Why is Translation Management Important?
Translation Management is the key to optimizing translation in a global business.
Managing Translations
Any business that operates or is planning to do business in different countries should have a company-wide strategy for translation management, managing the translation demand within each business function to reach global business success.
A translation management strategy uses a combination of software tools, technology, and outsourced services to manage all the business translation needs. Software and technology automate repetitive tasks, increase collaboration and drive efficiency. A well-chosen translation partner will cover all the language combinations you need and can offer you an end-to-end solution that will integrate all your business functions into a translation platform that they manage for you so you can focus on growing your global business.
A business has 3 primary choices on how to manage translation:-
3 Translation Management options
1. Ad hoc translation management
Each group or department in the business takes care of their own needs, find their own suppliers and operate independently of each other. This is how most businesses are managing translation today. Companies have to deal with several agencies and ultimately, translations may steer away from an aligned business communication tone.
2. Internally built solution
The shared service concept has been around for a long time now with businesses choosing to build an internal shared service team to manage translations. Many large organizations such as Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Alibaba, Huawei have built shared service centers for translation management. An internal shared service team acts as an in-house translation agency to the rest of the enterprise. The shared service center will typical either buy or build its own translation technology. It has an approved supplier list of external translation agencies. This model is effective in the largest global organization that spend in excess of $10M per annum on translation.
3. Outsourced translation management
Businesses can choose to outsource their translation management to an external partner, which operates as the translation shared service center for the entire enterprise. This is an effective solution for companies that have translation spend greater than $100K but less than $10M per annum. We call this outsourced shared service model, Translation Management as a Service (TMaaS).
Who needs a Translation Management solution?
The translation industry is a $46 billion industry that is being transformed by technology.
Today, translation technology automates workflows, quality assurance, and supply chain management. New machine learning innovation is rapidly improving machine translation capability. Keeping up with the latest innovations and best practices is challenging, especially when translations are not a core function of the business. By outsourcing translation management to a quality partner, you can expect that they will keep up with the latest innovations so that you don’t need to. They will integrate the latest technology solutions into your workflow so that you can benefit from this without you having to purchase and maintain expensive software licenses.
Do you operate in multiple markets that speak different languages?
If your business is planning to expand into international markets or you have already expanded but are struggling to manage your translation, you should consider a Translation Management solution. This will help you launch products or services across multiple markets faster and in a cost-effective manner as you leave the heavy lifting to a trustworthy translation partner, while you focus on overall business strategies.
Are your business functions optimized to go global?
Translation needs span across the business for any company serving customers who speak different languages. From sales & marketing to product management, to technical documentation and support services, to legal and HR, all business functions have multilingual content needs. Many companies take an ad hoc approach to the translation where each business function finds its own solution. If your business is launching new products or services in multiple markets or entering new markets, this may prove to be a non-optimized and cost-effective solution that may render your company more trouble than it’s worth.
What can you expect from a Translation Management solution?
- 24/7 always-on translation services in any language
- Customized workflows that connect all the different content types you have
- Easy-access portal to easily track spend and translation progress
- Customized reporting on translation spend and savings
- Aligned business communications across all departments
- Consistent & localized outbound communications to audiences of different markets
Be Global, Communicate like a Local
For your business to succeed in new markets, you need to engage with your local customers in their local language. An outsourced translation management solution can be the most effective way to do this as they would have the experience and expertise in entering different markets with a localized approach.
SMEs can enter new markets at an affordable cost
For SMEs, it has never been easier to enter new markets. A TMaaS makes this even easier. The TMaaS will understand your business, understand your product or service offering. They can then propose an optimized translation strategy for your business. For example, if a company wishes to enter the ASEAN, China or Indian markets, a strategic translation advisory would cover:
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Languages to focus on:
A consumer business will have different priorities than a company focusing on B2B. A high-end luxury brand will have a different strategy for a mass-market product.
- How deep to localize for different markets?
For some markets, customers will expect everything in the local language. For other markets, you may only need to translate some high-impact material or even consider transcreation.
- Translation strategy by content type:
A typical business will have multiple different kinds of content, e.g. marketing material, legal agreements, website, product & service documentation, sales & marketing materials, support services. A managed translation service will devise the right workflows for each of these content types, such as transcreation services for marketing; and incorporating technologies to optimize these workflows at an optimal cost for the business.
- Translation delivery solution:
Some companies will already have established translators they work with. A managed solution can bring these into the managed solution as well as building and managing a supply chain for the rest of your content in new languages to ensure all translation processes are streamlined under one a sole managing translation partner.
Into23’s Translation Management as a Service (TMaaS) simplifies being global. Our TMaaS makes managing content in multiple languages simple. We provide value-driven translation solutions to companies wishing to optimize their translation spend while they focus on their core activities. Our goal is to provide maximum business value to our clients helping them grow their businesses in international markets. A customer-first approach means our solutions are based on what will deliver the business results you need rather than being based on a particular technology solution or a particular workflow.