Relations between localization clients and localization services providers have changed a lot over the past decade. These changes were mainly driven by evolution of what is considered to be the optimal localization model. To comprehend the reasons for this evolution, we need to assess such factors as the importance of localization, localization quality and the localization model itself.

All businesses targeting international markets obviously need their products and services adapted for use not only in the country of origin, but also in all regions where they are offered. Therefore, what international businesses need is not quite straightforward translation, but rather the adaptation of their products, services and business processes to the specific requirements and peculiarities of target markets, in other words, globalization. It is vital to understand that a global product/service is not just a number of language versions, but, first of all, a product/service that is attuned to the cultural, regional, legal and social characteristics of every target country in which it is offered.

Times Have Changed

The English or German version of SAP Automotive would have been almost useless in Russia.

Needless to say, it is necessary to have localized versions of the product/service. This determines the success in any given region. Quite often, not having a localized version means completely nullifying all marketing efforts in a particular country. This is especially noticeable in the so-called emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Latin America. A few years ago, it was still possible perhaps to enter these markets without having a localized version of your product/service (depending on the profile of the targeted users), but being able to offer versions in the languages of your potential customers is a prerequisite for success nowadays.

There are cases when a client may be completely satisfied with the functionality and operational characteristics of a given product, but may still refuse to acquire it due to the lack of a certain language version. For example, in 2003, the Russian office of Daimler Chrysler stated that having a Russian version was a prerequisite for acquiring the SAP Automotive software solution. Moreover, this was despite the fact that this solution was already being used in all other Daimler Chrysler offices worldwide!

What was the reason for such a stringent requirement? The answer is simple: the English or German version of SAP Automotive would have been almost useless in Russia since the users - mainly engineers, accountants, merchandisers and stockmen - rarely know a foreign language well enough to use a system as complicated as SAP R/3 (the same as it would be in the U.S.). As the result, SAP had to localize this product into Russian on an urgent basis, spending many additional human and fiscal resources on which they had not counted.

This is a typical example illustrating the essential need for localization of all international products and services. No international success is possible without that. Moreover, many countries require that foreign producers not only supply localized versions of their products, but also complete a set of localized documentation for the products to be admitted to a local market.

Two Extremes to Avoid

Another key factor in understanding a complex approach to localization is localization strategy and localized version release planning for products/services. There are two extremes that companies need to avoid in this area. One involves the situation described above, when a company is already doing business in a certain region without having a localized version available. At best, the company will be required to localize the requested product urgently, spending unreasonable amounts of resources and facing unnecessary risks, while living with the (probably) moderate quality of localized product released in such a hurry. At worst, the company will simply be unable to take advantage of certain business opportunities. Obviously, this will seriously affect the reputation of the company and prejudice the long-term prospects of its business in the region.

The other extreme is to invest significant resources in product localization without preliminary market research and demand analysis with respect to the company's products/services. Localizing all products, including those that will not be successful in the target region due to market profile reasons, is an example of this extreme. As the result of such an approach, a product/service that is not needed by local customers will not be purchased. The company will suffer (perhaps significant) financial losses.

Therefore, a good localization strategy should give consideration to both of the extremes mentioned above. This will result in a balanced approach, allowing the producer to determine clearly what products will be successful in the target region and to plan for the release of localized versions at the appropriate time.

How Important Is Quality, After All?

The product competes not only with foreign products, but with local products in the target region as well.

Now it’s time to ask the following question: if a company has a localized product/service that is released on a timely basis, then how important is the quality of the localization? Alternatively, is it not important at all? The answer is: localization quality is a factor of vital importance for success on the target market. This statement is especially relevant to the competition in the market segment for each product/service. The product/service competes not only with foreign products, but with local products/services in the target region as well. Successful competition with the latter class is impossible without quality localization.

There are known cases when poor localization has caused fatal consequences for the producers, to the extent that potential clients have refused to buy their product/service. So, what is quality localization? No doubt, translation quality is critical. It is also obvious that terminology competence and consistency are extremely important. Such criterion as localization completeness, or depth, is hard to overestimate. Usually, incomplete localization adversely affects the overall impression of the product/service. Just as important to take into account are the regional and cultural peculiarities of target countries, e.g., religions, national holidays, ways to address people, historical background, political issues, etc. Last, but not least, maintaining technical excellence throughout the localization process is crucial.

The Importance of Being Thorough

Normally, Russian text is 20 to 25% longer than its English or German equivalent.

Quite often, details that appear to be insignificant to a non-professional, though obviously important to localization specialists, are not considered during localization. These may dramatically affect the reputation of an almost perfectly localized product. For example, during one of the early localization cycles for the SAP R/3 system, the issue of user interface field length was not analyzed thoroughly. Normally, Russian text is 20 to 25% longer than its English or German equivalent. This was not taken into account during localization toolbox development. As a result, once the translation and language import were over, many strings were truncated because they did not fit into the corresponding fields. In some cases, this did not affect readability, but there were situations in which text truncation resulted in certain abbreviations and word forms absolutely unacceptable to the target audience – causing irony and laughter at best, and discontent and even anger at worst.

Insufficient attention to terminology specific to a particular industry or knowledge domain in a target region is an even more critical error. Ignorance of standard terminology easily renders the localized product unusable. Normally, a customer expects familiar terminology from localized products, and lack of such is a serious argument in favor of competing products. Therefore, before localization begins, one needs to research the terminology and create a term base that is then reviewed and approved by industry representatives. When localization starts, this term base must be used consistently throughout the entire localization cycle. Our company recently did just this for the kVASy system from SIVAG in Germany. The system dealt with business processes in housing and utility services; therefore, professionals in this area participated in terminology development and approval. This has added to the success of the localized product in a very specific targeted market segment.

Localization completeness is as important as the factors described above. Customers nowadays not only expect their user interface to be localized, but product documentation as well.

Therefore, quality localization needs to meet a set of requirements that includes translation completeness and quality, terminology consistency and a consideration of technical, regional and cultural factors. It is obvious that only a professional can achieve this.

So how do producers approach localization once they confirm the importance of localization, localization strategy and proper strategy deployment? They must choose the best localization method, based on a specific set of selection criteria. Critical factors include deadline, budget and quality. These are obviously interconnected; however, each of these factors acts as a counterweight to the rest. Trying to ensure the highest possible quality of localization, you are often bound by approved budgets and timeframes. If time-to-market is the most important factor, you will usually have to sacrifice quality or budget to some extent. If budget is the overriding factor, then you must be prepared to either sacrifice some quality or provide a more flexible deadline. Editor’s Note: For a slightly different take on the Deadline/Budget/Quality tradeoff, please read Mission Impossible: Improve Quality, Time and Speed At the Same Time in this issue.

The Tradeoffs

Choosing the best localization model means either (1) choosing a reasonable compromise among the Deadline/Budget/Quality triangle, or (2) determining your true priority. For example, time-to-market is often key. This is typical for situations like the one with SAP Automotive discussed above, when the priority was to release a localized version within the approved timeframe, and thus the quality was limited by the time constraint.

More often than not, none of these factors dominates, but rather each has a certain weight for the localization model selection. For example, here is one possible distribution:

• Q (quality) - 50%
• B (budget) - 25%
• D (deadline) - 25%

If the company is comfortable with time, but has limited budget and high quality requirements, the distribution will be different:

• Q (quality) - 45%
• B (budget) - 45%
• D (deadline) - 10%

The most typical situation is when all factors weigh approximately the same, and thus balance each other:

• Q (quality) - 35%
• B (budget) - 35%
• D (deadline) - 30%

Once a company has considered critical factors such as deadline, budget and quality, and has chosen the proper localization model, it is time to implement.

Why the In-house Localization Model Fell Out of Favor

It became obvious that the in-house localization model was too expensive, and worse, not in any way oriented to business development.

Thorough research of the most popular localization models used by leading IT companies shows that localization models have changed a lot over the past decade. Less than ten years ago, many companies had adopted an internal localization model that assumed all localization activities were to be performed in-house.

The in-house model gave birth to internal translation and localization centers with translators, localization engineers, terminology developers, project coordinators, project managers and other professionals. When this model was in “full bloom,” localization departments at the largest IT companies numbered up to several thousand employees. With the growth in product portfolios and an increasing number of target languages, these departments had to grow, thus requiring additional financing, staff and equipment.

Gradually, it became obvious that this localization model was too expensive, and worse, not in any way oriented to business development. Most companies then turned to an external localization model or outsourcing.

Why did in-house localization prove to have no future? Did it have any advantages over the external model at all? If yes, then what were these advantages? Which localization processes should be outsourced, and which ones should not? What localization models are popular currently? What are their advantages and limitations? What outsourcing model are industry leaders choosing today ? What needs to be taken into account when choosing the outsourcing model that is right for your company?

These are just a few of the questions that companies face when choosing a localization model. How you answer these questions will, to a great extent, determine your commercial success in a particular region.

Editor’s Note: To find out the answer to these questions, register for the LISA Forum Russia Outsourcing Summit and attend Konstantin Josseliani’s presentation, “Localization Outsourcing: What Model Is the Best?,” on June 10.

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Konstantin Josseliani is the founder and CEO of Integrated Language Solutions (ILS), a company offering ERP, software localization and technical translation services in Moscow, Russia. Prior to founding ILS, Josseliani was head of the localization department at SAP C.I.S. & Baltic States. He can be reached at k.Josseliani@languagesolutions.ru.