Conclusion

-Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers.

Implementing a robust content-reuse management system for the enterprise is not just an idea whose time has come, but an idea long overdue. Far too often, training departments must make hard decisions in hard times that end up being false economies. The underlying technology of XML has been proven in numerous settings over the past 20 years, first in government and then in the private sector. It is rapidly getting to be the case that if your enterprise does not implement such a system, you will compete at a considerable disadvantage in your marketplace.

In summary, the advantages conferred by the XML content repository and reuse system are:

• Economy - Provides the same economies of scale as automating any labor intensive, customized process.
• Communication - Provides a naturally unifying influence on the organizational communication; both internally and customer-facing.
• Quality - Provides the ability to attain higher quality levels and increased consistency across all training and similarly-sourced deliverables.
• Productivity - Provides additional capacity to produce mandatory training at a lower cost. Confers surplus capacity that can be used to develop more effective training that raises enterprise-wide productivity.

Once those advantages have been delivered, they facilitate the effectiveness of the unified content strategy. The unified content strategy affects the efficiency and productivity of not only training but of all corporate communications. This is the future of communication within the enterprise - training professionals and performance technologists can either be a driving force within these changes or just go along for the ride.