What is DOCUFY Academy?
When I heard about a year ago that I was supposed to present DOCUFY Academy at the 2016 User Meeting, the first thing I thought was: “Academy? What Academy? There isn’t one yet. Are we supposed to come up with a whole new training program from scratch in six months’ time?”
But then everything started to fall into place. We got things coordinated with the project managers, the new website was ready to be launched, and the topics to be covered in the new courses took form. It was obvious that it would be impossible to create a perfect, complete training program in just a few months. Still, as we all know, the only way to get to a goal is to put one foot in front of the other: step one, step two, step three… And the goal? It’s our motivation to provide you, our clients and potential clients, with well-conceived, carefully selected, and practical information – and it always will be. In doing so, we want to ensure that your road to better, more up-to-date, more future-ready (Multi-Level) documentation is a smooth one.
A look back
What was life like before the Academy? We had a limited basic program with regular COSIMA trial training, an introduction to DOCUFY Machine Safety, and a special scripting course. That was it. And that had to change. Why? Because our information systems and, above all, our employees’ minds are full of so much knowledge that we just had to get to the people out there.
Hard work in the run-up to the 2016 User Meeting
The preparations were well under way by April and May 2016. How should we present the new courses and the recently launched website, which had also been completely redesigned? What was our mission with the Academy? How can we strike a balance between our clients’ need for knowledge and the content we offer, and how can we assure that every participant gets the most out of our courses? Generally speaking, what do our training sessions need to offer so that our guests don’t just come to us to gain knowledge, but instead look forward to every one of our classes?
“In all beginnings dwells a magic force” *)
My personal turning point on the Academy’s journey into life came at the User Meeting. During the presentation of the new program, in front of a huge crowd, I suddenly realized that we were launching something very important – something that would have a far-reaching impact for our clients and ourselves in the form of new experiences, eye-opening aha moments, and many wonderful opportunities for interaction.
Our new Academy program is being met with open arms, as evidenced by the reception it got when we first presented it at our User Meeting.
Dr. Natalia Schall, Head of DOCUFY Academy
After the presentation, when the first interested participants approached me and ensured me that they would soon be asking their bosses to approve a training budget, I knew we had struck a chord. There is a receptive audience for what we are offering.
Initial experiences
We made our first pitch – the very first Academy training program for the second half of 2016 – one to remember by packing everything people need to know about our products (especially our flagship, COSIMA) into our courses, the new publication configurator, the tried-and-tested approach to translation management, the special functions for mechanical and plant engineering companies, the DTD subsets… In short: the whole range of functions that COSIMA offers.
For our latest product, TopicPilot, we also launched an introductory training course to enable COSIMA go! users to publish their content the fast and easy way with the mobile publication platform.
How do we feel about the first six months? One hundred percent positive! And we’ve learned something important: DOCUFY Academy has arrived in our clients’ world. Interest is rising, and some clients have already set aside a healthy portion of their training budget for next year or have asked for additional dates in 2017. The online courses, which can be booked by the hour, are also gaining popularity, since they make it possible for people to close gaps in their knowledge in no time at all (and without the hassle of travel) and benefit tremendously.
What’s ahead in 2017?
We are, of course, delighted about the feedback we have received so far. As a result, we are turning our attention to the training program for the first half of 2017 with even more enthusiasm and élan.
DOCUFY Academy is more concise and focused in the new program. We will focus on the latest trends in the courses TechDoc 4.0 and Multimedia Documentation while continuing to offer the classics, such as our introductions to COSIMA, Machine Safety, and Topic Pilot. What’s more, our new Productivity² course, which we have developed in close cooperation with our support and product management experts, addresses the needs of experienced COSIMA users in an even more targeted manner.
What’s in the works? A whole lot. And one thing is sure: Life won’t be getting boring for us, the team behind DOCUFY Academy. We are working untiringly on background processes, training materials, and new topics. We remain committed to enhancing and refining what we offer, and making it even more appealing for you.
Last but not least
We welcome your thoughts, suggestions, and criticism. Simply email us, call us, post your message in the XING COSIMA Club, or talk to us in person during the course.
We look forward to shaping the future of DOCUFY Academy with you.
*) Hermann Hesse, “The Glass Bead Game”
Title image: @alejandroescamilla / Unsplash
