Challenges

Establishing a documentation process and providing a flexible service

Although Elwood had previously relied on an in-house specialist to create API and software developer documentation, their internal processes were unable to keep up with demand. This problem was exacerbated when the internal resource left the company, prompting Elwood to reach out to 3di.

Elwood also needed documentation that was easier to find for each audience, and could become a useful and trusted source for providing orientation, clear guidance and clarity about how to achieve the best from the platform’s capabilities.

Elwood needed a documentation partner that could quickly get up to speed with its product, could recommend tools, processes and information models that would best suit Elwood, and provide the authoring expertise to carry out these recommendations.

Solution

3di created a clear process, implemented the best tools, and created some fantastic documentation

3di provided a team of technical writers using our proven workflows and tools, to ensure the Apptio product teams could have the content they needed to support their releases. Alongside, we led a strategy review that had four key components:

• Understood Elwood’s needs – After discussing Elwood’s priorities (orientation and guidance about the underlying algorithms and logic, and about the Portfolio Management System) 3di were able to start creating a content plan to meet these needs.
• Implemented tools, processes and workflows – 3di recommended and implemented a technical writing service that seamlessly complemented Elwood’s development and product deployment. 3di started by creating developer documentation using a tool stack that Elwood was already familiar with (Markdown, Git and Hugo). For outputs that needed additional functionality, 3di incorporated other tools to provide the features needed
• Designed efficient models – After analysing Elwood’s needs, 3di created, tested and implemented new information models that solved the issues that Elwood was facing with its API and developer documentation.
• Created and published new documentation – 3di ensured that Elwood documentation was available in a range of outputs, including HTML, so that it could be accessed and used by all of Elwood’s customer base.