Here I am again talking about software documentation.

If you are still skeptical about the need for documenting your software product, I have some news for you.

My activism on behalf of software documentation and FOSS communities isn’t new. However, right now, all that I have been preaching about when it comes to documenting software came to be true.

Last month I got a call from a Brazilian company. They are desperate to get someone to organize their documentation and create a successful process flow for their company.

It turns out that I have been saying to people from this same company how they are lacking the proper care when it comes to documenting their product. Now, that they got to sign with an international company, they are desperate because said company won’t accept software that has no documentation.

Funny thing is, I have been predicting this situation for quite a while now. So here I go again. The best advice that I can give your company/startup is document, document, and document. So when you get the chance to sign an international contract, people won’t look down on your project.
Yes, the documentation process tells a lot about a company and how it deals with Software Quality, software assurance, and problems.

It’s evident that if you don’t document your failures and problems, then you got a big chance to repeat the same errors over and over. Does your company have a high rotativity of employees? And you haven’t think about creating legacy documentation? Well, guess who is going to spend much more time to train an employee? Yes, it’s you.

Big opportunities won’t embrace your idea if you can’t show the minimum respect for software documentation, and technical writing. It’s as important as your software running. Believe me, when the opportunity comes you don’t want to be caught by surprise and with just 2 months to organize your whole process and document it.

Do it right, from the beginning and you will see that the benefits are much better than the time you “spend” doing the boring documentation task.
This is about creating a whole organizational culture over documenting processes, mistakes, workflows, features. If you create this kind of mindset, then your company will be much more organized and grow a lot more.

Because writing helps us to identify great enhancements, problems, and even opportunities. It helps employees to understand better a project, to keep everyone on the same page.

The Brazilian software scenery has a lot to learn especially when it comes to preparing to do business with foreign companies.

The great advice here is to help you with keeping a budget when contracting someone to care for your documentation. If you already have workflows designed and organized, software partially documented, then this person won’t cost you a lot. Just enough money to organize your documentation process and get things on tracks. But if you have a mess and expect someone to solve it, then expect them to charge you accordingly.

Copy?
Over.