Content Management Vendors Improve Their Globalization Stories

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Global Watchtower

Common Sense Advisory Blogs

Posted by Donald A. DePalma on August 23, 2006 in the following blogs: Technology, Translation and Localization
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In March we evaluated 16 leading content management solutions on 6 axes of global enterprise support, including core CMS technology, process automation for multilingual content, translation support, and the localization of the CMS itself. Since then some suppliers have been busy rolling out new features to improve their globalization bona fides and improving how they support customers.

Interwoven announced international deployments at Principal Hong Kong, European expansion, and work with language industry providers such as Idiom, SDL, thebigword, Translations.com, and Transware. Interwoven got the buzzwords right -- it is helping the many companies that "are unable to clearly and consistently deliver relevant customer content across all customer touchpoints and geographies." But as noted in the report, its lack of features for managing these activities still leave globalization mavens cold.

Percussion released its Rhythmyx 6, but the product info offers scant reference to multilingual content management -- it's good for "sales promotion campaigns, Web-based lead generation, email marketing, multi-channel, multi-product launches, e-commerce, accessibility, globalization/localization, wireless self-service, customer loyalty and feedback, in-store kiosks, direct sales portals, event management and subscription services." But does it clean floors?

Earlier this year Stellent released V7.6 of Sarbanes-Oxley Solution. Noting that "Canada and Japan are setting standards very similar to Sarbanes-Oxley" and that U.S. and European Union regulatory and disclosure regimes are coming into line with each other, Stellent introduced a new version of its application that allows for local variances, local settings on end-user browsers, and support for Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Tridion briefed us on investments to strengthen the firm's already powerful support for multi-site international deployments. Earlier this year the company opened a sales office in the U.S. with the goal of building a support organization in North America. It also announced a strategic partnership with Ion Global, a pioneer in translation management systems with early implementations of Global Sight. The Netherlands-based company claims to be "ahead of plan" in its US roll-out, and busily grabbing "CMS 2.0" deployments, as companies yank out older systems in order to capture XML benefits and achieve fluid, multi-channel communications in multiple markets.

XyEnterprise CEO Kevin Duffy filled us in on substantive changes to Content@, a CMS that scored low both in support for multilingual process and support for international users and administrators. While the in-language support for users hasn't improved, Xy has dramatically pumped up its support for parent-child relationships -- that is, the ability to set up dependencies between, say, English source and derivative foreign-language content without commandeering version control functions. This should help the company as it responds to increased demand for multinational and multilingual implementations.

In a recent release Vignette alluded to how its software "powers the Web presence for some of the most important brands in the world," without noting any globalization improvements to its product offerings -- but just you wait until next year!

The CMS firms with globalization-rich feature lists are picking up momentum rather than resting on laurels. This year global content leaders like Tridion extended their feature lead, while other players with useful applications like Stellent enhanced their support for cross-border, business-critical functions. Still others stuck to their domestic knitting. Given the multinational status of many of the marquee customers highlighted by these suppliers at their websites and our conversations with users, it's encouraging to hear that mainstream CMS vendors that pump up their support for multi-site international roll-outs are being rewarded in the marketplace.

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