Enough discussion and polite Q&A sessions after presentations at LISA Forums! It’s time to debate the issues of commoditization and pricing in public and adopt some common strategies to move the industry forward. LISA represents both service providers, as well as customers, and it’s in the interest of both to “get it right.”

To support this effort and to encourage the dialog, LISA invited Eugene McGinty, CEO of Connect Global Solutions (who has been looking for a sparring partner!) and Donald Barabé, Business Development Director for the Canadian Government Translation Bureau, to face off on the current hot topics of commoditization and pricing. Here’s what they had to say:

Eugene McGinty:
“I don’t like this commodity discussion because I think it clouds the real issue, i.e., that customers are beginning to force the pace themselves and manage localization as a commoditized process. The localization industry is in denial.”

Donald Barabé:
“Even though localization is all about language and culture, our industry keeps barking up the wrong tree in hailing technology as the one and only solution to what really are linguistic and cultural challenges.”
 

We invite you to read on and decide for yourself who is right, or if the answer lies somewhere in between. We also encourage you to join in the debate by meeting the challenge from Donald and Eugene to map out the future of the industry. Please send us your two top issues for the future, along with your contact information, to letters@lisa.org.