Key Component of "No Surprises" Policy

Fresh Meadows, NY, May 2, 1996 - Data Conversion Laboratory (DCL) announced today that it was offering planning services for companies looking to convert their legacy data. Planning has always been part of DCL's process, and demand has been growing among its customers for DCL to provide planning earlier in the process as a separate service.

Mark Gross, president of DCL, explains, "Legacy conversion is a big portion of a company's investment in a new document publishing and delivery system. There should be no surprises at conversion time. The way to do that is to lay out all the issues early, which is just what our Pre-Conversion Planning Service accomplishes. It's also an invaluable opportunity for the customer to estimate real costs early in the process."

DCL, serving the international business community, has been in the conversion business since 1981. It was the first service bureau to implement a large-scale SGML conversion.

According to DCL's experts, there are four aspects to legacy conversions of technical materials:

1. data capture
2. format tagging
3. content tagging
4. document restructuring

The many anticipated benefits of SGML and XML(including HTML) are only realized after the latter two aspects are completed. Content tagging is the process of tagging such entities as tools, processes, and cross-links which allow you to automate the delivery and retrieval of this kind of information. Restructuring allows older documents to fit the new requirements and be put to immediate use in the new processes.

The key to DCL's conversion service is the planning phase of their process. This phase does all of the analysis required to integrate steps 3 and 4 into the conversion stage instead of leaving them for later. In addition to shortening the implementation process, it also reduces overall costs. With fewer processing steps, the total process is quicker and simpler. Overall costs are further reduced since review of converted documents is needed only once on the final documents rather than looking through multiple intermediate results.

Tasks done during this phase, which are now part of the Pre-Conversion Planning Service, include:

• review the Document Type Definition (DTD) where applicable
  

   

• review a large volume of input materials to generate a catalog of difficult issues
  

   

• list data items needed in the target conversion that don't exist in the source materials
  

   

• correlate the DTD with the legacy data to identify variations
  

   

• prepare an issues analysis chart
  

   

• prepare a preliminary conversion strategy report with alternatives
  

   

Additional information on pre-conversion planning and conversion in general is available on DCL's web site.

Data Conversion Laboratory, in business over 15 years, provides conversion services and software designed for publishers and technical documentation developers. DCL's unique approach goes beyond conversion; DCL actually upgrades and reorganizes legacy documents to the new and more exacting requirements of XML, SGML and Web publishing. The company supports all major electronic formats including FrameMaker, Interleaf, BookMaster, Folio, Quark, MS Word, troff, Xyvision, Ventura, WordPerfect, HTML, etc. - plus paper and microfilm. DCL is a leading conversion vendor to industries such as aerospace, legal & reference publishing, pharmaceutical, automotive, telecommunications, computer hardware & software, and utilities. DCL's clients include General Motors, Freightliner, Sikorsky, WGL, McDonnell Douglas, Butterworth, and ISSC.

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