Mediasurface (UK, AIM: MSR) announced a new extension to its Morello web content management solution that adds benefits to allowing enterprise users to work together on content creation using MOSS 2007. The new Morello MOSS 2007 Connector makes it easier and quicker to find, organise and publish MOSS generated content through an enterprise web delivery infrastructure on one or more websites, intranets and extranets. Mediasurface addresses this with the new Morello MOSS Connector which integrates MOSS tools with Mediasurface’s Morello enterprise web content management solution. Automated processes keep information synchronized, ensuring that websites always display the very latest, approved version of a document whilst SharePoint users will always have direct access to information captured on the websites. In addition, the Morello MOSS 2007 Connector plugs into the generally available standard collaboration and communication services of SharePoint (called WSS), so there is no technical setup required. Users can collaborate, create and review documents, images and pages using familiar tools such as MS Word and Outlook. The connection to Morello helps ensure users know which MOSS generated content is approved for use, avoiding duplication and speeding up the publishing cycle. http://www.mediasurface.com
Category: Content management & strategy (Page 155 of 468)
This category includes editorial and news blog posts related to content management and content strategy. For older, long form reports, papers, and research on these topics see our Resources page.
Content management is a broad topic that refers to the management of unstructured or semi-structured content as a standalone system or a component of another system. Varieties of content management systems (CMS) include: web content management (WCM), enterprise content management (ECM), component content management (CCM), and digital asset management (DAM) systems. Content management systems are also now widely marketed as Digital Experience Management (DEM or DXM, DXP), and Customer Experience Management (CEM or CXM) systems or platforms, and may include additional marketing technology functions.
Content strategy topics include information architecture, content and information models, content globalization, and localization.
For some historical perspective see:
https://gilbane.com/gilbane-report-vol-8-num-8-what-is-content-management/
When applying the “one word” phrase to translation or localization processes, the “it” can be either accuracy or complete gaffe. Given the velocity of the Internet, an offensive or comical translation of just one word can proliferate faster than the designers of the age-old Faberge commercial could have imagined.
In fact, just one skewed word changes meaning, invites misinterpretation, and erodes quality. One inaccuracy; many consequences. Terminology Management (TM) should be a no-brainer, right? Unfortunately, we’ve seen TM listed toward the bottom of the priority list — or not at all — when discussing imperatives for the global content lifecycle within the content management community.
When I read SDL’s report on the TM benefits realized by the European Institute of Romania (EIR) during their accession process, I thought it was an impressive story. 158,000 pages of translation; 54,000 terms covering more than 8 languages; 23,000 validated terms submitted to the EU’s terminology database, Inter-Active Terminology for Europe (IATE). Hmmm. A collaborative, jointly-managed, and centralized terminology database with more than 8 million terms? Even more impressive.
Intrigue led me to SDL’s Christie Fidura, Senior Product Marketing Manager, which led me to Karl-Johan Lönnroth, the Director General of The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation (DGT). The Faberge commercial in action.
Described as one of the largest translation services in the world, the DGT provides translation services for all 23 of the European Union’s official languages, has a permanent staff of 1,750 linguists and 600 support staff, and currently translates over 1.7 million pages per year. If that’s not impressive enough, my interview with a very cordial Lönnroth provided even more insight in the EU’s commitment to citizen expectations for translated content, the value of TM, and the impact of cross-country collaboration.
Lönnroth began the interview with a simple, but compelling statement: “The support of 23 languages equates to 506 possible language combinations. Managing this is impossible without terminology management.” In managing the DGT as a service provider based on supply and demand, he also noted the continuing rise in expectations for translated content and with it, Web access to that content. Echoing the theme of the Globalization Track at Gilbane Boston 2007, Lönnroth’s message was that EU citizens are less and less tolerant of institutional and legislative information that is not in their native language.
So how does the IATE fit in? Lönnroth sees the multi-year effort as both a government and public service in “reinforcing the EU’s global interest in providing quality translations.” Over the last year, the merger of all European term banks resulted in a remarkable — and free — knowledge repository comprising 50 years of work. The repository is essential for candidate countries seeking accession and faced with the requirement to translate the EU’s Acquis Communautaire into their native language according to mandated deadlines. Such was the case for Romania and Bulgaria, which became Member States on January 1st, 2007.
As the Director-General of the DGT since 2004, Lönnroth is steadfast in promoting the EU principle of “unity in diversity” as well as the fact that multilingualism is essential. His focus on translation management is a critical part of the DGT blueprint for a multilingual European Union.
The deadline for proposals for panel participation or presentations for:
Gilbane San Francisco 2008 at the Westin Market Hotel, San Francisco, June 17 – 19, 2008 is January 15.
Visit http://gilbanesf.com/ to see the topic areas we are focusing and then see how to submit a proposal.
If you’ve never been to one of our events and want see what we have been covering in our conference programs you can view the programs from Gilbane Boston 2007 and Gilbane San Francisco 2007.
If you have additional questions about speaking, send them to speaking@gilbane.com.
eZ Systems announced support for eZ Publish running on Mac OS X Server v10.5 Leopard. In addition, eZ showed eZ Flow, a new extension for eZ Publish designed for media companies who need to build complex page layouts and pre-plan publication schedules to ensure a constant flow of rich content. Among other features, eZ Flow supports delivery of content to Apple iPhones. With support for the Mac OS X Server (which recently attained UNIX 03 certification), eZ Publish enhances the platform by providing an Open Source Enterprise Content Management System that enables organizations to create websites, intranets and extranets. Because content presentation is based on a template system, eZ Publish (and eZ Flow) can serve tailored content to mobile devices by using a template tuned for the devices’ display. For example, a template customized for Apple iPhones tunes the display of content to the iPhone display size and iPhone-specific user interface elements. http://ez.no/ezpublish
As we close our first year of the Gilbane Globalization blog, we looked back at our initial goals to help readers meet the challenges of multilingual business communications. Three conversations stood out as emerging themes that we felt were critical then — and now:
- Understanding the impact of globalization on customer experience and brand management
- Viewing the global content lifecycle as a strategic business practice
- Closing the gap between content and translation management processes
Communicating the importance of each drove our 2007 blog entries, our conversations with corporate users and technology vendors, our globalization-specific case studies and whitepapers, and the design of the Globalization Track at Gilbane Boston 2007. As we did so, our favorite mantra continued to bubble up as the ultimate success criteria: A holistic focus on the People, Processes, and Technology that create, translate, manage, distribute, and consume global content.
Our conversation wish list for 2008 is very “PPT”-driven. In fact, we can’t think of any theme that does not require a collaboration of people, an interoperability between processes, and an integration of technologies:
- The power of single-sourcing to redefine “multi-channel” as more than device-driven outputs.
- The impact that human + machine translation combinations can have on the availability and quality of multilingual content.
- The value of terminology management in combating the proliferation of insulting translations.
- The potential of multilingual social networking.
And last but not least, the availability of “the wisdom of the crowds,” or from our take, global access to shared best practices that enable organizations to learn from each other in attaining quality multilingual communications. We’ll aim to make sure that goal is ongoing.
The topic of the globalization track keynote was billed as “delivering the global customer experience.” Earlier in the conference (in the Wednesday keynote, I believe), a speaker eloquently offered an alternative for the now-almost-meaningless term “customer experience.” Customer experience can be good, bad, or indifferent, as noted elsewhere in our blogs. This speaker distilled the business requirement as “enabling valuable interactions.” This phrase resonated with us, and we used it to introduce the globalization keynote session. How are companies, today, enabling valuable interactions with customers in any language, through any channel?
We set the panel up to answer this question from the various perspectives that should be represented at the table in the conference room when planning global content strategies: the business people responsible for delivering content to customers, the translation professionals who make sure that content in the customer’s language is of the highest possible quality, the content management professionals who facilitate the content lifecycle, and the analysts and consultants who can give stakeholders access to industry knowledge and best practices.
The goal of the session was to give our audience guidance on framing the globalization discussion within their organizations. What matters to which constituents? What’s the lens through which they look at the problem and the opportunity? Participants were Brian Shorey, director of engineering at Cisco Systems; Donna Parrish, publisher of Multilingual; Dean Berg, currently with Sajan, formerly with Stellent, now Oracle; and my colleague Leonor Ciarlone.
The panel offered insights too numerous to report, but the key topics included small successes with “unfunded but mandated programs,” the need for translation professionals to begin considering themselves project managers, and the growing requirement for collaboration across the global content lifecycle, which Leonor identified as a potential hot topic at next year’s Gilbane Boston conference. Personally, the keynote brought together the key themes that defined content globalization for me in 2007, especially the changing nature of the business case for investment in people, process and technologies that support global content — and therefore enable valuable customer interactions.
The other personal observation worth sharing, I think, is that content globalization was, for the first time, an integral part of the industry dialog that takes place at Gilbane conferences. All of the sessions in the track were well attended. Multi-lingual business communication was discussed throughout the entire conference program, not just in the globalization track. Eyes no longer glazed over at the mention of translation process management. Improvements in the quality of machine translation were even mentioned in the keynote on the future of content management.
What’s fueling the content globalization discussions within your organizations? How can we bring your hot topics to the forefront at Gilbane San Franciso 2008? Email us with ideas for sessions in the globalization track. If you’re game to tell your own story, consider submitting a speaker proposal. The deadline for submission is January 15.
As we reported last month, CM Pros is looking for a new Executive Director. There is now a full job description available on the CM Pros site.
A: When its a huddle.
Q: When is a huddle an environment for multilingual communication?
A: When a huddlee can dynamically change the user interface to work in her native language.
Q: Why is this interesting?
A: Because we’ve yet to see a concentrated focus on globalization requirements in the social computing and collaboration space. In fact, we’ve been wondering where is the “L” is in Web 2.0?
Q: What if you don’t speak German?
A: The company that built and manages the huddle concept (Ninian Solutions Ltd) provides a French user interface as well and according to our interview with the company, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese will follow.
Q: So how will content created by huddlers get translated?
A: Machine translation may very well prove its use within a Web 2.0 environment. Stay tuned.
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