Raw Data Estimates Found for RoboHelp / FrameMaker Markets | Will Adobe Dust Off ‘RoboHelp for FrameMaker’?

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Raw Data from Astoria Rich Media Regarding Adobe’s RoboHelp / FrameMaker

Additionally, Dan from Astoria Rich Media looks into the Adobe Print and Classic Publishing space. For those of you who followed in from the HATT RoboHelp knife fight, we can not verify but generally assume these products to be in the Other category in Adobe’s SEC docs that exclude RoboHelp.

Adobe’s Print and Classic Publishing (PCP) division is explicitly going after the professional technical writer market (by our estimate a market that is worth at least $4  billion per year in recurring revenue), while the Creative Solutions business unit is targeting (for lack of a better word) “creative” types.

I’m guessing here (and a number of people who work for Adobe have told me it’s a good guess) but I’d bet the Creative Solutions BU and the PCP BU are not that tightly integrated (why would they be, they target different markets).

Wow. $4 billion is much more than the $36 million I was looking at. Of course, that includes FrameMaker’s market and more.

FrameMaker Platypus - If it walks like a duck and has a bill, it still may not be a duck

I have to tell you, I initially posted on Dan’s blog regarding my current hypothetical FrameMaker Platypus:

It may only be my personal skepticism, however my first inclination at Adobe’s Technical Communication Blog entry is that they’re dusting off the RoboHelp for FrameMaker product.

I would only give this about a 30% chance of occurring, but I’ll give it to you to evaluate.**Note: If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, okay?!?

1. Item: RJ Jacquez, current Adobe RoboHelp Product Evangelist was hired away from Quadralay by eHelp back in 2002 or 2003 in order to product manage RoboHelp for FrameMaker.
2. Item: It’s part of Adobe’s IP they inherited when they bought Macromedia.
3. Item: MadCap is coming out with Blaze that will directly compete with FrameMaker. They just announced hiring a FrameMaker industry expert as their Blaze Product Manager.

Here’s a link to the stats about it, including the still available help file which will detail some :
http://www.adobe.com/support/robohelpframemaker/documentation.html

Basically it would give FrameMaker that joyful phrase of ‘tight integration between Creative Solutions’ by being able to publish content formerly published only by RoboHelp.

Note that the capability to do this was discontinued in 2004.

Add to that mix Captivate for eLearning content development and PowerPoint conversion, and Contribute with some scrubbing for blog posting and you’re looking at a potential competitive mini-suite.