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What You Should Know Before Implementing S1000D

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Introduction

S1000D is the international benchmark for creating, storing and

distributing operational and technical data, designed for the aerospace and defense

industry.

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You’ve just been told you need to adopt the S1000D technical documentation specification in order to reduce program costs and increase maintainability.

Does the thought of implementing S1000D leave you feeling overwhelmed and asking, “Now what?”

This eBook is designed to get you from “Now what?” to “Great, what’s next?” so you can begin implementing with confidence and checking off those tasks in your project schedule.

As a recognized leader in S1000D tools and services, SDL has years of experience applying, servicing and maintaining complex and basic implementations of S1000D using its industry-leading Contenta Publishing Suite.

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What You Should Know Before Implementing S1000D

First, let’s cover the essentials. S1000D is an international specification that defines a common method for organizing, writing and presenting information. It was developed for the aerospace and defense industry and is intended for use by service technicians and operations personnel to support Interactive Electronic Technical Publication (IETP) delivery.

By detailing the use and management of graphics, multimedia and data, such as structured content, S1000D provides a common framework for the consistent presentation, easy transfer and reuse of information including dynamic data delivery.

Whether you’re familiar with S1000D or a newcomer, it can seem daunting to interpret and implement the specification. As it was written to address multiple topics, it now exceeds 3,000 pages. All that aside, S1000D is actually easier to implement than some other specifications. That’s because it uses a prescriptive approach, a broad set of proven capabilities and features, and a fundamental set of best business practices.

S1000D – the basics

Expert tip: S1000D contains a lot of

structured content lingo and assumes the reader already knows

how to author and develop content. If not, you’ll have to first learn how to write, format and

present structured content before diving into

S1000D.

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Like any major undertaking, you want to establish a framework for success. Let’s explore the five essential elements of that framework:

The steps to S1000D success

1

2

3

4

Training

Planning

Analysis

Design

Publish5

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In our experience, even just one day of training can have a significant impact. We’ve seen companies struggle for years trying to implement S1000D without training. Although they understood the mechanics of S1000D, they didn’t know how to apply it.

It’s much easier to implement S1000D when you understand:

• How it works

• How to apply it

• What tools work

Through training provided by S1000D experts like those from SDL, your users will learn how to best use the S1000D specification to address the particular issues you’re trying to resolve. You’ll also identify the true potential – and limits – of S1000D as it applies to your project. As you understand more about the spec and your own project, you’ll get a better sense of what needs to be done to successfully implement S1000D.

Training: Get in S1000D-fighting shape with the right preparation1

Expert tip: Leave no one behind –

train your analysts, project planners, writers, technical IT people and managers so

that everyone learns the language and the basics

of S1000D.

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Make sure to involve a project planner and program manager. Then task them with creating an effective project plan by embarking on the following:

• Scope out the project – This means clearly laying out and defining goals and deliverables and then identifying internal and external resources for the solution. It’s also about verifying that your proposed solution meets your organization’s requirements. Finally, you should document potential risks, such as those associated with a lack of training.

• Identify roles and assign team members – If you need an analyst, determine if one is available in house or if your organization will need to bring on this resource. In addition, identify sub-project planners, writers, IT support, managers and any others that may be critical to the success of your initiative.

• Set a realistic schedule – If you need to use S1000D to satisfy a customer requirement, be sure to create the schedule with that in mind. In addition, consider all department deadlines or other department projects that could limit availability of crucial resources.

• Develop a communication plan – First determine the purpose of the communication plan, including the audience and key messages. Then determine how you will distribute your communication. Be certain to involve those who own the communication channels you plan to use.

In order to create a successful project plan, you need to know:

• Who needs to be involved

• What your technical publication solution needs to be comprised of

• When you need to have a solution in place

• The best way to get there

• How you will build your solution

• Whether or not the solution satisfies the requirement of a specific contract

Planning: Put a solid plan in place2

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Without proper analysis, it’s difficult to determine how to fit S1000D into a single project or program, much less as an enterprise-wide initiative. At a high level, here’s how a typical project analysis goes:

Analysis: Give S1000D some careful thought3

Initial analysis:

• Define your challenge when it comes to technical publishing• Create a list of areas within the company affected by the problem • Identify the owners of the problem

Proceed or reject the project based on the following:

• Implementation feasibility analysis • Cost analysis • Review of any Request For Information (RFI) or Request For Query (RFQ) submissions

If proceeding with the project:

• Review the S1000D specification • Review Business Rule decisions in the specification and address each accordingly • Create Business Rule design documents• Create a Business Rule exchange data module from design documents • Create XML sample data modules for each schema used in the project

The analysis stage is very important because you need to make numerous decisions about customizing sections of the specification to suit your project.

In the world of S1000D, most decisions are based on Business Rules. In this context,

Business Rules are a by-product of both analysis

and design.

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3 In relation to S1000D, these decisions are called Business Rules. Think of Business Rules as the answers derived from analyzing a variety of S1000D implementation choices and then documenting the choice you make.

In S1000D issue 4.1, you can find all the Business Rules in chapter 2.5.3. But in issue 4.0.1, you’ll have to dig through the specification to find them all.

Defining Business Rules early in the process helps to avoid problems later. For example, by specifying how end users will interact with the output of your data, you can reduce the questions that could arise while they’re interacting with your technical documentation.

Your organization may very likely need to define different rules for each project because of variations in customer requirements and the differences in your product offering from one program to another.

Sample of Business Rule types:

• Security Instructions

• Data Creation, Exchange and Output

• Data Management and Integrity

• Business Processes

• Maintenance Philosophy

• Product Definition

• Security Instructions

Expert tip: Include all key

stakeholders – including customers, suppliers and others departments – in your analysis process to avoid problems down

the road.

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For example, if you want to use Applicability (which is customized output that you define), you’ll need to learn how to define and author it within the appropriate data modules. Of course you’ll also need an IETP viewing engine that can resolve applicability on the fly.

While training and analysis combine to help you create the design, implementing the design is the hard part. It’s like drawing up the blueprints for a house and not knowing if the design is adequate to support the roof or floor. If you don’t know the engineering limitations of the materials you’re working with, you may find yourself in the basement when you were trying to get to the kitchen.

Many organizations turn to an experienced vendor that can help develop the blueprints from the organization’s analysis. Any previous training or experience you have is invaluable in determining whether or not a vendor knows what they’re talking about and can adequately address your requirements.

Design is how everything fits together to create a viable and effective solution for your publication needs.

The design part your S1000D project instructs you on:

• Various data schemas

• Features of the specification you will need to turn on

• Tools and features you’ll need in order to implement your S1000D solution

Design: Succeeding by superior design4

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It starts with a proven and easy to use Common Source Data Base (CSDB) for all of your content management requirements, where you can create publishing modules using data modules from multiple issues of S1000D.

Next, publish your content using an advanced IETP with proven enterprise-wide viewer capabilities. Then to print your publications, use the most powerful XML-publishing solutions available today. All of this is supported by an industry-recognized Professional Services team and advanced training options that help ensure your success.

SDL makes it possible for organizations just like yours to manage and deliver complex technical maintenance documents through a complete publishing solution – including a dynamic, interactive IETP.

Publish: Don’t embark on this critical step without expert assistance5

“SDL has taken the frustration out of executing some of the largest and most successful S1000D implementations around the world”

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Listen to our three-part “Now What?” webcast series to get an even deeper understanding of what you can expect when implementing S1000D from beginning to end. The themes are:

The series is presented by a trio of experts with decades of experience in aerospace and defense, as well as proficiency in the S1000D specification and its implementation, tools and services.

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