Recently I asked a number of Localisation vendors and clients what their IT strategy was and if any IT developments were changing their business thinking. Looking at me blankly the majority said that IT tools had improved their throughput and helped them to stay competitive. After further discussions many localisation businesses admitted that they did not really understand IT and their investment decisions were made solely as a result of client demand. Their portfolio of tools were a mish-mash of computers, word processors, DTP, graphics, translation and documentation software - and a nightmare to manage.

Information technology - IT - has a much broader definition than most people thought. IT includes communications technology, computer technology and integration technology. There has been a blurring of technologies as they combine together in different shapes to create information business solutions. This will continue as new technologies develop and old technologies evolve together. Back to the businesses - they thought that they had a real issue of too many tools and not enough IT literate staff to use them. They knew that the smart cookies were exploiting IT to gain higher margins or even a reasonable margin!