Technical documentation became an essential part of a product’s development cycle. To meet demands of modern world it has to be created parallel to the product development as it should conform to different product variants and local preferences of global market, as well as serve needs of geographically separated and multilingual teams. This implies an urgent need for the tight integration of documentation development process with other company business processes.

[go:xDoc] simplifies these problems by using single sourcing, which allows to create the content only once and then save and reuse it multiple times in different formats and media.
It helps to avoid redundancy, decreases number of errors, simplifies QA process, determines workflow and forms clear general overview.

In order to serve different geographical markets companies have to translate their documentation into different languages and adapt them to local requirements. It means that global teams, which work in different locations and time zones, have to work parallel on the same document. This leads to miscommunication among translators and editors and can cause high translation costs and delays.

[go:xDoc] becomes an optimal tool for serving needs like these. It reduces the costs of translation from 30 to 70% by reusing of text blocks and translating only those parts of content which have been changed after last translation. The platform allows coordinated work of global teams via internet by supporting different international languages (Unicode, DBCS), localizing the content (including pictures), providing possibilities for using internal and external translator resources and exporting/importing of the translations.

In today’s world of tough competition companies have to deliver not only good products, but also high quality services. Documentation becomes an integral part of a company’s products and services as it becomes a supportive and education mean for customers.

[go:xDoc] gives a competitive advantage to a company as it helps to create necessary documentation in the most suitable and up-to-date format. It allows smooth adding of new information into existing documentation, reusing of the information in different medias and different formats without duplication, consolidation of FAQs and quick reaction to customers’ questions and feedbacks. Through the extended web-based solution the company can educate its customers and provide 24/7 access to important information. Hence, thesystem helps to reduce costs and improve the company’s services.

Nowadays technical documentation has to be very sophisticated: it has to be actual, complete, precise and consistent. It has to be oriented on a particular group of customers and should be personalized, if necessary. The structure of the documentation has to be clearly defined and should contain index and glossary. All documents have to be written in a similar style and use the same terminology.

[go:xDoc] platform helps to bring documentation into structured and understandable form by providing strict separation of content and presentation.. The platform contains standards of information outlook and system proving, which guarantees compliance of the document outlook with corporate standards. It contains media database for pictures, audio and video files, simplifies creation of index, glossary and FAQs, improves search function, saves history of changes, parameterizes information according to target groups, supports defined workflows and allows multiple usage of the same information which increases quality of the processes.

In today’s world there is a huge variety of media through which information can be delivered to customers, and companies have to use most of them to provide similar data to different targeted groups. Every media has its own specifics and layouts which causes multiplication and redundancy of the information, making the process of informing cost-ineffective.

[go:xDoc] helps to cope with this diversity by keeping content in media-neutral format XML. Separation of the content and layout provides with a possibility to present the same information in different formats: online (ex., help system), offline (CD, DVD), print (PDF); different layouts (colors, logos) and structures (FAQ, handbook, newsletter, etc.). This guarantees adherence of the information to corporate presentation standards in all published documents.

In order to create comprehensive documentation, product information has to be not only substantial, but also synchronized according to the content. Quite often different parts of particular information have to be used in some third documents which have not been planned on the initial stages of creation.

[go:xDoc] allows smooth integration of the existing information into third-party system due to XML interface. It is synchronized with ERP components, newsletter modules, entrepreneur websites and knowledge portals. Help system becomes easily available when required and parts of text can easily be imported and exported for translation.

Nowadays there is a clear trend towards constant abridgements of development timelines and reduction of budgets which puts substantial pressure on efficiency of documentation development process. In such a situation steady and quality results can only be achieved by reuse of existing documentation elements and effective coordination of the work of all participants involved.

[go:xDoc] platform’s core concept of content reuse is addressing this problem. Usage of predefined structures helps to minimize effort related to content creation and editing. Collaboration and workflow modules help to coordinate work between different development process participants. The platform allows parallel usage of existing components, enrichment of other departments’ materials and selective partial editing for adapting to new product versions. Prevention of multiple translations helps to create timely and up-to-date documentation.

With the globalization process the issue of timing becomes very crucial for most companies. Needed information has to be available to both editors and users independently of place and time without any special expenses.

Web-based [go:xDoc] provides necessary information through any web-browser. All users get equal rights to access the searched information at any time and location. It helps to synchronize and, thus, improves communication between different parties.

In order to meet high marketing demands, documentation has to be adapted to specific use cases and configuration of most of company’s products. The process of tailoring information to different requirements becomes extremely intrinsic and redundant.

With the help of [go:xDoc] a variant structure of a company's products can be mirrored in documentation. By containing information in relative text blocks inside of the platform it is possible to “compile” specially tailored documentation variants directly on the publishing stage. As a result reusability of product components is transferred into reusability of content elements and the speed of tailoring documentation can be drastically increased.