SDL, the leading provider of Global Information Management  solutions, today announced the increasing adoption of global authoring as a key strategy for businesses that are looking to create consistent, high-quality and timely content for customers worldwide. SDL Global Authoring Management System™ has seen a significant rise in its global customer install base, as well as over 1400 installations of the desktop client software, SDL AuthorAssistant™, as a result of the successful strategic partnership between SDL and Adobe Systems Incorporated. The technology has made important contributions to SDL’s recent award-winning success and users have also set up an independent Special Interest Group to share best practices and to network with other users.

Global brands, such as Hewlett Packard, Avaya and NetApp use SDL Global Authoring Management System as part of their authoring processes to:

• Enable consistency in authoring style across multiple authors and multiple formats

• Improve brand consistency by managing and applying consistent terminology at the content creation stage

• Actively reduce translation costs upfront by reusing previously written content

The results from SDL’s annual Global Authoring Survey suggest that more businesses are now writing technical content intended for a worldwide audience, whether translated or not. It is therefore vital that businesses create clear and unambiguous content to facilitate the translation process and satisfy the demands of global customers. With SDL Global Authoring Management System in place as part of the authoring process, global brands are well-equipped to write content for a worldwide audience.

“SDL Global Authoring Management System is a crucial component in our Global Information Management strategy, as it will enable our authors to prepare content for translation, help reduce our translation costs and apply our corporate style guide rules and terminology in all customer-facing documentation,” commented Elizabeth M. Taylor, Localization Manager at FICO, who has set up a Special Interest Group for SDL Global Authoring Management System users. “We have recently established the group to share best practices, network with other users and identify potential product enhancements to contribute to the on-going development of SDL Global Authoring Management System.”

SDL AuthorAssistant, the desktop client software, has also experienced significant market expansion due to SDL’s partnership with Adobe, which has seen over 1400 users of Adobe FrameMaker ® 9 download the software. Its integration with Adobe FrameMaker 9 allows users to benefit from out-of-the-box style and linguistic rules to ensure consistent and clear content, as well as the ability to connect to terminology repositories and translation memories. “We are extremely pleased that the Adobe and SDL partnership enhances the rich functionality and success of Adobe FrameMaker 9, providing our customers with the most complete solution for their technical communication needs,” said Ritu Chaturvedi, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Adobe.

SDL Global Authoring Management System has recently made key contributions to SDL’s recent win in the Thames Valley Business of the Year Award 2009, as well as gaining specific recognition when SDL was included in the EContent list of 100 companies that matter most in the digital content industry. “We are delighted that SDL Global Authoring Management System is being recognized within the industry and by global businesses as an important and innovative technology to help facilitate a Global Information Management (GIM) strategy,” commented Sophie Hurst, Director – Product Marketing, SDL.