JustSystems Challenges Organizations to Think Outside of the (Tech Docs) Box

Once Seen as a Cost Center, Structured Authoring Emerges as an Important Value Generator and a Key Basis for Competitive Advantage

NEW YORK — May 27, 2008 — JustSystems, the largest independent software vendor in Japan and a worldwide leader in XML and information management technologies, today announced its initiative to break structured authoring out of the “tech docs box.” Detailed in the recently released white paper, “Thinking Outside the (Tech Docs) Box,” structured authoring is shifting from a cost center to a value generator that provides a competitive advantage through improved customer relationships. The paper is available for download at http://na.justsystems.com/outsideofthebox.

In an era of globalization and hyper-competition, JustSystems suggests structured authoring holds the key to the only remaining sustainable advantage — the customer relationship itself. By weaving structured authoring and publishing throughout their operations, organizations stand to strengthen customer relationships by improving the quality and value of customer experience through accurate, consistent and accessible content, and by transforming the publishing process from a one-way street to a two-way exchange that ensures published content reflects the knowledge and sentiment of customers and other stakeholders.

“For most organizations, customer relationships are their most valuable assets,” said Jake Sorofman, senior vice president of marketing and business development for JustSystems. “Much of the time, those relationships are forged with customer-facing documents and communications, which are often taken for granted. We’re encouraging organizations to take a close look at their authoring and publishing strategy and to elevate its priority from an ordinary back-office function to the basis for competitive advantage it has the potential to become.”

The Structured Authoring Breakout

The evolution of structured authoring from cost center to value generator rests on overcoming a series of challenges that organizations typically fail to address in the course of their content authoring and publishing. Organizations that do address these challenges enjoy direct, customer service benefits that have the potential to yield distinct competitive advantage:

• Challenge 1: Authoring is Collaborative. Content authoring is a fundamentally collaborative process that relies on the inherent interdependency between tech writers and the broader community of subject matter experts and business contributors. Organizations must make collaboration fundamental to their authoring processes, seamlessly bridging all contributors’ skills, perspectives, tool preferences, and tolerances for complexity.


• Challenge 2: Publishing is a One-Way Street. Social media technologies such as blogs and wikis demonstrate the value of — and create an expectation for — a two-way exchange with customers. Yet for many, publishing is a one-way street. Organizations must incorporate a feedback loop to transform publishing into an organic conversation that incorporates the voice and sentiments of customers and other stakeholders.


• Challenge 3: Everyone is an Author. Occasional and “accidental” authors represent over 95 percent of most organizations, producing content prolifically but with little or no structure. Rather than imposing new tools and processes on end-users or dramatically modifying their tools, organizations can capture this knowledge by transparently weaving structured authoring into the applications used to produce the most critical content.

Sorofman continued, “Structured authoring and publishing are moving out of the basement and into the corner office as they become essential levers for competitive advantage. Now more than ever, companies must recognize that the customer is king. We are advising organizations take a hard look at their technical communications initiatives as a key aspect of customer relationship management. Organizations that take this seriously will have the chance to lock in hard-won customer relationships, winning loyalty in spite of better and cheaper alternatives. Others will see customer loyalty erode along with yesterday’s product and cost advantages.

For more information on JustSystems, please visit http://www.justsystems.com/ and the JustSystems Knowledge Center at http://na.justsystems.com/KnowledgeCenter.

About JustSystems

JustSystems is a leading global software provider with three decades of successful innovation in office productivity, information management, and consumer and enterprise software. With over 2,500 customers worldwide and annual revenues over $110M, the company is continuing a global expansion strategy that includes the launch of its new enterprise software offering called xfy (pronounced 'x-fie'), and XMetaL content lifecycle solutions. A Gartner “Cool Vendor” selection in 2008, JustSystems has worldwide office locations including global headquarters in Tokyo, and regional offices in New York, Palo Alto, Vancouver, and London. The company currently employs over 1,000 people. Major strategic partnerships include IBM, Oracle and EMC. For more information, please visit http://www.justsystems.com/.

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