Earlier this year we began seeing press releases about technology and process improvements from Sajan, a globalization technology and translation services company in Minneapolis, Minnesota (US) that had been quite quiet in years past. We saw that it had a new version of its global content management technology, new headquarters, enhancements to its terminology manager, and now, ISO certification. Given discomfort that LSPs have with other LSPs selling technology, we wanted to know what was going on in Minneapolis and why Sajan was suddenly so visible.

We called CEO Shannon Zimmerman who told us that the company has been servicing the language needs of Fortune 1,000 companies in Minnesota since 1997. According to Sajan’s creation myth, the company grew out of a software consulting project at 3M (née Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing) where Zimmerman sat in a cubicle next to translation project managers who constantly complained about localization technology and process pains. He couldn’t help overheading the kvetching, so he used this focus group to design translation and process management technology. Borrowing some words from the Six Sigma canon, he approached the problem by “obtaining the voice of the customer.”

In 2003 Sajan’s translation memory solution won a TM shoot-out at 3M, besting Atril, GlobalSight, Idiom, SDL, Star, and Trados. Today the company focuses on delivering language services, but pushes its in-house technology to make it happen. Zimmerman believes that Sajan’s central TM, authoring tools, and termbase manager are advanced than what’s currently available, representing a modular web-based applications architecture rather than the cobbled together set of home-grown and purchased technology sold by major tool rivals. Now there’s a line drawn in the sand if ever we saw one.

Sajan characterizes a language service provider at several turning points — and we can see other companies in the sub-US$10 million end of the market pondering similar moves. Having seen bigger opportunities beyond its headquarters backyard, it hired an ex-IBMer as VP of sales and expanded its sales footprint to Boston and Chicago. It continues to invest in technology, straddling that precarious line between LSP and LSP/ISV. Meanwhile, it has certified itself for ISO 9000 and talks a good Six Sigma game, positioning itself for work in the compliance and regulated content space. Finally, Zimmerman said that he would consider taking on debt or selling some equity to finance his currently bootstrapped expansion plans.

With SDL acquiring Trados and Lionbridge swallowing Bowne Global, we see some new opportunities for language service providers and globalization software vendors. Like several other LSPs — crosstown rival Merrill Brink, Connect Global, Skrivanek, Transware, and others — Sajan is poised to move on both the translation and software fronts. Finding the right services plus software pitch that appeals to clients looking for regulatory, compliance, or content volume relief will be critical to their success in reaching the next level of growth.