Tweet Roundup: ROI of XML Webinar

Yesterday, David Lorenzoni, from Single-Sourcing Solutions, hosted a panel that addressed the ROI of XML. The panel included Charlotte Robidoux (HP), Greg Johnson (Medtronic), Todd Nowlan (Nortel), and Andy Pieper (Toro). They shared their stories of long-time, successful implementations and what it took to get there. Even the panelists said they learned something from talking with each other. It was a great conversation.

In case you missed it, you can sign up to view the recording here or, because the event had a live Twitter stream, you can read through the highlights below. Enjoy!

	Single-Sourcing September 23, 2010 at 12:00pm

	@SingleSourcing Still time to register for free ROI of XML Webinar TODAY. Stories from Hewlett-Packard, Medtronic, Nortel, and Toro http://su.pr/1zar4x about 6 hours ago The ROI of XML \| Events by Single-Sourcing Solutions Expert panel of industry leaders share a bit of their journey and what the true ROI is of XML.

	@AndreaJWenger Waiting for webinar to begin: The ROI of XML organized by @lizfraley about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing Websession–#ROI of #XML–starting! We’re going to live tweet the event, so you’ll see high traffic from us for the next hour. about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I D.Lorenzoni: Talking today with 4 experts Greg Johnson (Medtronic), Charlotte Robidoux (HP), Todd Nowlan (Nortel), Andy Pieper (Toro) about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We give a lot of advice about people getting started because people did that for us. about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: There is an effort that has to go into this, it can be significant, but the payback is enormous about 2 hours ago

	@AndreaJWenger Significant effort goes into implementing #xml, but the payback is enormous. #roixml about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Todd is right on. To get started, you don’t need to be a computer genius, don’t be afraid of technology b/c it is technology about 2 hours ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I: C.Robidoux: Collaboration is extremely important in making single-sourcing work b/c content is _shared_ about 2 hours ago

	@AndreaJWenger Reason to move to #xml: team keeps getting smaller, but workload remains the same. #roixml #techcomm about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I: D.Lorenzoni: Top 10 reasons to go to XML… about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Translations used to take weeks, now 2-5 days; cms automates the process about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: We haven’t saved money on our translation budget. It’s stayed the same, but we went from 11 languages to 21. about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Reason to move to #xml: Increase translation volume by 25%, increase worldwide presence. #roixml #techcomm about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Marketing can choose new markets and we can go right in.. b/c what XML has saved us about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: 25% reduction in per-set cost of changes; 37% reduction in single-language cost of translation once we went to XML. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: even if you’re not serving translating there are still benefits about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: Our ROI was on the reuse aspects about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Reason to move to #xml: Reuse of content leads to 25-30% reduction in new text that must be translated #roixml #techcomm about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: agility, more robust taxonomy on our content, end-to-end lifecycle management about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: Big bonus was to produce similar processes and reduce redundant systems about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: we had a co-mingling of technologies that we could simplify into one process. This was a big factor in ROI about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We could put a single-governance in how we manage change into place about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: Saved on having multiple tools, multiple processes across the organization. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: The savings were difficult to quantify b/c so significant about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: All the different business units could leverage the techpubs group about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We converted ~500K pages to XML, and 25% was reuse at that point about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We’re a pretty high-tech company, sometimes the cobbler’s kids have no shoes about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We achieved results even before we got a CMS about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Single-sourcing & content reuse increase efficiency and bring significant savings even if material isn’t translated. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We had to streamline our content, to restructure the content for uniformity between deliverables about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: in the process of doing that, we could see the huge amount of repeated info about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: writers were too close to their work to get perspective across the document set unless they were given activities to see it about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: reduce text, use minimalist principles, we saw improvements just from that before we even got to translation/cms about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: and we were poised and ready to go when the tools came on board about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We started our restructuring in 2002-2003 and got moved into CMS in 2004, took us about a year.. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: the next stage–breaking into topics–takes longer. about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Reorganizing & structuring content gives tech writers a big-picture view instead of a document-by-document view. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We are still in the process (started in 2004), we still see results as we continue to work at it. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: When we start to look at value of being open, the big win isn’t “open source” but “standards-based” about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: Don’t want to have to abandon your data to move into the next set of technology. Focus on the lifetime cost of ownership about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger ROI of XML: Focus on lifetime cost of ownership. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: You’ll always be replacing components in the system, but you want the impact to stay on the tools team and not the users about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: want to keep content around for decades to come. Don’t want your entire investment to be for naught about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We outlived 3 vendors, but b/c they were standards based, we could go to the next vendor and continue about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger ROI of XML: Select a standards-based solution that won’t be obsolete in 10 yrs, even if vendor goes out of business. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: if you have to spend an extra dollar on the authoring side to save a dollar PER language, that’s worth the investment about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: ROI is linear to the amount of reuse about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We calc reuse on various levels –w/in doc suite, across different releases, between diff products and diff releases about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: the 25% metric I gave includes all of those. You have to drive into your content and find where you can reduce effort about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: When we went to XML + CMS/TMS, we saw a change in our hit rate from there form 60-70% to 80-90% about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: high “hit rate” means writers are reusing translated content about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Don’t try to reuse everything–focus on reusing content where it makes most sense to eliminate duplication of effort. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We have a rigourous formula for determining this (word and module level). Word b/c that’s translation metric about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: how much is reused AND how much is Unique. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: When we have new doc types, we might start out at 50%, but as we add volume, more of that content gets reused. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: All of our manuals are exceeding 90% reuse about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We only send 10% to translation.. They use the TM and we only have 1% of content translated now. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: If you don’t have a tool to give you reporting, we looked at reusable vs unique topics about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger To measure reuse, keep metrics on how many modules are unique vs. reused. Over time, up to 90% might be reused. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We created a spreadsheet to look at common, unique, what could become modular, so we could project savings about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger If 90% of content is reused, only 10% of content needs to go to translation. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We’ve seen a range from 60-90%, depending on product type and complexity. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We did that too, Charlotte. Having a CMS helps the analysis about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: this has really improved the quality, and consistency of our information about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Prior to XML, our authors worked in isolation, lots of inconsistency (naming, order, etc) about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Consistency/Quality improvements have been significant! Every manual now, the content occurs in the same location about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Authors felt constrained at first, now, they love it: they don’t have to worry about all that–ordering, what goes in/out about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger XML increases collaboration between authors, so terminology and headings are the same across the product line. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: The writers don’t have to enter data in more than one place anymore. We take all this for granted now. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: The writers don’t have to go looking for the same values, they put it in the place that makes the most sense about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: The writers can depend on the system to pull content, order it, and deliver it for them about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Staff support? Our IT Dept had issues understanding what our needs were. it took a long time to get the right staff/skills about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: That said, it’s not onerous. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We were fortunate, our IT staff really understood our business requirements and we had people who were “in the biz” about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Content management requires significant but not onerous involvement of IT. No complete out-of-the-box solution. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: We worked very closely with IT. I’m IT Proj manager, but I wasn’t in IT when our project began about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: There were a lot of different pieces, from an infrastructure support, a lot of this is outsourced for us about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: You get familiar with all the different pieces.. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We started so long ago, we chose SGML b/c XML wasn’t ready about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: We have transitioned to XML since about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: Ours wasn’t immediate ROI, b/c of our heavily regulated industry (FDA Audits), but it turned out to be good discipline. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: about 3 years to ROI about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: We saw ROI almost immediately b/c we could get rid of the typesetting requirements. about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: CMS – we’re still recouping that in this last year. We’ve recouped most in the translation $ already about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: We saw returns before even getting into the tools. Orgs who inherit content.. especially benefit about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: Just b/c we were in XML (without the modular benefits) we got translation cost reduction just from that alone. about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger XML implementation should be done in phases over time. Start w/ the content, which you can do w/o buying technology. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: We just got a corporate award yesterday for what we’ve done about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: we got the highest award medtronic has (across a 40K person company) about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: Greg had us in to see what he was doing, it was great. helped us prepare our team about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Don’t try to bite off too much at one time. Find an authoring too, get going, introduce your authors slowly about 1 hour ago

	@AndreaJWenger Introduce XML in a way that’s non-threatening to writers. Consult w/ someone who’s been through the process. #roixml #techcomm #xml about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Once you’ve got that done, data converted, then start looking at the next step about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Make sure to look for a tool that allows you to do true xml authoring rather than one that mimics. Keep content valid about 1 hour ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: Agree. Slowly introduce your authors. We’ve done a lot of planning and phases rollouts 44 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: Starting with the content is the best place to start 44 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux: Really map your content and go to that next step. 43 minutes ago

	@AndreaJWenger Make sure the content management system you choose doesn’t have performance issues that slow you down. #roixml #techcomm #xml 42 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I C.Robidoux Preparation of your writers is the most important challenge to consider esp if you have a varied writing staff 41 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: Content can be right everywhere or equally wrong everywhere. This turns out to be really useful. 41 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I G.Johnson: No matter where error’s reported (hungarian) can go to the content and immediately track and fix in controlled environment. 40 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I A.Pieper: Performance in some tools hasn’t always been fast enough to keep up 40 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: Agreed. Performance takes more effort than we thought 39 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I T.Nowlan: getting all our vendors rolling in the same direction at the same time was a huge challenge 39 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I D.Lorenzoni: Big things? Reuse. Translation. Do more with less resources. More control. Automation. 38 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I D.Lorenzoni Focus on writing. Customized output effortlessly. Single-source of content supporting multiple outputs 37 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I Thanks for attending our session. See you for the next one in October! 36 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I Thanks for attending our session. See you for the next one in October! 36 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I Thanks for attending our session. See you for the next one in October! 36 minutes ago

	@SingleSourcing #S3I Thanks for attending our session. See you for the next one in October! 36 minutes ago