Shy Avni, Business
Development Manager, Net-Translators Ltd.
Software companies have
come to understand that in order to attain significant market
share (not only in the American market) they must fully
localize
their software into the languages of the target
countries. Localization is a process of adapting a product
to various markets worldwide in order for local users to
feel that the product was planned and produced for them
and adapted to their language, culture and needs.
Now that the internet has become the principal mode of communication
in the global economy, international markets are changing
and are becoming more and more crowded by the day. Many software
companies are seeking new markets in which to operate, and
ways to gain a significant competitive edge.
In spite of the widespread assumption that in most countries
around the globe people speak or understand English, the
chances of successfully marketing software without performing
a complete and high caliber localization process of the
interface and documentation into the local language are
slim.
Today only around 12% of Europeans speak English as a first language, and only around 15% of the global population speaks English as a first or second language at all! Moreover, most people around the world surf the internet in their mother tongue and not necessarily in English.
What do major software and hardware companies around the
world do? Just taking a look at the websites of Microsoft,
Adobe, Apple, HP, Cisco and other companies proves that
these companies address their customers in their own language
exclusively. Their websites have been translated into the
dozens of languages of the target markets in which they
operate. The products have been translated in their entirety,
including technical specifications and documentation as
well as the company's promotional materials.
The need for localization has moved from the Nice-to-Have
stage to the Must-Have stage.
It is important to understand that the opportunity of penetrating
country's market usually presents itself only once. Therefore,
the quality of the translated product has a direct effect
on the success of the campaign and on the market share that
will be attained.
Every Dollar, Euro, or other unit of currency invested
by a software company in an attempt to penetrate markets
in countries such as Japan, Germany and France is liable
to go down the drain due to mistakes unrelated to the design
or quality of the product - but rather to the manner in
which the software, the user guide and the help files were
translated, if at all! Customers in these countries won't
adopt a forgiving attitude towards poorly worded documents
or spelling mistakes. They will usually conclude that the
company is unreliable, and this will have a profound negative
effect on the image of both the manufacturer and the product.
The company, often unaware of the issues of translation
and localization, develops its products with the American
market in mind, on the assumption that all markets speak
English. When the need arises to translate the software
it often turns out that the software hasn't been designed
taking localization into account and problems are created
in adapting the product to various languages.
During development has the length of words in German been
taken into account? For example, the word "Redo"
in English is a 16 letter word in German. Was the software
designed to take such long words into consideration? Was
sufficient space left for the words to fit onto buttons?
This is just one of the many considerations when localizing
a product.
An additional example could even be the color of the interface.
This issue is critical in some countries where certain colors
may symbolize death or loss, for example, and therefore
marketing products in these colors is liable to severely
compromise the marketing efforts. Was this fact taken into
account when the product was designed?
Performing unprofessional localization and failing to
exercise stringent quality control will lead to a failure
in marketing the software in these countries, and to a loss
of investment.
Software localization processes are complex by nature,
and require a large number of stages as well as stringent
quality controls.
Today, software companies in Israel and around the world
understand that in order to perform fast, accurate and high
quality localization into the various languages it is essential
to find a reliable localization provider (Multi Language
Vendor) with the experience and successful track record
of carrying out similar projects in the past.
Today, most software companies outsource translation and
localization. This enables them to perform a general availability
release in the target languages as well as in English. The
GA will not only be for the software but the documentation
too. Furthermore, a professionally performed localization
ensures a level of quality so high that the user won't even
notice that the product wasn't originally written in his
own language.
Outsourcing the company's localization and translation
services enables the software company to focus on his core
business
Localization is an area of expertise that is no less complex
than any other. In order to implement it fully and accurately,
there is a need for highly professional personnel. The manager
of a software localization project into just 10 languages
will manage dozens of professionals, including translators,
proofreaders, QA people, DTP people, I18N people and software
engineers. Companies that attempt to manage localization
processes on their own are reinventing the wheel, and often
make many mistakes due to their lack of proficiency in this
highly specialized area. They may fail to select appropriate
translators and usually do not make use of state-of-the-art
CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tools. These tools enable
the company to save time and money as well as exercise control
of the quality of the translated product. Attempts by software
manufacturers to perform localization processes generally
culminate in disappointment due to a product of inferior
quality, which ultimately has a negative effect on sales
in the destination markets.
Some software companies rely on their distributors or representatives
in the destination countries for localization and translation.
Taken at face value this is an easy and convenient solution,
but it has implications that must be taken into account:
from the loss of control over the content and message conveyed
via the translated materials, to recurring delays in launching
the translated products. It is advisable to use the services
of distributors or representatives in various countries
around the world in order to perform quality control over
the localization and translation provider, thereby obtaining
perfect control of the entire process, ensuring the quality
of the finished product and the timetable.
Best results can be achieved in a company's localization and translation efforts by using an experienced MLV who will deliver a more cost effective translation and localization solution for each individual market. When implemented correctly, a company's efforts will be rewarded by increased sales in the desired target markets.
Net-Translators is Israel’s leading translation and localization company. The Company specializes in software localization and translation into over 60 languages, including online help and technical documentation. Net-Translators works in close cooperation with the software companies from the earliest stages of product planning and development. Net-Translators supports company's efforts to localize into all the relevant languages (I18N), and ensures full adaptation to the culture and needs of each and every target country. The Company makes use of the leading technology in the localization and translation market. This enables it to maintain uniformity in terms of translation style and terminology, helps reduce response times and lowers the translation costs. The Company employs more than 300 translators around the globe, who reside in the countries where the languages are spoken on a day-to-day basis and who possess a professional background in the field in which they are translating. Net-Translators implements some of the world’s most stringent quality control standards, enabling software manufacturers to release high caliber translations of their software in dozens of languages simultaneously (SimShip).
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