Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | X | XML Journal

Marconi embraces XML: how one company publishes and delivers complex product information. (Case Study).

Article Excerpt
Every large corporation is a publisher, whether or not it knows it. User manuals, installation guides, repair manuals, corporate information, even internal documents like employee handbooks take weeks to draft, finalize, publish, and distribute. Ask any corporate information specialist or librarian.

As a global provider of advanced communications solutions like optical networks, Internet routers, and intelligent switches for phone companies, Marconi faces the challenge of managing the creation of lengthy, complex product- and service-oriented documents. For example, the creation of a 4,000-page user guide for an optical network demands tremendous collaboration among Marconi's technical writers. Additionally, Marconi solutions are frequently tailored to the specific needs of each customer. This means that technical documents, even within product lines, are rarely the same.

Fortunately, advanced publishing and authoring technology has helped Marconi overcome many of these challenges and has even opened up opportunities, such as being able to simultaneously publish to print, the Web, and CD-ROM. Using the same technology, Marconi will ultimately enable technicians in the field to wirelessly access relevant portions of huge manuals on handheld devices (see Figure 1). For customers this means instant access to technical information that helps...