July 2025
M-Files: Sustaining Excellence Through Precise Information Management
Client: M-Files
Industry: Intelligent Information Management, Document Management Software
Challenge: Maintaining a consistently high standard of clear, unambiguous technical documentation within a rapidly growing global software company, ensuring continuous competence in STE for all technical writers, including new hires.
Solution: An ongoing, tailored ASD-STE100 (Issue 9) training programme delivered by Shufrans TechDocs, integrated into M-Files’ continuous improvement and onboarding processes.
Results: Sustained excellence in technical documentation quality, rapid and effective onboarding of new technical writing talent, and a highly competent team consistently applying STE principles with remarkable professionalism and speed.
The Challenge: Scaling Clarity in a Dynamic Software Environment
M-Files is a leader in intelligent information management, providing innovative software solutions that help organisations manage, find, and secure information more effectively. In the fast-paced software industry, where product updates are frequent and user bases are global, the clarity and precision of technical documentation are paramount. This is especially true for complex document management systems where user understanding directly impacts adoption, efficiency, and data integrity.
M-Files faced the ongoing challenge of ensuring that all its technical documentation—from user guides and administration manuals to API references and release notes—adhered to an uncompromising standard of clarity and consistency. As a growing company, this challenge was compounded by the need to:
- Continuously Onboard New Hires: Integrate new technical writers into the team while ensuring they quickly gained proficiency in M-Files’ established documentation standards, including STE.
- Maintain High Competence: Ensure that all technical writers, regardless of their tenure, consistently applied STE principles to produce unambiguous and highly effective content.
- Support Global Users: Deliver documentation that was easily understood by a diverse, international user base, minimising support queries and enhancing the user experience.
M-Files sought a partner capable of providing continuous, high-quality STE training that could seamlessly integrate into their agile development and talent acquisition processes, fostering a culture of sustained documentation excellence.
The Solution: Shufrans TechDocs’ Partnership for Continuous Improvement
Shufrans TechDocs has partnered with M-Files since 2020, establishing a long-term collaboration focused on continuous improvement in technical communication through ASD-STE100 (Issue 9) training. This ongoing programme is specifically designed to:
- Integrate into Onboarding: Provide new technical writing hires with comprehensive and practical STE training, ensuring they are immediately equipped to contribute high-quality, compliant documentation.
- Reinforce Best Practices: Offer regular refreshers and regular workshops to existing team members, ensuring consistent application of STE rules and addressing evolving documentation needs.
- Tailor to M-Files’ Context: Focus on practical application using examples relevant to M-Files’ specific software solutions and user scenarios, making the learning directly applicable.
Shufrans TechDocs’ commitment to M-Files extends beyond initial training sessions, fostering a continuous learning environment that supports the team’s professional development and ensures sustained adherence to the STE standard.
The Results: A Benchmark in STE Adoption and Documentation Excellence
M-Files’ dedication to continuous STE training with Shufrans TechDocs has yielded exceptional results, positioning them as a benchmark for effective STE adoption:
- Unparalleled Professionalism and Speed of Adoption: M-Files stands out as Shufrans TechDocs’ best-performing client in terms of their team’s professionalism and remarkable speed in acquiring and applying the intricacies of STE. This highlights their strong internal commitment to quality and efficient knowledge transfer.
- Consistently High-Quality Documentation: All technical writers, new hires and seasoned professionals alike, consistently produce clear, concise, and unambiguous documentation. This directly translates to improved user experience, reduced support queries, and enhanced customer satisfaction for M-Files’ global clientele.
- Seamless Onboarding for New Hires: New technical writers are rapidly brought up to speed on STE, allowing them to contribute effectively much faster, reducing ramp-up time and maintaining documentation output quality.
- Optimised Content for Global Reach: The consistent application of STE ensures that M-Files’ documentation is highly suitable for translation, leading to more accurate, efficient, and cost-effective localisation for their international markets.
- Empowered and Competent Team: M-Files’ technical writing team is highly competent and confident in applying STE, fostering a culture of precision and continuous improvement in their daily work.
Testimonials
The impact of this continuous training is clearly reflected in the feedback from M-Files’ technical writers:
Petra Rossi, Technical Writer at M-Files, shared: “I enjoyed the course immensely. In just two days, I think I became a better writer and got a new perspective on my work. I may not apply STE teachings diligently in all areas of life, but they will be a very useful set of tools in my kit. The trainer was very knowledgeable and competent, and quick to pick up on students’ unique strengths and improvement areas. I particularly liked active voice and the rule about phrasal verbs, which helped me look at text from a new perspective. As a fan of puzzles and tests, I enjoyed the quizzes and exercises, and it was very beneficial to apply the rules in practice right away.”
Maarit Nieminen, Technical Writer at M-Files, commented: ‘The workshop was very interesting and useful to my daily work. The quizzes were quite fun, and the worksheet exercises were particularly useful due to the valuable conversations they sparked. It was beneficial to receive feedback during the rewriting time, which will definitely aid the process during the training support period.”
Conclusion
M-Files’ long-standing partnership with Shufrans TechDocs for continuous ASD-STE100 training exemplifies a strategic commitment to documentation excellence. By integrating STE into their ongoing talent development and quality assurance, M-Files ensures that their technical documentation remains a powerful asset, consistently delivering clarity and precision to users worldwide and reinforcing their leadership in intelligent information management.
If your organisation seeks to cultivate a culture of continuous clarity and achieve documentation excellence, explore how Shufrans TechDocs can help. Learn more about our ASD-STE100 training and consulting services:
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