Decentralized Technical Documentation at Distributed Locations

With Ms. Dorothea Dentz (SAP, 4th from right) as host, the discussion group battled their way towards a clear-cut definition for decentralization:

Jerome Leicht (Bosch, 1st from right) presented a system in which a central editorial office ensured that the documentation created through decentralized, XML-based authoring went according to common standards.

Elmar Fina (Fujitsu, 2nd from right) and Martin Jung (cognitas, 3rd from right) presented a model where decentralisation was understood as a relocation of the company's own documentation department outside of company headquarters.

For Christina Hencke (Siemens, 4th from left) and Stephan Greisinger (T3, 3rd from left), the successful outsourcing of a documentation project to an external service provider served as an example for their understanding of decentralization.

In contrast, Thomas Gruner (Maxon, 2nd from left) and Michael Carl Enderstein (ditto, 1st from left) presented a documentation concept that needs no centralized management, dedicated professionals or special software.

Maxon simply specifies its documentation structure with the help of simple templates and style guides, and trusts that quality assurance measures - such as ensuring terminological consistency - will be taken care of as part of the translation work performed by ditto KG.

As it turned out, the different concepts were difficult to compare. The first three concepts with hierarchical structures had been created in large companies such as Fujitsu, Siemens and Bosch. The 'democratic' concept of ditto KG, however, had been successfully implemented at Maxon, a medium-sized company with flat hierarchies which expects a high degree of personal responsibility of its employees working at various locations.

As this became clear, the Discussion Group 3 morphed from a controversial discussion into a polite exchange of experience and Ms. Dentz had little trouble to bring the discourse to a close.

Our thanks go to Thomas Gruner of Maxon GmbH, who peppered our presentation with wit and expertise, and - as a proxy for the many friendly faces in the audience - Anneliese Diederichsen of bizitext GmbH, who provided us with the snapshot above.