This announcement is perhaps more about repositioning than it is about technology. In short, SDL Translation Management System (TMS) is the latest version of its SDL Workflow product, inheriting features from SDL’s development of translation memory, terminology discovery, and other linguistic tools.

On the repositioning front, SDL is aiming for a more strategic but more narrowly defined role in corporate content management initiatives. Previously it had suggested that SDL Workflow was a multilingual content management system (CMS). Its more credible claim for its TMS is that it manages translation and other transformational tasks associated with globalizing corporate content. It is a subtle distinction, but one that may be more palatable to CMS buyers looking for a multilingual plug-in. Pricing will be a factor here as well — if SDL can keep the tab around US$50,000 it will get more companies to consider TMS as a complement to their content management systems.

On the technology side, we find two features particularly noteworthy: 1) Its project management component can distribute work automatically across different resources, providing a quick way to assign tasks across a known translator pool; and 2) its explicit support of web services and XML-based messaging to integrate authoring, content management, and translation assets.

Today only SDL-supplied client software can call these web services. We think there’s a big opportunity for selling globalization middleware — the equivalent of SQL or ODBC for the database world. At best, the SDL-only access is a schedule-imposed limitation. At worst, it’s a symptom of lock-in to SDL tools and services. Looking ahead, by exposing its web services to any content authoring or translation tool that needs access to language assets, SDL could change the calculus of managing transforming content in global enterprises. Let the middleware games begin.