White Paper: Offshore Development of Technical Documentation

Abstract
For several years, organizations have effectively outsourced their business tasks to external organizations. When business is outsourced to a company located in another country, it is called as Offshoring. Although outsourcing is a well-established business model, the success rate for outsourcing and offshoring documentation has always been debatable. This document addresses the reasons and problems faced while offshoring documents. It also explores the pointers which, when addressed can effectively resolve the issues. Study shows that offshoring failures are more relevant to complex product development environment with tight schedules, where many changes are incorporated preceding the deadlines.

Introduction
With a slowing economy, most of the organizations are inventing new ways to cutback on cost and increase productivity. Offshoring various facets of their business operations have been an option where the companies focus on their core competencies. It started with software and expanded to Technical Support and other highend services like engineering, research, technical writing, creative writing and human resource. Corporations are realizing that in todays economy it is more favorable for them to concentrate on core competencies and collaborate with specialist to obtain services that are not mission-critical. Some of the reasons company offshore various modules of their business operations are: Focus on core competencies and expanding business Eliminate ongoing investments on their assets Cost reduction Organizational streamlining If organizations need a range of services at optimum cost, the only way to do it is to take advantage of the ever-increasing benchmark, wherever that can be sourced. Companies should partner with vendors where the contract arrangement does not hinder the progression of the offshoring marketplace.

The Vital Collaboration

The primary goal of most of the corporations is to expand and diversify than cutting costs. These organizations realize that subcontracting enables them to divert resources and capital on the nucleus operations instead of non-critical operations. While this approach is acceptable, organizations still need to realize that although the operations themselves arent critical, the documents, content, and data being processed are. This rationale stresses on the importance of collaborating with a trusted service provider.

Modular Sourcing of Resources

Earlier, industries focused on in-house resources and confined the functional operations within the organization. This was and still is the trademark of giant enterprises. But with fluctuating economy and globalization, the nascent high-tech organization found it easier to adapt to outsourcing the peripheral operations to the highly competitive service providers. At present, offshoring document related work is no more a niche market. However it is imperative to partner with the right service providers. Today service providers are offering a more vertically integrated, broad range of services than ever before.

The Risks of Offshoring

The benefits and advantages of offshoring are many. However, there are number of factors to be considered while setting up a partnership with service providers. Akin to any business there are risks involved. The important factors that must be considered while assessing offshore partners are: Vendor reliability - verifying the experience and knowledge, client base, and track record of the offshore vendor. Appropriate documentation management process - lacking and non-adherence to processes can result in complete failure of quality and deliverance of the final document. Language constraint - Most of the offshoring processes are established in Asia owing to reasonable labor cost. Often it is required to specify the English language as British English, American English or colloquial English.
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White Paper: Offshore Development of Technical Documentation

Training and knowledge transfer time. Establishing Communication Protocols - Deciding on the mode of communication, setting up private networks to protect confidential information etc. Working in different time zones - delay in updates of deliverables and increase in telecommunication expenses. Worldwide technological differences - trying to resolve differences especially in communication protocols, power supplies, regulatory, infrastructure standards can sometimes strain the entire process of offshoring.

Offshoring by choice
Whether or not to offshore technical documentation is a complicated decision and most often customers decide on outsourcing as a desperate act of meeting compressed delivery schedules. The customers need for offshoring should stem from an established baseline spelling out the predefined objectives, estimated benefits and the metrics required to measure and manage the contract. With the aim of expansion, cutbacks, organization may find that offshoring technical documentation is a viable alternative thus enabling them to concentrate on core business competencies.

Creating the Baseline

To create a baseline it is essential to understand and scale the initial state of quality and productivity of deliverables. This will aid in developing a contract that reflects the actual customer requirements. The baseline should indicate information such as: State of work products Development patterns of the work process Milestones required Timelines Performance standards Metrics used for audits Version control process Both the customer and the service provider can use the analysis of the baseline information to understand the productivity quotient, quality statistics, maintenance requirements and scope of enhancement. Depending on its nature a baseline can be generalized in the following categories: Baseline Functional baseline Designated baseline Development Baseline Deliverable Baseline Comprises Initial specifications defined, agreement etc State of work products once requirements are approved State of work products amid development Contains the releasable contents of the product Source Information creating: High level plan Timeline for

Assignment status reports Configuration management

There can be other types of baseline, differing from one organization to another, based upon proprietary business practices, technology, culture, history and skill base.

Identifying the required scale

It often requires intuitive and experiential knowledge to make a decision on collaborating with the right service provider. To avoid disappointment apart from incurring huge losses in terms of miscalculated judgment it is vital to have a point of reference for selecting a partner. You can consider the following principles as guidelines: Clearly defined document management processes A clear understanding and establishment of constraints An agreed methodology to work around the established constraints Adequate and effective communication
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White Paper: Offshore Development of Technical Documentation

Technically competent professionals Higher level of English writing and editing skills combined with a global outlook Professional approach to accomplishing tasks Conformance to international quality standards Larger, global customer base

Offshore Solution
The following points can be considered while working towards building an offshore service provider: Establish a partner not just a vendor Look for an offshore provider that brings a broad set of expertise and knowledge base. The provider should have a good track record of delivering results. You can check for the credibility of their work by asking their work sample, clientele base and competitive pricing for the services being provided. It would be useful to have background information of the service providers for process improvement and their ability to focus on the core business. Pilot project A sample project can be used to determine whether a service provider is able to meet the required quality and standards within a given time limit. Evaluate the deliverables in smaller portions until trust, consistency and reliability are established. In this way you can limit the payments to small amounts till you are satisfied and ready to partner with the service provider. Ensure appropriate Business Model for Technical Documentation Verify whether the service provider has good clear processes to guarantee progression and quality for the technical documents. It is recommended that this be requested of the contractor before you consider their services. Suggest if the processes need changes to suit your need or vice versa. The process should indicate to the customer that they are receiving the desired services as agreed from the service provider. On the other hand the process should help the providers to control the quality and costs of deliverables that are the building blocks for the success of this relationship. Ultimately as in all developments, processes are required to monitor progress, report on status and record results. A good business model can be developed using the subsequent points: 1. Customer-Service Provider Development Methodology: At this stage decide on the use of the providers methodology versus the customer. Have systems and processes to manage the outsourcing relationship for maximum performance. In general, variations to the selected course of action are often necessary to satisfy the needs of both parties. 2. Project Management: Most of the documentation requirements associated with offshore are project based. To suit the offshoring options it may require modifying the standard project management techniques. This may include: Creating or using existing baselines to define requirements Identifying customer/service provider roles and responsibilities Integration of offshore writers with development and testing teams Document information design established and agreed Establishing modular review process for technical and editorial quality for high-quality documentation Formal finance variance analysis Establish clear communication protocols Configuration Management 3. Accounting/Budgeting: Offshoring technical documentation is relatively a new concept. The process used for budgeting is often designed and based on accounting time, quality integration and increase in yield.

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White Paper: Offshore Development of Technical Documentation

4. Measurement: The relationship between customer and service provider ultimately depends on the measure of offshoring success. Success can be indicated by comparing the baseline, quality deliverables, measuring the scope for variations and identifying process improvement. 5. Configuration Management Establish maintenance of document versions at a single repository onsite. All documentation must be released only from the repository and not from individual writers. Language and Style It may help to prepare some writing guidelines and request variation in style, language (British or American English) to suit your specifications. Also ensure that the service providers are able to identify and apply the literary nuances in the documentation.

Evaluation
The management of the affiliations between the organizations can be regulated using formal and informal methods and system. A wide range of techniques can be implemented to monitor the arrangement over time. For example, you can have periodic review sessions with the offshore service provider, and officially defined escalation measures in the event of a disparity. The resulting metrics provide the basis for contract negotiations, monitoring results and payment. The success of offshoring depends eventually on establishing a baseline to: Understand the customer requirements Effective management of the customer/service provider relationship Audit and measurement of the results to manage performance and the ongoing relationship If done correctly, offshoring can result in significant benefits for both customer and the service providers.

Summary
Improved information understanding, competitive pricing and globalization are the driving factors behind the successful adoption of Offshoring Technical Documentation. Most of the corporations cannot ignore the fact that the concept of document offshoring can be used to accomplish improved performance, focus on core competencies and growth in revenue.

TWB Contacts
TWB is a leading technical documentation development and design company. Should you want more information from the TWB repository of information on techniques in technical documentation please contact: Global Sales Rakesh Shukla rakesh.shukla@twb.in +91.9945041426 India Sales Ranjith Radhakrishnan ranjith.radhakrishnan@twb.in +91.9845065233

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