Common Sense Advisory

In this report we advise companies operating internationally to evaluate MT as a way to accelerate content availability in other languages for both communication and commerce as they move toward a policy of "no content left behind."

While doing our research for "Automated Translation Technology," we collected a huge quantity of information about the offerings of nine independent software vendors (ISV) in the United States and Europe. We normalized the data that we think is critical to choosing a machine translation solution and present it in the consistent format in this report.

This report describes the results of an eight-nation survey conducted in July and August 2006. It includes the responses from over 2,400 consumers who answered questions about their behavior and preferences for website visits and purchases, in English and in their own language, across a wide range of product types.

Many firms still debate whether it makes business sense to globalize their online marketing, online commerce sites, and call centers. Nonetheless, research dating back to 1998 indicates a high propensity for people to buy in their own language. This Quick Take summarizes some details of our full report "Can't Read, Won't Buy: Why Language Matters on Global Websites" on the subject of global buying preferences. Until our full report became available, there had been no large-scale behavioral study of consumers to support the return on investment of website globalization.

This members-only report describes the localization maturity model, our adaptation of a capability maturity model (CMM) to the needs of companies translating or adapting software, websites, and software-dependent products so they can be marketed, sold, used, and supported in other markets.

This members-only report discusses localization, the process of preparing country- or language-specific software, websites, and software-dependent products so they can be marketed, sold, used, and supported in other markets.

This report will help companies improve how they manage multilingual content for international and domestic ethnic markets. It introduces and discusses critical drivers for global content management, reviews the lessons of companies that have implemented multilingual CMS applications have learned, and outlines the best practices that any GCM application builder should follow.

How well can commercial CMS solutions manage global and multilingual content? The report outlines the enterprise content management (ECM) system landscape, major product categories, and suppliers.

Learn the six critical features required for global content management -- and how well 16 leading CMS products meet those needs. It concludes with a buyer's guide section with a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of those CMS solutions.

Here we list the top 20 translation and localization firms doing business in North America and Europe. Stay tuned for our updated tally.

Two high-profile acquisitions, a best-seller about globalization, government investment in language, and commercial interest in global commerce highlighted the year. This report reviews what happened last year and what we think 2006 will bring.

It's the time of year when everyone makes predictions for the 12 months. So here is our look into the crystal ball for what 2006 will bring to language services and tools.

Didn't get a chance to attend our engaging session at Localization World 2005 in Seattle last month? You're in luck...access the complete presentation now.

In July 2005 SDL acquired Trados, becoming the largest supplier of software solutions intended to support a global content value chain. We recently spoke with SDL's chief technologist VP of marketing, to hear about their plan for melding the software offerings of the two firms to support global information management. Read our take on what they plan to do.

Members of our research program can read a bonus report – "Unplugged: Best and Worst Language Conferences." This report categorizes all the responses to the open-ended questions in the survey. Find out which conference one respondent had in mind when he wrote "I'd love to have gone to the XYZ conference just to say I don't go anymore."

Don't waste money on events that won't satisfy your desire for networking and information exchange. "Best and Worst Language Conferences" summarizes the opinions of over 300 clients, vendors, freelancers, and academics. It reports on their votes for best and worst conferences. It also provides actionable recommendations to organizers, delegates, speakers, and vendors.

Alchemy Software announced that it is shipping Catalyst 6.0, its visual localization tool used to transform user interfaces (UI) for international markets. Read our Quick Take for an overview of the impact of the release.

This report on business process outsourcing (BPO) of language services includes a step-by-step guide on “how to buy online” for localization managers and procurement specialists interested in implementing an online sourcing program. Recommendations for LSPs detail the strategic and tactical aspects of participating in these events.

Following SDL’s purchase of tool archrival Trados for US$60.0 million (£33.0 million), one of the most frequent questions we’ve been asked is whether SDL got a good deal. We interpret this to mean “did SDL overpay?” Now that SDL’s shareholders have approved the buyout, this Quick Take reviews why SDL bought Trados.

Which are the largest language service providers? In this Quick Take we use our "Human Delivered Services Companies" (HDSC) Index to measure the biggest translation and localization agencies, including our tracking list of top 20 companies that deliver translation and localization services, ranked by revenue. This list includes a mix of public and private companies. See this list, our analysis, and our projections.

After months of rumors, Lionbridge (LIOX) finally announced that it acquired the language services assets of Bowne & Co. (BNE). Lionbridge's purchase of Bowne Global Solutions (BGS) is the latest acquisition re-shaping the language industry. Since Lionbridge's shelf registration of US$130 million in February, we have speculated on where the company would put its cash and equity. Read what this acquisition means to you and business services.