In The Press
Citect Increases Productivity 200 Percent Using Flare From MadCap Software
MadCap Flare’s Superior Migration and Full Support of Single- and Double-Byte Languages Help Global Software Company Boost Help Projects
San Diego, CA, USA – February 4, 2008 — MadCap Software, the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft XPS showcase company, today announced that the product documentation team at Citect has increased productivity by 200 percent using MadCap Flare. Less than a year after implementing Flare, MadCap’s native-XML Help content authoring software, Citect already has 20 Help projects in full production. Flare replaces an earlier solution used at Citect, which relied on a combination of products to achieve the same objectives.
Citect, a leading global provider of industrial & facilities automation, real-time intelligence, and next-generation manufacturing execution systems (MES), significantly expanded its team a year ago, including additions to the product documentation group. At the time, Citect was building Help content in a popular tool for print documentation, and then used a separate tool to convert the files into online content. Some of the new documentation specialists were used to working with Help authoring tools (HATs) that provided single-source publishing of content in print and online. Because the existing solution did not meet those needs, the documentation group decided to look at alternatives.
“Too often, technical communications teams try to adapt products that were never designed to be HATs. We thought that there could be a more efficient way to produce our Help content,” said David Boocock, team leader of product documentation at Citect. “By migrating from a two-product solution to Flare, which was specifically designed to serve as a Help authoring tool, we immediately recognized significant efficiencies that have led to a two-fold gain in productivity.”
Citect’s decision to move to Flare was the result of an in-depth review of more than half a dozen products, Boocock noted. “We completed a very thorough evaluation that compared 30 different Help content requirements. In the end, Flare addressed more of those requirements than any other product we reviewed. It also has a modern, forward-looking architecture, which stands out from the older designs of other solutions whose older architectures have been updated for today’s Web-based Help demands.”
Within the long list of functional requirements, a few stood out as top priorities. Single-source publishing of print and online Help was a must-have—as was the ability to migrate projects without losing or corrupting Citect’s files, particularly the context IDs.
“We did not want to go and recreate 10,000 context IDs,” Boocock explained. “Flare outperformed all other products on migration from the existing tools, taking care of the context IDs so that we didn’t have to worry about them and could focus our efforts on the content.”
With continued growth and increased global presence, support for translation is also important, since Citect needs to translate its Help projects into a number of European and Asian languages, including French, German, Russian, Korean, Japanese, and simplified Chinese, says Boocock. He noted, “Flare has mitigated a great deal of the effort and risk associated with translation. We’re also excited by the promise of MadCap Lingo to further simplify our translation.”
“As a leading provider of software to manufacturing companies worldwide, Citect recognizes the importance of delivering consistent, best-in-class Help—in customers’ language of choice, whether it’s
in print or online,” said Anthony Olivier, CEO of MadCap Software. “We are thrilled by the outstanding productivity gains Citect has achieved by using Flare, which highlight the value of choosing a Help authoring solution specifically designed for today’s multi-channel, multi-lingual demands. We look forward to further contributing to Citect’s success with MadCap Lingo for translation and localization."
About Citect
Citect is a leading global provider of industrial & facilities automation, real-time intelligence, and next-generation manufacturing execution systems (MES). Leveraging open technologies, CitectHMI/SCADA and Ampla connect to multiple plant and business systems. Citect’s products are complemented by professional services, global customer support, and educational services. Distributed in more than 80 countries worldwide, Citect solutions are installed in numerous industries: mining, metals, food and beverage, manufacturing, facilities, water/wastewater, oil and gas, power generation/distribution, and pharmaceuticals. Citect has offices in Oceania, Africa, the Americas, China, Europe, India, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Citect at www.citect.com.
About MadCap Software
MadCap Software is a trusted resource for thousands of companies around the globe for single-source, multi-channel authoring and publishing solutions designed to streamline the process of developing and delivering training content, learning and development programs, technical documentation, online Help, knowledge bases, and more. From authoring, publishing and translation, to cloud-based content management system, to contribution and review in the cloud, you can streamline content delivery and manage the entire content development lifecycle with MadCap Software. MadCap Software’s services include product training, consulting services, translation and localization, and an advanced developer certification program. Headquartered in San Diego, California, with offices in Austin, TX, MadCap Software is home to some of the most experienced software architects and product experts in the content development industry.
