Authoring everyone understands
Through the use of Document Assistant, analysts and editors can create and edit documents in Expressroom using the applications that they know and use everyday, such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. And Document Assistant's two-way transformation engine moves content to and from XML.
Do it on the server
Document Assistant's secret is that it does its work on the server. There's nothing to install on the analysts’ desktops. So the analysts are happy. They don't need to learn a new application. As far as they are concerned, it's business as usual. IT is happy since they don't have to manage yet another application on the desktop. And developers are happy, since they can easily roll out changes from a single location. Everyone is happy. (When was the last time you said that?)
Analysts should analyze
Consider the analysts. They are experts in their areas of interest and they are charged with turning information into knowledge and reporting it. Analysts are not necessarily technologists, nor are they generally interested in the details of digital production. Their focus is and should be on intelligence reporting, not the details of digital production.
Create XML without thinking about it
XML is a great format for preserving information such as an intelligence report. It's great for sharing information between computers. It's flexible and expressive, and it makes life much easier for developers. But no one really thinks in XML. Well, maybe some developers do, but they're not writing products.
Expressroom IC gives you the power to create XML without ever thinking about it. It just happens.