I have worked for six years in China for three companies. I first joined HP Singapore in 1994 in firmware engineering (inkjet printers). I then went back to HP China to set up the Localization Management Center in 1998 and have been providing localization services for various HP divisions since then.

INSIDER: What was the rationale for establishing this department?

It was originally set up to help meet HP’s Asia languages requirements. Nowadays, we focus more on managing offshore resources for global delivery.

INSIDER: How many staff are there and what are their roles?

We have four localization project managers.

INSIDER: Please describe a typical day for your department.

Our typical daily routine includes managing localization projects by working with various partners, including R&D, QA, translation vendors and in-country reviewers. The challenge is that we do this on a virtual basis globally.

INSIDER: What volume of work does your department undertake in a typical month? Is any part of the localization work outsourced? Why? Who decides?

It’s hard to describe the volume of work that we do everyday because the work itself is done by our many partners for translation, testing, linguistic review, smoke testing, etc. It is our Project Managers (PMs) who make the decision concerning whom they will work with.

INSIDER: What do you consider to be the most challenging aspect of your work?

We now are working more and more as a virtual team, not only on a global basis, but also with partners from various companies.

INSIDER: Has any dimension of your work changed over the years? For what reasons?

Our department acted as a localization engineering center at the very beginning to support Asian languages. However, now we manage localization projects worldwide. The change is due to the fact that more and more companies are looking for lower prices through developing offshore resources.

INSIDER: Do you envisage any significant change in the near future in the localization need for the Chinese market?

At the time that China joined the WTO (World Trade Organization), people thought that there would be more global companies entering the Chinese market, and thus the requirement for Chinese localization would increase accordingly, and that has happened. I would also think that, as another result of China’s joining the WTO, more and more Chinese companies would be entering the global market and maturing as global companies. However, I wonder if the localization industry is ready for this.

INSIDER: What area within your department needs the most improvement?

The fundamental working habits required to collaborate with people all over the world is where we need the most improvement.

INSIDER: Relating to the difficulty involved in working globally with a virtual team, is it mainly due to cultural differences? Can you give us an example of the sort of difficulties that occur?

Part of the reason is due to cultural differences, and part is due to our educational system. For example, many times, a PM has to be confident enough to control the localization process when working with foreigners. We have some issues here. Also, I have to admit that part of the problem is also due to poor English skills, but obviously, these can be improved.

INSIDER: Do you use proprietary localization tools developed by HP or off-the-shelf tools? Is HP investing in tools development?

Most of the time, we use industry standard tools, though sometimes we do use tools developed by HP. However, HP is not interested in investing in developing localization tools per se.

INSIDER: What items are on your wish list for localization tools?

Tools for XML localization, including integration with content management systems.

INSIDER: Is the source language for your localization projects always English? Are there any cases where localization takes place between Asian languages, e.g., Japanese to Chinese or vice-versa?

We only deal with English source. If there are source texts in Asian languages, then they are done by the appropriate counterparts within HP.

INSIDER: Do you consider localization into Asian languages to be a well-established domain?

For more than a decade, localization into Asian languages was more like an R&D job. Now, I believe it’s a well-established domain that can be as normal as other languages, thus enabling the implementation of one process for all languages.

INSIDER: What is the general awareness of the pitfalls of localization within the Chinese IT community?

People often think localization is only translation.

INSIDER: How are localization organizations such as LISA viewed in the Chinese localization community? Do people care about standardization issues concerning localization?

Today, there are only localization service providers in China, and for them, yes, standardization is critical. It enables them to receive work from their customers and expands their opportunities outside of traditional translation. On the other hand, China still does not have hardly any global companies, so it’s hard to know their requirements.

INSIDER: Is training of localizers for the Chinese market adequate? Are there any new developments at the university level designed to cater to the need for localization?

For localization service providers, considering market, price and other factors, it’s very hard to provide localization training to them. For potential localization service buyers, I think the industry needs to sponsor some initial events to cater to the market. Then we can talk about training and university programs.