For many years the larger LSPs have invested in internal tools to help manage the translation process — from procurement and vendor management, to invoicing and reporting for clients, to internal workflow and quality management. Economies of scale gave bigger vendors the advantage. More revenue meant bigger budgets for R&D. Historically, those investments were fraught with risks and a number of vendors began ambitious development efforts only to crash and burn — with the demise of Alpnet being the most famous example. Other suppliers resisted the urge to spend, only to find themselves at a competitive disadvantage with efficiently automated low-cost producers. Still, the surviving vendors that lead the market today were the ones that made prudent investments and avoided costly mistakes. First-generation globalization management systems (GMS) could be bought by any LSP without an R&D staff. But these large-scale applications were geared toward enterprise customers, making them too big, too expensive, and too general for most language service providers. Given the fact that 87% of companies outsource some or all of their language needs, these early GMS products missed their mark — and it turns out, missed the market. Today, new technology suppliers are stepping in to fill the breach. In researching our upcoming report on translation workflow (a more correct term for the product category than “globalization management system”), we discovered a flotilla of new offerings for language providers large and small. Project management systems:
Workflow systems:
Also of note is U.S.-based Lingotek, which plans to bring a web-based translation memory system to market this fall. While not translation workflow, it provides more evidence that the development community did not roll over and play dead to SDL’s duo of Trados and SDLX. Bottomline: What do these software packages offer? They cost less and show a finer attunement to the needs of language suppliers than previous GMS products. They also integrate with the latest operating systems, web services, and language tools. Some even come pre-configured to connect with the Proz network of freelance translators. Add to these a program like Idiom’s LSP Advantage and it’s clear that the age-old question of build versus buy has reached the tipping point for translation workflow. Just as few companies now opt to build their own accounting package from scratch, the number of LSPs using internal resources to develop production software will begin to decrease. Careful selection of off-the-shelf applications puts automation in easy reach, without killing the translation goose or cracking its golden egg. Later this year Common Sense Advisory will issue a report on translation workflow that details the features, strengths, and weaknesses of these and other platforms — for both enterprise buyers and for LSPs. Stay tuned.
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