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IFS Online Documentation

& Distributed Development

FTI Autumn Meeting

Linköping, October 2009
Presenters

Ulrika Bergman Isabella Pertmann

Documentation Manager Product Documentation Manager

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IFS at a glance
Industrial and Financial Systems

z One of the world’s leading providers of component-based business

software
z Founded in 1983
z Headquarters in Linköping, Sweden
z Listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange
z Number of customers: > 2 000
z Number of IFS Applications™ users: > 600 000
z Represented in more than 50 countries on all continents, through
59 subsidiaries and more than 70 offices, as well as distributors
z Number of employees: 2 812 (August 31st 2009)

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Our philosophy

Vision
z To have the most satisfied customers in the industry and be known
for making advanced technology easy.
Mission
z IFS and partners develop and implement component-based
business solutions, IFS Applications, which enable large and mid-
size organizations worldwide to obtain greater returns.
Values
z Simplicity
z Professionalism
z Commitment

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Product Development & Support

Norway
Sweden
Poland

Sri Lanka

> 700 employees

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IFS in Sri Lanka

z Commenced operations in 1997

Started with 26 employees
z 600 employees as of today
One of the largest software development companies in Sri Lanka
One of the biggest employers of IT graduates in the country
z Areas of Work
Product Development & Support
Worldwide offshore consulting services
Sales & Consulting
z Flat & informal organizational culture

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IFS Online Documentation

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IFS Online Documentation IFS Applications Documentation
What’s This?
Context & Integration

Setup Guides Documentation

Window Descriptions Documentation
Activity Descriptions

Training Material Sample Models

Course Navigator Documentation
Process Models
Topic Descriptions
!
Activity Diagrams

Training Material
Products Navigator Documentation
Process Descriptions

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Facts & Figures
IFS Online Documentation
IFS Applications
1 652

Sample Models

23 079 terms 16 722 text documents

38 800 9 931 5 576
What’s This Window Desc. Activity Desc. Process Models
!

742 473 Activity Diagrams

Topic Desc. Process Desc.
Translated
into
10 languages
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Facts & Figures
Training Material
Training Material Training Material
Products Navigator Course Navigator

1 423 training presentations

157 235 759 272
Intro. Lessons Basic Lessons Key Lessons Extended Lesson

112 137 92
Initial Exercises Course Desc. Tips & Tricks

Training
Data
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This is IFS Online Documentation

z Online documentation (F1)

z Process models
z Training Material
z What´s This? (Shift + F1)
z Documentation Framework

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This is IFS Online Documentation

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This is IFS Technical Online Documentation

8 000 documents

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IFS Training Material

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IFS Training Material

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IFS Training Material

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Distributed Development

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Distributed Development

z Development across worksites or locations.

z Working collaboratively using e-mail, Net Meeting, Web
conference system, MSN and telephone.

Norway
Sweden
Poland

Sri
Lanka

> 700 employees

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How is the work being performed?

Must

Implement
Should
z Agile methodology

Analyze

Design

Test
Small project teams

Could
Short iterations
z Online Doc&TM integrated in the projects

Wish
z Line support to the project teams

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Time Zone Challenge
Shared Working Time SE/SL (green area)

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Lunch

Sweden

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Sri Lanka

Lunch

Shared Time: 9 – 3,5 – 1 – 1 = 3,5 hours

Key customers in Sweden, US, UK, Germany 21
Documentation Organization

Roles and functions

Sweden

z 1 Documentation Manager
z 4 Product Documentation Managers Sri
Lanka

z 17 Technical Writers
z 2 Linguistic Reviewers
z 8 Term Owners
z + Functional Designers,
Business System Analysts,
Software Engineers… etc

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Documentation Organization

Documentation Manager
z What type of documentation should we produce?
z How are we going to produce it?
Guidelines, rules, directives, process…

Support R&D Development projects and Support with directives

and knowledge

Product Documentation Manager

z One PDM per product area (4)
z Responsible for that guidelines etc is followed
z Support to TW in their daily work
z Responsible for content and quality

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Product Documentation Manager Forum

The Documentation Manager is the chairman of the

Documentation Forum
z Improve processes, cross-product decisions and directives
z Leads the cross-product work for Product Documentation
Managers
Purpose
z To conciliate the documentation in the product groups
z Strategic outlook – business cases regarding documentation
z Develop and maintain united guidelines

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Knowledge sharing

Exchange program in Sri Lanka to visit Linköping

z One month at a time
z 2 apartments
z 8 people at a time
z Acting hosts

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Visiting Sri Lanka

z Offices in Colombo (main office) and Kandy

z > 600 employees
z Regular trips

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IFS Office in Colombo

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New office in Kandy

z Started in November 2008

z Solve the space issue in Colombo
z Attract more students from the university in Kandy

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Visiting the IFS office in Colombo

IFS Guest House

z Breakfast
z Living room
z Cable TV/Video
z Daily papers
z Laundry services

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Lunch at the IFS office in Colombo

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Car park at IFS office in Colombo

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Lessons Learned
Teams Communication & Collaboration on different sites

z As a team member, invest in personal relations!

z Don’t cut the traveling budget…
z Working phone lines are CRITICAL
z Flexible lunch times can make a difference
z Team Empowerment

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Success factors

z Built from start

z Committed people
z Exchange program
z Open dialog

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IFS – Solutions for the agile enterprise

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