CIDM_BP_Kaas_Final

EMC CONFIDENTIAL—INTERNAL USE ONLY 1

Knowledge as a Service

Transforming Tech Pubs into a cross-functional Information Development agency

Laurel NicholesSr. Manager, Information Development - EMCCIDM Best Practices9/23/2014


4 Scale-out Network Addressable Storage (NAS) proprietary hardware suites

OneFS Multi-Protocol Operating System

– SMB, NFS, HDFS, HTTP, FTP, REST API

Monitoring software modules

Acquired by EMC Q4 of 2010

Start-up to enterprise *really* fast

Knowledge as a Service | Transforming Tech Pubs

What is Isilon?


Knowledge as a Service

Web Defined:

“It sounds kitschy, corny, tacky, hyped-up… It also is a platform providing the best answer, in the best context, at the best time as

needed [by the audience member]”.1

I see it differently:

Holistically identify needs of knowledge providers, as well as knowledge consumers, and create solutions that actively engage and

benefit both constituents.

In other words, use content to solve business problems.


Huh?


In the beginning - pain points fly


You are too slow

Can’t find anythingDocs are too

big

Docs are too small

You work in a black box!Share your

process!

You cost too much

Why do you need so many

writers?


4 content silos7 content developer hiring plans across 4 cost centers

Very little communication

The problem was real

Engineering Global Svcs Tech Mktng EdServices

Internal Docs

Tech Pubs Support Writers

Professional Services

TrainingSolutions Architects

Product Management


This was us!


So, there are issues!


Triage by requirements and impact– Sphere of influence– Time to show success– Cost

What can we do that …– Is a quick win and …– Affects organizational pain points …– While improving customer knowledge

experience?


In the beginning – November, 2012


9 NPI Content Developers

1 Technical/Content Editor

1 NPI Information Architect


2012 FundingKnowledge as a Service | Transforming Tech Pubs

Engineering

2012 Output

• PDF and Online Help

• 5 titles per major release

• @1000 topics in our CMS

ID < 1% of EMC Isilon

total budget.


Structured, collaborative authoring solution

Some really strong writers

Some struggling writers

Content developers in other groups

Very little financial support

Unhappy leadership

REALLY unhappy customers

What did we have?Knowledge as a Service | Transforming Tech Pubs



Explore different business partners

Engineering

Sales and Marketing

Training

Support


Product Management

Plus my best friend – Finance!


Engineering– SMEs have to answer the same questions multiple times.

Training– We need technical information earlier.

Professional Services– We don’t have enough product knowledge.

Support– We can’t create content fast enough. Our customers are

writing their own!

Product Management– We hate to write white papers.

Everyone– We can’t find anything!

Discover shared pain points – January, 2013



Problems: – Content silos– SMEs transfer the same knowledge multiple

times

Fixes:– Content developers unite!– Create a single knowledge transfer vehicle.– Get a Content Board of Directors, or Interlock.

Create fix that shows quick, but foundational win



Relationships based on shared concerns, consensus, and trust

Addressed empire-builder fears directly

Shift was not 100% organizational

Crowdsource content within our own organization

Content Developers Unite! – April, 2013



Joint funding from Engineering and Support

Strategic partnerships that provide in-kind resource donations

Unification results


InfoDev - Powered By Collaboration

ServicesStrategy & Quality

ProductNew Product Introduction

SolutionsIn-MarketContent

Product Mgmt

Partners

TrainingPartners

Pro SvcsPartners


– A conversation between SMEs and▪ All content creators▪ Test▪ Support▪ Technical Marketing ▪ Professional Services

– Sessions become knowledge artifacts on a centralized wiki

Brain Dump – Single Knowledge Transfer Vehicle

• New hires come up to speed quickly• Employees transition roles quickly



The Brain Dump Reuse Cycle – v1

Brain Dump Session Artifact

Product Docs

Test Plans

Training

KB Articles




The Content Interlock:

– Addresses silos together

– Identifies duplicative efforts and content gaps

– Creates a Prioritized Queue

Unification through Collaboration, not Organization


Required in our product development lifecycle

Cross-functional Leadership pleased

Engineers ask to give brain dumps

Less begging for information!

We have our quick win!



Time to analyze our gaps and resources


Gaps: • Video• Blogs• Tweets• Community• Technical articles and white papers• Discoverable and searchable content

Resources:• Multimedia talent• Evidence-based white paper authors• Public Content Platform

Requirements• Equipment• Social media domain expertise


The Multimedia Negotiations begin – May, 2013


Everyone wants it.

No one wants to pay for it.

Solution: Crowdsource the Money– Engineering buys basic

equipment.– Training and Support dedicate

production talent.– Professional Services provides on-

screen talent.– Writers turn product docs into

scripts.


Multimedia - The Result – June, 2013

Knowledge as a Service – Transforming Tech Pubs

Note – During the presentation, I played a video clip here. It is a huge file!

You can see the clip I played and more on our YouTube playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbssOJyyvHuXZ_3JKT5ugbuHPQqZm3e5f


Multimedia by the numbersKnowledge as a Service – Transforming Tech Pubs

54 videos to date

Video consumption outpaces docs 2 to 1

Multimedia team supports 5 departments, including execs.

Videos get reused in training courses– Virtual hardware training


The proposal:

– Illustrate use cases through test results.

– Reuse content in product concept topics.

– Expand perspective from procedural or break-fix documentation.

– Partnership!▪ They provide the facts.▪ We develop the context, message,

and channel.

Evidence-based White Papers – August, 2013



Evidence-based White Paper Results


• Coverage for multiple vertical and hybrid solutions

• Metadata/SEO brings greater visibility

• White papers make us nimble > reuse

Ads


Expensive content sitting on websites– Content behind firewall– Need to drive customers to content

Solution?– Support funds headcount

Why?– Support slammed by calls asking for documentation

Technical Social Media – September, 2013


Marketing leveraged our social media expertise!


Social Media – the Result


• Weekly ISI Knowledge blog

• Blog contains hard links

• Blog gets tweeted and posted

• Search engines pick up links for improved SEO

• Interesting lessono Social media takes time


Customers looking for a complete conversation

Home for content outside the firewall

Topic-based, one-stop knowledge shop– Content AND interaction

Community – May, 2014



The Brain Dump Reuse Cycle – v2Knowledge as a Service – Transforming Tech Pubs

Brain dump artifacts now feed 8 content types

Test creates test plans and use cases

ID-Product creates product docs

Training leverages content for courseware

Support creates internal and external knowledgebase articles

Community Content– Articles– Ask the Expert Sessions

– Forum Discussions

Video Scripts

Social Media Feed– Twitter, LinkedIn, User Groups

Evidence-based White Papers

Brain Dump Session Artifact

Product Docs

Test Plans

Training

KB ArticlesCommunity

Content

VideoScripts

Blogs/Social

WhitePapers



September, 2014 – InfoDev By the Numbers

7 New Product Content Developers

3 Knowledge Media leads

1 Editor for all content types

1 Information Architect for all content types

10 Solutions Content Developers


2014 Funding


EngineeringGlobal Services

54% 45%

Product Marketing Training

Localization Multimedia talent

Community Owner Community Manager

Video studio build-out

In-kind donations

Still < 1% of EMC Isilon

total budget.


2013-2014 Output – by the numbers


• 22 Brain Dump transcripts• 12 content types• 18 software titles• 70 hardware titles• 54 videos• 47 blog posts• 50 Troubleshooting Decision

Trees• 1527 KB articles

Spanning:• 54 software releases• 2 new hardware platforms


Our KaaS agency solves problems for the business and its customers.

Unified efforts and collaboration = single voice advocating for knowledge management.

Quick wins help build credibility.

Put that credibility to work - obtain funding and in-kind donations to grow capabilities.

Expand our offerings based on what our followers told us.

And so…

Summary



This…Engineering Global Svcs Tech Mktg EdServices

Internal Doc

Tech Pubs Support Writers

Pro Services Training

Solutions Architects

Product Mgmt


Became Transformation!

Engineering

Sales and Marketing

TrainingSupport


Product Management

InfoDev


Make lots of friends– Friends with money help– Friends who know about money

help more

Make content solve business problems

Mine your talent

Make the hard changes

Hunt reuse

Market your team and your content


Start your own transformation


Tell me how it [email protected]


Q & A

CIDM_BP_Kaas_Final

Documents

emc confidentialinternal

tech pubs engineering

emc q4

tech pubs triage

funding knowledge

fast knowledge

knowledge consumers

service web