"Situations become problems only when we can't adapt..."
DITA:
Adaptation is the Key to Improved ROI
According to a recent Adobe whitepaper 1 80% of companies that create technical content use DITA. There are several reason why this has become true in less than one decade after the release of the standard:
- DITA is intuitive for writers and reduces the complexity of creating intelligent content
- DITA incorporates best practices and in doing so makes their application natural
- DITA helps organizations improve quality, speed delivery, and reduce cost
The ROI of moving to DITA is well documented by end users and industry experts. 2 What is interesting is that after the first big return on investment in the 18 to 24 months after implementing DITA, many organizations are happy enough and do not look for more. That's too bad because a DITA Maturity Model will continue to provide process improvement and increased ROI for many years to come.
The Maturity Model has become an increasingly popular way to approach business change. For many it's still a foreign sounding term but all it really means is, "this is a big process and you need to take one step at a time." Some organizations find Maturity Models to be too prescriptive--defining each stage of growth as if every organization is the same. That only occurs if you adopt someone else's definition of the model; which may or may not fit your organization.
The most important thing about a Maturity Model is that you have one that is based on an understanding of your organization and its goals. By implementing your own phases of the model you can ensure that the ROI you receive from your DITA implementation will continue to increase for years to come.
Want to know more about DITA Maturity Models? Check our webinar schedule and recordings!
1 Migration to Structured Authoring: Determining the Highest ROI, Lowest TCO Solution. Adobe White Paper 2011
2 http://www.rockley.com/DITAMetrics101/