The findings of the TWB survey are consolidated and presented in the TWB Biennial Technical Communication Report (2011 – 2012). The report contains a wealth of data about current and emerging trends in the Technical Communication industry. The research inferences include essential facts like:
• 77% of today’s companies require and produce technical documentation. 23% are dependent on Technical Communication outsourcing for their documentation requirements.
• Over 60% of today’s companies do not have a separate department for Technical Communication, indicating a decentralized team structure.
• Implementation of a centralized information management system can result in savings of nearly USD 2-6 million per annum, for a company with a turnover between USD 20 and 30 million.
• 36% of organizations in the Technical Communications industry focus on Content Management, while 34% focus on Technical Writing.
• 86% of companies are convinced that single sourcing is important and are willing to incorporate single sourcing systems in their organizations.
• Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker and Adobe RoboHelp continue to lead the industry as preferred authoring environments with 14%, 17% and 16% of the market share respectively. However, nearly 15% of the market share is dominated by XML-based tools, indicating a growing market for XML-based products.
In addition to the research inferences based on the TWB survey, the TWB Biennial Technical Communication Survey (2011 – 2012) also includes: contributions from key industry thinkers including:
• Dr. JoAnn T. Hackos, President of STC (1992 – 93), President of Comtech Services
• Constance McCutcheon, an industry veteran with over twenty years of experience
• Paul Trotter, Founder and CEO of Author-it Software Corporation
• Dr. Carlos Evia, a professor in Technical Writing at Virginia Tech. University
• Professor Sadagopan, from IIIT-Bangalore
• Industry Discussions, which highlight the growing significance of technical publications across industries including Aerospace and Defence, BFSI, Biotechnology, Blended Learning, Business Intelligence, E-learning, PC and Server, Storage and Backup, and Telecom Hardware and Software.