The State of DITA 2014

More books and online resources

More mature

tools/editors/

CMSes

DITA 1.3

DITA-OT 2.0

Lightweight DITA

(XDITA and HDITA)

So where is DITA going?

Testing the waters/early commitment

You get "Technical Writers" and related positions:

• Associate Content Developer
• Information Developer
• Instructional Designer
• NA Editorial Manager
• Technical Author
• Intern - Technical Writing
• Technical Writer 3

And intriguingly, these as well:

• Director, Business Solutions Architect
• Documentation Toolsmith
• Java Developer – Web Services
• Program Manager – Global Vendor Experience
• Senior Engineer, Documentation Tools and Architecture
• Senior Sales Consultant
• Mixed Signal Applications Engineer/Information Developer

Another caveat:

• Do not confuse this with sales trends
• More to do with what tech comm managers are telling their HR folks

Committed, using related tools

There's other interesting information here too...

What if you just search for:

A year ago, I reported that technical writer jobs asking for DITA experience comprised

This represented a shrinking pie...

For past couple of years have also surveyed "technical writer" job descriptions on

"Technical Writer" is still single most popular HR term for this position

• "Technical Communicator"
• "Staff Writer"
• "Cyber Tech Writer"
• "Service Writer"
• "Content Curator" are all minor variants

"Technical Writer" is often inserted into these variant job descriptions to boost search results

...of all technical writer jobs listed on indeed.com

But there is now some hope

Along with "technical writer" have also searched for jobs including "Word", "FrameMaker", "XML" and of course "DITA"

Now:

but:

Job descriptions are also revealing...

Where does this info come from?

• emails sent to DITAWriter.com
• conference abstracts citing DITA
• LinkedIn resume references
• tool vendor/CMS case studies

Accounting

Automotive

Financial Services

Biotechnology

Education Management

Pharmaceuticals

Semiconductors

Higher Education

Hospital & Health Care

Computer

Hardware

e-Learning

Business Supplies

Broadcast Media

Printing

LinkedIn also provides

other useful info:

• industry type
• company HQ location
• URL
• # of employees
• short description of company
• keywords related to company

Computer

Networking

What is

Government Administration

Industrial Automation

?

Research

Government Agency

Computer Software

Some caveats:

• Doesn't mean that a whole company is using DITA
• Reference could be to failed effort to move to DITA
• Could be starting to use DITA but have yet to publish

Telecommunications

Information Technology and Services

Internet

Currently lists 421 organizations/companies using DITA XML

Machinery

Consumer Electronics

Thank you!

Basic info then added to:

www.ditawriter.com/companies-using-dita/

Consulting Firms

Translation and Localization

Technical Writers

see value in reuse

Management Consulting

So why are writers

and companies

choosing to use

DITA?

So what does 421

companies using

DITA look like?

Defense & Space

Oil and Energy

Publishing

Medical Devices

Writing and Editing

Other key advantages for technical writers and IAs

Aviation

Easier to get feedback from a SME on a topic than a book(s)

Computer & Network Security

Stands out on a resume

Nonprofit Organizations

Miscellaneous (Various Categories)

Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing

Mechanical or

Industrial

Engineering

Key advantages of DITA from a corporation's standpoint

Professional Training & Coaching

Reuse "Translates" to Lower Localization Costs

Output can be measured

Reuse means that content is not constantly re-written

Topic =

which wheel?

Production Metrics

DITA + CMS = Ability to Measure Outputs

this is our wheel

a) So a wheel does not have to be re-described

b) Consistent messaging (only one "wheel")

More cost-efficient use of writers and SMEs

Companies Using DITA Across Canada

DITA Usage Across Europe

Companies Using DITA

Across the United States

DITA Usage Across Australasia

Corporations Around the World are Using DITA