Globalization blog

Just back from the latest Localization World in beautiful Barcelona. Here are some quick highlights from the conference before they recede in the crush of day-to-day work.

The event continues to grow beyond its core audience of localization and translation professionals, attracting business and marketing managers from companies like Expedia, Fedex, and SAP. Of the practitioners attending our panel on global marketing communications, about half self-identified as marketing, the other half as localization managers supporting marketing. Hats off to conference organizers Ulrich Hennes and Donna Parrish for nurturing a program and venue that enables critical cross-functional interaction.

Speaking of our panel, we moderated a session entitled Global Marketing Communications: Bringing Order to Chaos. The core premise of the panel drew on the results of our 2011 study on multilingual marketing content, which revealed that the global content value chain for marketing content is very much in the formative phase. How are leading global companies making progress towards bringing stability and maturity to their globalization practices for marketing content? Speakers included Meritxell Guitart from Hogarth Worldwide, Sophie Hurst from SDL (speaking in her role as director of global corporate communications, not as SDL), and Amanda Lordan from Philips, who used a video to demonstrate Philips' practice instead of just talking about it. Thanks to Meritxell, Sophie, and Amanda for sharing their experiences.

There was -- finally! -- a broader recognition of the position we have long taken regarding localization as a key element of an integrated content value chain, not as a standalone function that happens in a back office or black box. We were happy to see a session on CMS/TMS integration presented by Intel, for example, and references to eliminating language afterthought syndrome throughout the conference. The notion that a localization strategy is essential to mainstream business success was a consistent and prominent theme throughout the conference. Music to our ears, of course.

We left the conference with insights into what's emerging as the new primary driver for investments in content globalization strategies, practices, and infrastructure. In 2011, it's all about velocity -- enabling the organization to operate effectively in an age of rapid change. While there is still much talk about audience engagement and customer experience, the tremendous pressure to deal with velocity was clearly top-of-mind for all attendees. This topic will be featured prominently in our analyst coverage in the weeks to come.

All in all, a great opportunity to spend a few thought-provoking days looking at the current state of content globalization and gleaning insights into what's next, with the backdrop of a drop-dead gorgeous city as an added bonus.

Updated April 1, 2011 
The study is now available directly from Gilbane.

Our 2011 report describing the current state of practice for globalizing multilingual marketing content is available now through March 31 exclusively through study sponsors  Across Systems, ADAM Software, Lionbridge, and SDL.

Multilingual Marketing Content: Growing International Business With Global Content Value Chains features a major update of the global content value chain, Gilbane's framework for helping companies plan and manage their globalization practices. The new value chain adds core competencies to the existing functional view of multilingual content processes, and it clearly ties the value chain to business outcomes.

Study data includes top business goals and objectives and the investments that marketing and localization managers are making in programs and initiatives that support those goals. The analysis covers what marketing organizations can learn from product content groups, who are generally further along the content globalization maturity curve.

The report will be available directly from the Gilbane website starting April 1. In the meantime, please visit a sponsor site to access the study, and check this blog for research highlights and insights.

Our readers are familiar with language afterthought syndrome, a term we coined in our report on Multilingual Product Content: Transforming Traditional Practices Into Global Content Value Chains.

Language afterhought syndrome refers to that pattern of treating language requirements as secondary considerations within content strategies and solutions. Global companes leak money and opportunity by failing to address language issues as integral to end-to-end solutions rather than ancillary post-processes. Examples abound. Source and translated content that should be reusable, but isn't. Retrofitting content to meet regulatory requirments in different regions. Lost revenue because product and marketing content isn't ready at launch time. Desktop publishing costs that are incurred soley due to reformatting in multiple languages. The list goes on and on.

One of the most effective defenses against language afterthought syndrome is baking language requirements into the technology acquisition process, thereby embedding support into the infrastructure as it's designed, developed, and built out. OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) recognized this opportunity when it embarked on an ambitious transformation of its web content globalization practices. Debra Lewis, web content manager at OCLC, and our friend Andrew Lawless, principal at Dig-IT Consulting, shared their experiences in a terrific session at Gilbane Boson 2010 entitled "Next Thing You Know -- You're Global!" 

The presentation delivered by Deb and Andrew is available on the Gilbane conference website (follow the link and click on slides for session E3) . Highlights include Deb's characterization of the signs of stress. On the production side:

• Spend more time finding “creative solutions” than creating new content or managing site strategy
• Use features of your CMS in ways not originally intended
• Can’t upgrade to new releases without corrupting your pages

On the business side:

• Localization addressed at the point of publication
• Turnaround for day-to-day edits increases—affects relationships with internal clients
• Distributed authors “give up” and relinquish editing rights
• Team stress increases

These stress points led OCLC to commit resources to evolving its global web content strategy.  Deb and Andrew then walked our audience through OCLC's three-phased transformation:

1. Get a translation service provider
2. Get a new CMS that would scale
3. Get a translation management system

The portion of the presentation on selecting a web CMS with well-defined multilingual requirements will be especially valuable to any organization wanting to eliminate the negative impacts of language afterthought syndrome. Deb and Andrew described OCLC's selection process and timeline, CMS selection criteria, prioritized globalization features, key standards that would need to be supported, text and language requirements, and requirements for integration with translation workflows.

Many global companies are now rearchitecting their web strategies for global presence and audience engagement. We see this as a major technology and investment trend for 2011. The insight offered by OCLC couldn't be more timely.The organization's experience offers a treasure trove of guidance for companies who are evaluating new web content management systems with language requirements among their priorities.

Thanks to Deb and Andrew for a great contribution to Gilbane Boston.

Gilbane's webinar calendar was laden with at-your-desk educational opportunities during the final quarter of 2010. Here's a quick round-up of the events on content globalization:

Cisco's Localization Journey: Capitalizing on Global Opportunity. We talked with Tim Young, Senior Operations Manager at Cisco, about the company's transition from localization and translation silos to a centralized shared services platform. Young's presentation was chock full of great metrics. Gilbane will publish an in-depth case study in February.

The Holistic View: Connecting Global Product Content and Marketing Content. We examined the current state of practice for multilingual marketing content and the successes that global enterprises are realizing when they overlap their multilingual marketing, brand, and product capabilities, treating business content holistically rather than as separate practices.

Game-Changing Approaches to Engaging Global Audiences and Managing Brand. The online version of our presentation at Localization World in Seattle. We shared insights into how leading practitioners are improving and advancing their global content value chains for marketing content, drawing on the research for our upcoming report on multilingual marketing content:

And although this webinar on Delivering Compelling Customer Experiences with DITA and CCM wasn't specifically about content globalization, it examined next-generation XML applications and how global companies are realizing new value with smart content. The case studies covered in the webinar and in Gilbane's Smart Content report touch on XML for localization and translation.

Our new year's resolution is to get back to regular blogging. We'll start with an easy but time-sensitive post.

After three years in Berlin, Localization World moves to Barcelona this year. The event takes place 14-16 June.

The theme of this year's conference is innovation. Based on what we saw happening with content globalization practices throughout the second half of 2010, innovation is top-of-mind for all industry constituents. Services business models are evolving, driven by strategic collaboration among buyers and sellers of translation services. Technologies for automating the manual tasks associated with content globalization are maturing rapidly. Gilbane's research shows steady progress towards overcoming language afterthought syndrome, as more and more companies realize that one or two key investments can stem the money drain caused by redundant processes. Innovation, indeed.

The call for papers closes 21 January 2011. 

SDL has announced the acquisition of Xopus, developer of web-based XML editing software.

The Xopus editor is designed to fill the "XML contributor" gap in the market. Product content is spilling out of techdoc departments, with product content ecosystems becoming the norm (see our 2009 report on multlingual product content). The lack of solutions that enable business users to work with and have access to XML content has prevented companies from realizing the business benefits that come from using and leveraging that content throughout their operations and in customer-facing applications. The Xopus editor gives contributors and reviewers a way to participate in the ecosystem.

High-end XML editing systems and well-designed Word extensions aren't typically appropriate or useful for the legions of business users outside of professional content developers. These technologies will always have their place within the enterprise and will continue to deliver value, of course. Tools like Xopus that bring more users into the XML fold will only advance the adoption of structured content applications within the enterprise. Which means that it will become easier to make the business case for investments in practices and infrastructure for structured content.

With the Xopus acquistion, SDL extends its footprint on the global content value chain. We could already draw the SDL circle around the content management, delivery, and localize/translate functions in the chain. Now we can broaden it to include create.

Xopus becomes part of SDL's Structured Content Technologies Division. Laurens van den Oever, Xopus CEO, will serve as Director, Structured Authoring Solutions. The companies claim to have a prototype integration of Xopus and SDL Trisoft, the company's DITA-aware content management system. Details and a link to an Opus demonstration are available on the SDL site.

Cross-posted on the Gilbane Press Releases and Announcements Blog

June 24, 1:00 pm ET

At last year's Localization World conference in Berlin, we heard a terrific case study presentation by Voith, a German industrial manufacturer serving paper, energy, mobility, and service markets. The session was introduced by Daniel Nackovksi from Across Systems, Voith's language technology partner. Nackovksi commented that while the integration of content management and translation management was critical to Voith's content globalization strategy, the use of XML was the real key to the company's accelerated creation of multilingual product content. Ah, music to our ears. We remember thinking what a great webinar the Voith story would make . . .

In this webinar, Voith share its formula for success with multilingual product content creation and delivery. Voith is one of the Europe's largest family-owned businesses, with sales of EUR 5.1 billion. Voith machines produce more than one-third of the world's paper, and its generators and turbines generate more than 30% of the electric energy generated worldwide by hydro power. Learn how content management, translation management, and smart content drive customer satisfaction for Voith and its customers.

Integration Calculus: CMS + TMS = Turbo-Accelerated Creation of Multiingual Product Documentation

Register now. Moderated by Gilbane. Sponsored by Across.

Speaking of Localization World Berlin, at this year's conference (June 8-9) we're moderating a panel entitled Collision or Convergence? Managing the Intersection of Content Management and Translation Management Systems.  CMS/TMS integration is on Gilbane's content globalization 2010 Heat Map. The Voith webinar and the Localization World panel explain why and provide guidance on making making it work within global enterprises.

We have the honor of presenting at the popular Web Managers Roundtable meeting in Washington, DC, this Thursday, May 27. The general topic is managing global user engagement. Our talk explains why global companies need to rethink their web presence and shift investments from "world-class customer experience" to web experience management. What are the trends driving this fundamental shift, what are the implications for web managers, and how can you create competitive advantage by embracing it?

Our co-presenters are James Dianto, Senior Director of Content and Localization for Hilton Hotels and Andrew Draheim, president, Dig-It. The Roundtable is hosted by Hilton and sponsored by Hilton, SDL, Welocalize, Translations.com, and CapTech.

There's still time to request an invitation if you're in the DC area. Visit the event page for details.

When working with enterprise clients, we are inevitably involved in helping our operational champions sell investments in content globalization practices and infrastructures. Sometimes business case support is a formal part of the engagement, and sometimes it just evolves as part of what we do to help companies create competitive advantage with content in multiple languages.

In a recent joint Gilbane/SDL webinar, we made the point that the last pitch to top executives -- the one required to seal the deal for funding -- is fundamentally different from the others made along the way. If you've made it to the executive suite, you've done a good job so far. But too often, we've seen clients fail to secure investment because they use the same approach to selling that's enabled them to pass through the previous gates. Some common points of failure when selling globalization technology to executives include:

• Investment focus that is too tactical.
• Poorly expressed pain points.
• Lack of strategic value proposition tied to the top line.
• Vague ROI.
• No vision that ensures sponsorship and ongoing support beyond the initial project.

These points of failure can be addressed by recognizing that the funding conversation with executives is truly different, and by restructuring the approach to presenting the value propositions related to the investment you're seeking. For the webinar, we developed a value-oriented framework for selling globalization technology within the highest levels of the organization. Its four components, as illustrated above, can guide you through the process of creating and delivering an executive sales pitch biased for success. We used the framework to examine six ways to recast an executive sales pitch. We backed up brief analyses of weak and strong answers with data from Gilbane research and real-world customer experiences.

The recorded webinar is now available on the SDL website.

Last year as we pursued our research for the Multilingual Product Content study we saw an opportunity for further study of the role of machine translation (MT) as an element in the global content value chain (GCVC).  To this end, Gilbane Group is now conducting an online survey on MT adoption and buyer / user expectations.  The survey covers domains using MT, target applications, integration, benefits and business drivers, as well as obstacles to adoption.

Adoption of MT in some form or another is gaining acceptance and use (we anticipate) will soon be prevalent, especially as a strategy for managing user-generated content in multiple languages.  We are seeking input from IT, content, and language professionals within global enterprises as well as service providers.  Current adoption of MT is not a requirement for taking the survey.

The survey is online and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.  In exchange for participation, respondents will receive aggregated survey results and the executive summary of the analysis. Take the survey now.  Contact us if you have any questions about the research.