An overview of IBM's technology strategy for the technical content experience of its clients

1. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM Client Technical Content
Experience (CTCX)
Strategy Overview
presented by:
Michael Priestley, STSM, Content Technology Strategist
28 November 2013
charts from the CTCX Strategy authored by:
Andrea Ames, Michael Priestley, Alyson Riley, and Jamie Roberts
© IBM 2013. All rights reserved.

2. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
Important Disclaimer
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PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
IS
WHILE EFFORTS WERE MADE TO VERIFY THE COMPLETENESS AND
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3. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM Client Technical Content Experience mission

4. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
CTCX enablement package: Assets for content teams
Process
Models & patterns
How we implement the technical content
strategy at IBM—consistent methods to
achieve consistent results. The primary
process is integrated content planning
based on scenario-driven content
design and development.
Models: blueprints that show the ideal
information experience and relationships
between components. Content teams apply
specific offering details to the models in order to
design consistent content experience.
Patterns: navigation and content patterns for
specific pieces of a content experience.
Standards
Skills
The authoritative rule that allows us to
measure uptake of CTCX assets and
gauge conformity to the vision for a “One
IBM” content experience.
Metrics
How do we know what success looks
like? Common approaches to measuring:
 Internal efficiency for IBM product
teams
 External effectiveness (client success)
of an IBM content experience
Grow experts across IBM in implementing
content strategy. Includes:
 Skills assessments and learning menus
 Human-facilitated education and coaching focused
on applying corporate assets
 “Recipes” to guide teams in effective use of assets
such as metrics and standards
 Executive communication packages to enable buyin
 Assets to help managers identify and grow skills
Technology
The infrastructure, tools, delivery mechanisms
through which we design, develop, manage,
and deliver content to clients.

5. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
Technical content contributes to product success
The user experience is not limited to
the design of the product user interface
Is your content doing its job?

How visible is your product?
Are your key product messages clearly
visible in the content ecosystem?

Who’s talking about your product? Where?

How much content do your customers
have to wade through? Are they finding
what they need?

How rich is your product user interface?
How smart?

Do you have product quality or customer
satisfaction challenges?

Are you getting lots of calls to Support?

How much traffic is your content
generating for sales?

Successful, consumable products depend on
high value, high quality content
What’s your product’s first impression?

Content drives client success throughout
the user’s journey and the IBM product lifecycle:

Does your content guide clients
seamlessly through each phase of the
product lifecycle?

How do you know???

6. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
Technical content contributes to revenue
IBM clients say it:
Research shows it:
Using technical
content:
Generates 50%+ of
viable sales leads
[Forbes*]
Encompasses 55%+ of
sales cycle time (vs.
21% spent talking to
sales people)
[Marketing Interactions*]
2nd most important presales activity for
technology buyers
[IDC*]

7. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM Client Technical Content Experience Strategy
the right content delivered in the right experience: to the right person, at the right time, and in the right place
social content & collaboration
client experience
“Help knows which
applications I’m using
and how they’re
configured.”
“I can consume IBM
content from my
company intranet or
my smartphone.”
“I can find what
I’m looking for
quickly and
easily.”
Cognitive computingbased, conversational
user assistance
embedded user
assistance &
dynamic local help
“I can ask
questions directly
and get the
answers I need.”
mobile readers and
mobile-friendly content
“We can edit,
customize, &
share IBM
content.”
optimized for
search and user
bookmarking
social access
& community
interaction
Common platform & services for content aggregation and convergence
common
integrated content
common access
common experience
and services

8. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM Knowledge Center:
The common platform and services for content aggregation and convergence
content display
social content services (feedback, comment, content contribution)
simple content service (includes embedded display) *
search
filter & customize
native search service *
SEO organic search *
content customization service, including customization tools
content filtering service
content aggregation service
content addition content contribution and re-use discrimination *
IBM Knowledge Center platform
* available in KC 1.5
IBM KC content source
IBM content source / CMS
open web content, newsgroups. social sites

9. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM KC 1.5 examples of
content aggregation and convergence
IBM KC content only API (from KC Hosted @ ibm.com)
IBM KC Hosted @ ibm.com / customer installed
IBM KC mobile PoC // search API

10. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
IBM Knowledge Center live @ ibm.com: a “one-stop technical content shop”
IBM Knowledge Center is
now live at ibm.com!
--we are still indexing
content before we declare
public Beta 2, target
December 2013 through
February 2014
www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter
Initial Scope: technical
publications for over 2500+
products: 60M web pages
(including all languages); 850
URLs with 5M unique visits
aggregate per month; 200 million
internal search queries per year
IBM KC Hosted automatically
generates SEO artifacts
(sitemaps plus metadata) from
content for organic search, and
maintains rank and organic
search visibility
Over time, IBM KC will be the
basis for an extended fusion of
IBM technical content, including
sources like Support, Redbooks,
developerWorks, PartnerWorld in
addition to the Information Center
content
IBM Knowledge Center: an IBM-wide view of technical content from multiple sources
for multiple offerings in a single application. Includes integrated tools for finding, filtering,
customizing, sharing and publishing content. Powered by the Knowledge Center Platform

11. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
Vision: A common content platform to enable reuse
across the enterprise and with business partners and
clients
Author
Author
Author
Author
Manage
Author
Publish
Manage
Publish
Manage
Manage
content
Publish
Author
Publish
Taxonomy
Manage
Today:
Publish
Silos inhibit
reuse of content
and infrastructure.
Content delivery reflects company
organization, not client needs
Tomorrow:
Authoring with common standards allows sharing
of content and consolidation of infrastructure.
Content delivery can be organized around client
needs, not organizational boundaries

12. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
Vision: Smart Content development and delivery

Professional
authoring
(desktop)
Collaboration
and review
Source
repository
Software
developer
Lightweight
authoring
(desktop)
Software
developer
DITA as hub
interchange format that
can be filtered and
repurposed at any
stage, act as metadata
wrapper for
video/multimedia
Can be viewed on any
device and delivered in
multiple formats
appropriate to purpose

Can be assembled and
integrated into new
deliverables without
breaking connection to
source

Dynamic adaptive
content experience
fuelled by smart
content: modular,
structured, classified
Lightweight
authoring
(web)
KC on
ibm.com
Analytics
and metrics
Business
partner


Information
developer
Lightweight
authoring
(web)
Content can come from
multiple sources:
authoring options
include Word or
OpenOffice templates,
HTML forms, XML
editors
Customer
environment
Client

13. IBM Client Technical Content Experience (CTCX)
What is DITA?
Darwin Information Typing Architecture
is an XML standard for modular
content, collections and classification
that allows an enterprise to:
Keep many versions of content current across multiple
audiences, multiple media, multiple deliverables, multiple
translations across many geographies
Deliver improved information quality through structured and
reused content
Experience faster response time when content for custom
products is needed
Leverage traceability and accountability features when a
problem is found (fix it once, fix it everywhere; inform other
affected authors)
Coming soon: Lightweight DITA, simple structured
authoring for easier adoption and faster ROI
DITA has the largest membership of any OASIS technical
committee
IBM contributed DITA to the OASIS standards organization in March of 2004,
where it is now managed by the OASIS DITA Technical Committee.
Who uses it (selected from
http://www.ditawriter.com/companies-usin
/)
Accounting
Automotive
Aerospace
Biotech
Computer hardware/software/networking
Consumer electronics
Consumer goods
E-learning/education
Manufacturing
Entertainment
Financial services
Health and wellness
Hospital and healthcare
Industrial automation
IT services
Insurance
Medical devices
Oil and energy
Pharmaceuticals
Publishing
Retail
Semiconductors
Telecom
How they use it
Marketing, market
research
Product docs, support
Learning/training
Policies/procedures
Standards
Articles, studies, etc.