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Re: Value of Documentation (was <No subject given>)
Subject:Re: Value of Documentation (was <No subject given>) From:"Wayne J. Douglass" <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 30 Apr 1997 08:57:58 -0700
At 08:08 AM 4/30/97 -0500, Douglas Engstrom wrote:
>I think Eric is right on the mark with the idea that the value of
>documentation varies a great deal from company to company, and even
>transaction to transaction. I worked at one company where, from the
>business standpoint, the value of good documentation was negative.
>They had educated/manipulated/persuaded their customers that the way to
>handle their products was to have a field engineer fly out to the
>customer site and, for a substantial fee, do what had to be done. Good
>documentation that made the customer more independent just reduced
>product mystique and cut into engineering service fees. One of these
>days, the competitive situation will require a change in strategy, but
>that day is a long way off. (For obvious reasons, I only lasted about 18
>months there.)
>
I'm amazed that any company can get away with this. Not only do you alienate
your customer base, but sooner or later the support costs will eat you alive.
--Wayne Douglass
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