FrameMaker vs RoboHelp

Question

Hello,
I've been asked to look into the possibility of switching our
help system software from RoboHelp to FrameMaker, primarily due to
the fact that the primary business unit in the company uses FM, and
this would facilitate the need for them to integrate elements of
our help file into theirs as needed (i.e. coordinating separate
help systems for currently separate product lines resulting from a
merger).
Currently we use RH 5, although the original/current plan is
to upgrade to RH 7 around February.
Because our documentation is almost solely help files (with
almost no printed documentation), FM's word processing capabilities
do not seem especially relevant, so I'm left wondering what general
advantage/disadvantages FM has in comparison to RH as a help
authoring tool:
1. What advantages does FM have over RH? (from my research so
far, support for DITA seems to be one example of an advantage)
2. What disadvantages does FM have in relation to RH? What
would we be specifically losing out on?
3. What, if any, integration capabilities does FM have with
RH that would be relevant for us? (again, given that we do not work
with larger documentation such as manuals).
Although I believe the current thinking is to either stay
with RH or switch to FM, using both (with or without the full
Technical Communication Suite) may also be an option if there's
enough benefit to using both.
Thanks in advance for any information regarding this
issue!

Answer 1

Hi, and welcome to the Forums!
You have obviously done some good homework on both
applications. I'm tempted to say that RoboHelp 7 makes the most
sense because of your comment about "almost no printed
documentation." However, because of your company's "cultural"
affinity for FrameMaker, it might be wise to use RoboHelp 7 within
the Technical Communication Suite as a way of future-proofing any
direction the company may be heading as new technologies (like
DITA) emerge.
FrameMaker is well-regarded as "industrial-strength" software
for print-oriented documentation and manuals with secondary focus
on producing online help. Conversely, RoboHelp's strength has been
on creating online help with a secondary focus on generating
printed documentation. Now, with the Technical Communication Suite
an author can marry the advantages of both. It provides a "platform
to grown on" as an organization might scale to emerging
technologies like DITA.
With the Tech Comm Suite you get the ability to more cleanly
import FrameMaker files into your RoboHelp projects and then "link"
the FrameMaker files and update them as the original FM file
changes. I don't know how useful that is for you right now, but it
is worth a look.
Also, not to be glanced over is the nice integration with
Adobe Captivate which is rapidly growing as a method of
incorporating animated Quick Start videos into RoboHelp online help
and knowledgebases.
Another thing to think about with the Tech Comm Suite is that
Adobe has mentioned they are putting a lot accelerated development
effort into enhancing this platform. Because of this, I think the
suite is a good investment particularly because the upgrade price
right now is really attractive.
That's just my 2 cents. Frankly I am a RoboHelp developer and
not that much of a practitioner of FrameMaker. But as I continue to
work with FrameMaker colleagues who provide their files to me,
having the suite helps me import their work into my projects more
seamlessly.
Also, be sure to check out the
Adobe Tech Comm Blog as
you make your evaluation.
Hope this helps.
john