About CTERA

CTERA provides Edge to Core to cloud file systems with Government level and defense level security. They provide cloud storage services that allow clients to access files from anywhere in the world and work on them simultaneously. The cloud storage provided to both corporate and government institutions can be accessed via laptop, desktop, and mobile app, through which people can remotely access any file and work on it.

Business Requirement

CTERA required an easily accessible and usable knowledge base platform to host their extensive product documentation. The knowledge base is focused on product documentation, user manuals, and technical “How-to” guides. CTERA also needed a versatile knowledge base such that their technical writers can quickly change documentation to align with their product releases.

CTERA was earlier using Adobe Framemaker with Webworks for online documentation. They would produce PDFs of the documentation, upload it online and provide links to those PDFs. However, they faced certain challenges including

• Changes made to the document would not be reflected in the published documentation until they rebuilt the whole document from scratch.
• Sometimes changes would be available only when the PDF rebuild was done every few months.
• It was not easy to find information across multiple versions within a single product or multiple products.
• The documentation was also produced by product, so a product’s integration with another was not reflected in the information.

Solution

CTERA choose Document360 to host their publicly accessible user documentation site. The following features made it suitable to their requirements.

• Any corrections or addition to the content goes live instantly at the click of a button in their knowledge documentation site.
• Apply access security to restrict access to certain internal documents for their customer base.
• The homepage builder feature helped them build an attractive, easy-to-navigate site homepage.
• The markdown editor helps technical writers import large articles of even 20 pages or more within a day.
• The option to copy from an existing article helps technical writers upload new versions of an article within minutes because they don’t have to rewrite it every time.
• The AI-powered search engine helps users find precise information from for the right version of an article.
• Allows import of articles even in screenshot format and to be saved as a draft until its ready to be released to the public.

Julian Weiss, Director of Product Documentation at CTERA says

Document360 provides us a way to create modern documentation, that’s appealing and easy to manage

Business Impact

After moving their user documents to Document360, CTERA says that more people have begun using their documentation than ever before. Feedback received in the documentation can be addressed within a day. CTERA’s support team are also getting feedback from their customers on how much better the documentation is to use and navigate.

Many sales engineers save time when providing user demonstrations by providing them a link to an article that provides detailed clarification. They also promise that any change and update will be reflected in the same article link.

Conclusion

CTERA managed to create an extremely versatile and visually appealing knowledge base with Document360, replacing an antiquated system. This has resulted in better usage as well as support. The positive feedback from users and internal teams have prompted the company to consider expanding what is available within the knowledge base.