Requirements Definition and Documentation – Define the in-scope requirements for the project.

Requirements Traceability Matrix – A Requirements Traceability Matrix listing the agreed requirements to be addressed in the Implementation and Deployment phases of the overall project. This matrix will be used to ensure that the functional and technical design to be created in the next phase of this project matches the requirements driving the overall recommendation.

Recommended XML Data Model Approach – Identify the options for DITA XML data model and recommend the most appropriate approach based on the requirements.  The recommendation will be for the baseline DITA XML data model. Specific changes and enhancements to the baseline DITA XML data model (DITA specializations) to fully support the requirements defined in this phase will be defined during the design portion of the implementation phase.

Recommended Underlying Technology - Review the options for software tools, applications, and likely infrastructure needs to support the recommendation. A final decision by the client on these options will be required before the start of the next phase of the overall project as both the functional and technical design will be impacted by such decisions.

Project Plan – A straw-man project plan will be developed to help identify timeline and resources necessary for project success.

Project Budget – An initial budget estimate to help in justifying a move to DITA XML

This service is a cost-effective way to get expert help in building the business case and laying out the initial plan for implementation. This engagement usually lasts 3 to 5 weeks depending on the size of the organization.

Planning – If you have already built your business case and secured budget, Ariza can help with detailed planning. With decades of XML projects under our belt, Ariza helps you with a complete plan for implementation. Many of the aspects we cover in the plan are often not considered by the client because they do not have extensive experience in XML projects. Save yourself from the headaches of project delays and budget overruns by engaging experts that have done this many times before.

Implementation – The Ariza team can assist with all aspects of your DITA implementation. We offer

Project Management – Ariza’s seasoned project managers are available for short or long-term support to ensure your project is moving in the right direction, on time and on budget.

Information Architecture – Information architecture is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding how your content and the DITA schema can work together for maximum efficiency takes knowledge and experience. Ariza’s Information Architects are expert in DITA information modeling and will set you on a path for DITA success.

System Configuration – The Ariza team is familiar with all the CCMS systems available today. We can help turn your requirements into functional reality in short order.

Training – Ariza’s training staff have decades of experience in helping get users up to speed and productive as quickly as possible. Training is tailored to your specific use of DITA and delivered on-site or remote as required.

Data Conversion – Ariza can help you identify the corpus of content that needs to go forward and manage the conversion effort. Careful attention is paid to making sure the conversion process implements as much of the reuse strategy, helping minimize the amount of post-conversion cleanup. Note that post-conversion cleanup is part of every DITA migration effort, but one that is commonly overlooked when planning and budgeting. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the importance of a well thought out conversion effort that minimizes the cleanup effort.

Output Stylesheets – Ariza can help you with all your output needs to all your print and digital channels. Whether you plan on using the basic output capabilities of the DITA Open Toolkit or have requirements that call for more robust publishing and transformation engines, even integration with InDesign as an output channel, Ariza has resources and experience that are unmatched in getting your outputs going as quickly and perfectly as possible.

Post-Conversion Cleanup to Achieve Optimum Reuse – Post-Conversion cleanup is one of the most overlooked tasks in a DITA migration but is one of the most important. Ariza can help ensure that your converted content is cleaned up and reuse is maximized to achieve all of the important benefits of DITA and ensure that you have a sustainable model going forward.

Sustainment – Ariza offers a variety of sustainment services. These include:

·       Periodic health-checks of your environment

·       Planning for new document types and outputs which may affect the information architecture and output processing

·       Workflow review and improvement

·       Staff training

·       Short and long-term staffing of resources for vacation and other PTO coverage

·       Help desk support

Whatever your DITA needs, Ariza has a solution

Why DITA?

·       Improve the ease and timeliness of documentation updates

·       Improve consistency across and between documents

·       Improve access to documentation through delivery to multiple channels including mobile

·       Provide for reuse of content as much as possible

·       Reduce the cost of documentation translation