Re: Cost Analysis for FrameMaker

[Fabien Vais <phantoms -at- POP -dot- TOTAL -dot- NET>]

Kari Alt wrote:
>Hello,
>I just moved into a new Technical Writing job where the TechComm department
>uses PageMaker for the majority of their technical user manuals which are on
>average 100-200 pages long.  I have expressed my concern to my supervisor
>that PageMaker is not the right tool for the job and FrameMaker would be a
>better choice.  She agrees with me, but before I can order FrameMaker she
>has asked me to create a cost analysis in terms of how much the department
>can save by using FrameMaker instead of PageMaker (time spent formatting,
>creating indexes, etc.).  I have never done a cost analysis, and I am not
>sure what needs to be included, items to consider, etc.
>Do you have any resources, ideas, or tips that I could use?
>Thank you in advance and let me know if you need any more information....


I would say that I don't know how to do a serious cost analysis, and that
that isn't what I was hired to do. And besides, I would tell my supervisor
that there is plenty of documentation to the fact that FrameMaker is now the
industry standard for the kind of work I am doing, and I shouldn't have to
"prove" anything any more.

What your super is asking for would take you hours, if not days to
calculate, and would be based almost entirely on APPROXIMATIONS. Don't get
sucked in.

IMHO,

Fabien Vais

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Fabien Vais - Documentation Analyst
Technical Writing, Technical Translation/Globalization, Editing, Publishing,
Teaching, Training

e-mail: phantoms -at- total -dot- net
Mailing address: 38 Elderidge, Montreal, Quebec, H9A 2P4
Phone/Fax: (514) 685-4752


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