Some Trends in the Localization Industry

In preparation for the Vendor Management Seminar that will be held in Las Vegas later this month, I have been doing some thinking about trends in the industry that affect the services provided by companies like Milengo, and thought you might be interested in them.

There are three trends that I have identified:

• Disintermediation and Collaboration: The vast improvement in the quality and reduction in cost of online collaboration technology -- combined with the widespread availability of affordable bandwidth -- is leading LSPs to redesign their production workflows to remove unnecessary steps and activities from their processes. A clear result of this trend is that larger LSPs are going back to working with individual translators instead of using single language vendors as intermediaries, especially in projects involving time-sensitive or dynamic content.
• Productivity Boost: The incorporation of machine translation engines and shared translation memory environments into the desktop productivity tools of translators will result in a massive increase in the number of words that a professional translator can process in a day. Averages will jump from 2,500 words to 15,000 to 20,000 words per day in the first stage, reaching even higher numbers in the near future.
• Role and Cost of Technology: Translation technology tools like translation management systems and desktop translation memory software are unusually expensive for the value that they provide. As Chris Anderson points out in his book “Free," software and content want to be free. What creates value are the services provided around technology, not the technology itself. So, I have predicted that Translation Memory technology will be free or become irrelevant by 2015.

What are the implications of these trends for buyers? In a nutshell, more words will be translated in a shorter period of time at a lower total cost.

In general, I believe that because Milengo positions itself as a technology agnostic and customer service-focused organization puts it in the right position to succeed in this new market reality.

If you haven't registered yet, don't miss the opportunity to send your vendor managers to the IMTT event in Las Vegas. IMTT consistently organizes the best training events in translations industry.

Vendor Management Event in Mexico

As you are aware, I go to a lot of events all the time. One of the best events I go to is one organized by a couple of Argentinean entrepreneurs in Córdoba once every two years: the Cecis (photo on the side). I like it because they take good care of the program and the participants, making every event an experience.

They asked me to suggest a topic and a keynote speaker for their first event outside of Argentina. I believe that the big topic for 2008 is going to be Vendor Management, and I suggested that they organize an event for Vendor Managers from translation companies only (as there is none).

The event will be held in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in February, a time when some of us will be ready to leave the snow and go to somewhere warm. The idea is to have an event that is affordable and where vendor managers can discuss their issues and challenges and even find some new resources. It's supposed to be half-conference half-training.

If you have any ideas of themes that you would like to have discussed, please let me know.