July 2009 Archives

For Immediate Release

Pioneering Research Describes Transformation of Technical Communications Practices to Align More Closely With Global Business Objectives

Cambridge, MA, July 28 -- Gilbane Group, Inc., the analyst and consulting firm focused on content technologies and their application to high-value business solutions, today announced the publication of its latest research, Multilingual Product Content: Transforming Traditional Practices Into Global Content Value Chains.

 The report is backed by in-depth qualitative research on how global businesses are creating, managing, and publishing multilingual product content. The study extends Gilbane's 2008 research on multilingual business communications with a close look at the strategies, practices, and infrastructures specific to product content.

 The research clearly shows a pervasive enterprise requirement for product content initiatives to tangibly improve global customer experience. Respondents from a mix of technical documentation, customer support, localization/translation, and training departments indicate that "global-ready technology architectures" are the second most often cited ROI factor to meet the directive. All respondents view single-sourcing strategies and self-help customer support applications as the two most important initiatives to align product content with global business objectives.

 "Successful business cases for product content globalization address top-line issues relevant to corporate business goals while tackling bottom-line process improvements that will deliver cost savings," commented Leonor Ciarlone, Senior Analyst, Gilbane Group, and program lead for Multilingual Product Content. "Our research shows that while multilingual content technologies are clearly ROI enablers, other factors influence sustainable results. Cross-departmental collaboration and overarching business processes, cited as essential improvements by 70% and 82% of respondents respectively, are critical to transforming traditional practices."

 Multilingual Product Content is the first substantive report on the state of end-to-end product content globalization practices from multiple perspectives. "Gilbane's latest research continues to show both language and content professionals how the well-managed intersection of their domains is becoming best practice," said Donna Parrish, Editor, MultiLingual magazine. "With practical insights and real experiences in the profiles, this study will serve as a valuable guide for organizations delivering technical documentation, training, and customer support in international markets."

 The report covers business and operational issues, including the evolving role of service providers as strategic partners; trends in authoring for quality at the source, content management and translation management integration, machine translation, and terminology management; and progress towards developing metrics for measuring the business impact of multilingual content. Profiles of leading practioners in high tech, manufacturing, automotive, and public sector/education are featured in the study.

 Multilingual Product Content: Transforming Traditional Practices Into Global Content Value Chains is available as a free download from the Gilbane Group website at http://gilbane.com. The report is also available from study sponsors Acrolinx, Jonckers, Lasselle-Ramsay, LinguaLinx, STAR Group, Systran, and Vasont Systems.

About Gilbane Group

Gilbane Group, Inc., is an analyst and consulting firm that has been writing and consulting about the strategic use of information technologies since 1987. We have helped organizations of all sizes from a wide variety of industries and governments. We work with the entire community of stakeholders including investors, enterprise buyers of IT, technology suppliers, and other analyst firms. We have organized over 70 educational conferences in North America and Europe. Our next event  if Gilbane Boston, 1-3 December 2009, http://gilbaneboston.com. Information about our newsletter, reports, white papers, case studies, and blogs is available at http://gilbane.com. Follow Gilbane Group on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gilbane.

Contact:
Gilbane Group, Inc.
Ralph Marto, +1.617.497.0443 xt 117
ralph@gilbane.com

For Immediate Release:

Comprehensive New Report Looks at Trends, Offerings, and Best Practices

Cambridge MA, July 14, 2009. Gilbane Group Inc. today announced the availability of a new comprehensive research report, Digital Platforms and Technologies for Publishers: Implementations Beyond "eBook." The 142-page report combines in-depth case studies, interviews with industry visionaries, and analysis of trends, data, and technology in this quickly evolving and important marketplace. The report also includes a detailed directory of leading vendors and service providers in the digital publishing marketplace.

The study was co-authored by Steve Paxhia, Lead Analyst for Gilbane’s Publishing Practice and Bill Trippe, Lead Analyst for Gilbane’s XML Technologies and Strategies practice. They surveyed a wide range of book publishers and related service companies from all market segments including: trade/children, reference, professional, school, and higher education. The final report addresses five key strategic questions:

1. What features and functionality are required to offer readers digital products that expand their reading and learning experience and offers them better value?
2. What are the technology and workflow implications of doing true cross-media publishing?
3. What editorial and business models are best for digital products?
4. What channel relationships and partners are required to maximize new revenue opportunities?
5. What role should search engines play in a publisher’s product and marketing strategies?

"Digital technology has revolutionized many sectors of the media business. Book publishers are now at the threshold of a similar revolution as they plan their next generation of products, with the building blocks for change largely in place," said Paxhia, Lead Analyst, Publishing Strategy & Technology Practice, The Gilbane Group. "We are thankful so many smart people were willing to share their perspectives and vision with us to allow us to report such a fine collection of best practices."

The research was sponsored by Mark Logic, OpenText Artesia, LibreDigital, Follett Digital Resources, Extensis, and Ingram Digital. The report is now available as a free download from the Gilbane Group website.

About Gilbane Group, Inc.
Gilbane Group Inc. is an analyst and consulting firm that has been writing and consulting about the strategic use of information technologies since 1987. We have helped organizations of all sizes from a wide variety of industries and governments. We work with the entire community of stakeholders including investors, enterprise buyers of IT, technology suppliers, and other consultant and analyst firms. We have organized over 70 educational conferences in North America and Europe. Our next event is Gilbane Boston, December 1-3, 2009 – http://gilbaneboston.com. Information about our widely read newsletter, reports, white papers, case studies and analyst blogs is available at http://gilbane.com.

Follow Gilbane Group on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gilbane.

Contact:
Gilbane Group, Inc.
Ralph Marto, 617-497-9443 ext 117
ralph@gilbane.com