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Subject:RE: Time to perfom a procedure From:Michele Marques <msmarques -at- rogers -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 16 Apr 2002 07:27:07 -0400
John wondered:
> What I would like to know is if anyone has ever included in the
> document the amount of time that an average user from the targeted
> audience should be able to perform the process.
When I write about systems or servers that are used by a number of
people concurrently (e.g. ERP systems), I try to include a time estimate
when documenting procedures that require the system or server to be
unavailable to most users. For example, when describing the procedures
to upgrade the system to the next version or describing disaster
recovery procedures, it is useful to include a time estimate, so that
the reader knows how much (longer) the system will be unavailable to
most users - and if it is for a planned activity, can plan an
appropriate time to schedule the activity. This time estimate is never
how much time the average user should take, but a reasonable maximum
time to allow (e.g., allowing for the slowest recommended system,
someone working slowly, etc.) - the reader is unlikely to complain about
the procedure being completed ahead of schedule but could have problems
if the procedure takes longer to complete than planned (especially if
the system is critical to business operations).
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