The 4 Tenets of Documentation
BY IT GLUE | June 13, 2017
Documentation is sexy.
How’s that sound for you? Get a chuckle? Probably, at least a little bit. But information is sexy, and so is knowledge. Doing more, and being more, are the product of having and using the right information at the right time. That’s what documentation is all about.
A documentation platform is really all about information management. When it comes down to it, the entire idea of information management has four basic tenets, the Tenets of Documentation.
Know Everything
If knowledge truly is power, then it stands to reason that the more you know, the more powerful you’ll be. Okay, so how does that work in practice? You need a system that helps you gather information. All of the great tech companies today have built their business on information – Google, Amazon, even Tesla is a big data powerhouse. Even if you have no imminent plans for world domination, it’s not hard to imagine that the ability to gather information from multiple sources, without much effort on your part, is going to be pretty powerful.
Organize Everything
All right, so you’re gathering a lot of information. That’s great. You ever try to find a lost wallet in a landfill? If what you’re gathering is just dumped in a pile somewhere with zero sense of organization, it’s of no value. So organization is the second tenet of documentation – get good information and make sure that it is stored in a way that makes sense.
Find Everything
In order for information to have value, you need to be able to find it again, preferably at the precise moment you need it. This is why information needs to be organized. Add in a powerful search, and some logical naming conventions, and the next thing you know, all the information you need is at your fingertips, available within a few keystrokes.
Track Everything
Information changes over time. Sure, there are some immutable facts in this universe. But passwords, configurations and SOPs are not among them. Tracking information allows you to know who made what changes when, and what changes need to be made. Verifying changes in information makes your information stronger. So does anticipating changes and making them proactively.
Empower Everyone
When you put these four tenets together, what do you get? Well, you get information that is easily gathered, given structure, is available when you need it, and gives you flexibility to stay at the cutting edge. The best systems are so easy that everybody on your team can leverage your information with a minimum of training. Remove the information silos that exist in your organization, and everybody can be as effective as your best person.
Documentation is the management of information at a human scale. It’s breaking down the barriers to information transfer that are slowing your company down. It’s eliminating waste and increasing productivity. How is that not sexy? To find out more about how IT Glue can help you improve your standard of documentation, take a look at our features.
IT Glue is the world’s leading IT documentation software for MSPs. We want to make your journey to documentation excellence and peace of mind easier, so we provide an extension array of informational resources to help your team document more easily. From our Knowledge Base to the IT Glue Library, to our amazing Partner Support team, IT Glue has your back as you travel the road to documentation mastery.
