TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> Could this have been because the same result (from the point
> of view of the client) could have been achieved more quickly and
> in a less costly manner by using well known publishing packages ...
> How exactly *do* you estimate the "future savings" and measure this
> agains the "up-front processes"?
This is a major problem. The cost accounting models that are used today do not
show the costs of processes. They show the costs of departments. It is
literally impossible to find out what it really costs to produce information
products and make meaningful comparisons between alternative approaches.
What many companies are now running into is the fact that the less-costly
solution to delivering information in one form actually **adds** to the cost of
delivering that information in other forms. As companies move to CD-ROMs and
the Web as additional channels, they are discovering that they are paying to
develop the same information all over again for each new delivery channel. They
have to reorganize and reformat that information all over again.
As part of the Pinnacles initiative, Intel did an indepth analysis of the data
book for the Pentium Pro processor. They discovered that the document cost
$500,000 to produce. And they found that more than half that was the cost to
find, convert and rekey information between one system and another.
These kinds of expenses are typically hidden costs that are invisible on the
corporate expense sheets. We need new accounting models that will show the
people charged with making decisions the real costs of their products.
Best,
/chet
Chet Ensign
Logical Design Solutions
571 Central Avenue http://www.lds.com
Murray Hill, NJ 07974 censign -at- lds -dot- com [email]
908-771-9221 [Phone] 908-771-0430 [FAX]