Documentation Deficiencies Complicate Integration

A shift from printed documentation to electronic documentation of Microsoft software would seem to promise greater depth and currency, but the transition has been an uneven one. Some product groups continue to offer thorough, high-quality documentation, but others have shipped major products without fully documenting them, to the dismay of customers and partners. Customers find it difficult to evaluate and use products with poor documentation, while partners are less able to deploy, integrate, or customize it, although partners may also find new opportunities in consulting services that compensate for missing guidance from Microsoft.

The Role of Documentation

Documentation is used by many audiences to understand the various aspects of a product, including the general design and major features; deployment, installation, administration, and upgrade techniques; dependencies and conflicts with other software; and programmatic interfaces and built-in scripting languages.

End customers need documentation to determine what a product does and what business advantages they might gain from employing it, as well as how to use and administer the software after they have licensed and deployed it.