For many companies thinking about moving to the web, language and cultural barriers pose some of the most daunting challenges of all. Daniel Brockmann reports.
The internet has exerted a significant impact on our level of global awareness, acting as both an enabler and accelerator in the explosive growth of e-commerce. It promises effortless, cost-effective, cross-border communication and commerce. It also has levelled the playing field across international markets.
To withstand the increase in competition both domestic and international and carve out a share of global revenue, companies trading on the internet must overcome a host of barriers ranging from site architecture and webflow to multilingual customer support and the logistics of a global supply chain.
Although language was never a business driver, it has emerged as one of the critical links in the e-commerce trading chain. Not only do companies have to communicate their value proposition faster than ever, they have to do it simultaneously in several languages.
The research is unequivocal companies that localise content and communication have a better chance of success in the global marketplace.
Customers all over the world appreciate and acknowledge efforts to bring them content in their own language, but poor quality, inconsistent corporate communication or marketing collateral can create a lasting impression of unprofessionalism.
A proven path
Trados has been supporting multilingual business development since the mid-1980s with global leaders such as Microsoft and Siemens.
Putting existing knowledge to work, Trados's products and solutions are based on a very simple, yet powerful, principle. The software operates like a giant memory centre, recording a translator's work for subsequent recycling. While the translator works, the software is busy building a linguistic database in the background. This database is referred to as atranslation memory'. Whenever the same or a similar phrase recurs, the Trados software automatically suggests the memorised translation as a possible match. The suggested text can be adopted, rejected or edited by the user. As a result, the same sentence never has to be translated twice. In a networked environment, every user has immediate access to the fruits of the entire team's labour.
Particularly with document updates and revisions, the ability to automate repetitive changes presents a competitive edge by speeding time-to-market. Trados' customers have reported increases in productivity ranging between a total of 30 and 50%.
Streamlined workflow
Much of the success of the Trados Translation Solution is attributable to its versatile, user-friendly design. It is an open product that integrates seamlessly with almost all content management systems, enterprise systems, existing workflows and operating environments.
Designed with flexibility in mind, Trados scales from the freelancer's desktop to corporate deployments.
An efficient translation workflow involves several steps, addressing the requirements of multiple editing environments (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc), terminology management, alignment and recycling of legacy translations as well as variable publishing environments (FrameMaker, PageMaker, etc) and formats (SGML/HTML/XML). Each application in the Trados Translation Solution is dedicated to the individual challenges of each of these links in the translation and content management chain.
Available anytime from an internet-enabled workstation, this powerful e-hub enables companies to:
€ Efficiently manage large teams of translators and editors through powerful, web-enabled workflow support.
€ Improve overall quality of translations by recycling approved, clean translations.
€ Streamline processes and speed time-to-market through a best-practice workflow model.
€ Reduce operating costs and free resources for other mission-critical tasks.
€ Minimise administration through automatic hardware and software updates at the hosting centre.
€ Capture valuable productivity and controlling data through tight integration with other systems.
Return on investment
Introducing the Trados Translation Solution into established translation workflows is a complex undertaking which is why Trados complements its solutions with a range of practical consulting services. Consultants are able to ensure that customers reap the maximum value from their investment in the shortest time possible.
So the company is able to serve its ever-growing customer base through a worldwide network of offices, delivering what it claims to be the most robust translation environment available today.
The need for multilingual content management is immediate and pervasive to reap the rewards of a burgeoning global economy.
The translation infrastructure plays a pivotal role in any company's ability to productively conduct business in the multilingual domain.
Enquiry No 31
Daniel Brockmann joined Trados in 1994 and is currently product developemnt manager for Trados' core product line. www.trados.com
