Businesses today are increasingly reliant on localised content to reach global consumers, and Localisation Management Technology (LMT) offers a way to streamline the process of localising content, making it faster, easier and more efficient.
By improving localisation workflows, LMT can help companies to save time and money while delivering high-quality localised content.
In this article, we explore the potential of LMT for businesses and its future impact on the localisation industry.
What is Localisation Management Technology (LMT)?
With the increased demand for localisation services, businesses are now investing in powerful technology that can support their localisation project needs. Localisation Management Technology refers to any software, app or platform that is designed to automate and organise localisation operations, making the process much more efficient.
Examples include cloud-based translation management systems, computer-assisted translation tools, language quality assurance software, and localisation project management platforms.
Localisation Management Technology typically offers localisation personnel a variety of useful features, including:
– Translation memory and terminology management
– Collaborative workflows
– Scheduling and project tracking
– Integration with other software and tools
– Real-time dashboards for project visibility
– Automated workflows
Why is Localisation Management Technology important?
Localisation Management Technology helps businesses to manage their localisation needs more efficiently, making their expansion into foreign markets easier and more streamlined.
Not only can it help you expand into new markets, but it can also aid your growth in those markets. You can easily change and customise your specifications as time goes on, and you can adapt your systems to your business needs.
Further benefits include:
Cost-efficiency
Localisation management tools are used by Language Service Providers (LSPs) and localisation project managers (LPMs) to complete more work in less time, reducing the need for a massive workforce.
Integration with various software and tools
By allowing for seamless communication and automation between translation memory, terminology databases, project management tools and more, LMT streamlines localisation workflows and increases productivity.
Improved visibility and control over localisation projects
With features such as real-time dashboards, project managers can track the progress of their projects, manage team members, create budgets and timelines, and efficiently allocate resources. This allows them to stay organised and on top of their tasks, improving overall communication and collaboration within localisation teams.
Another benefit of LMT is the enhanced collaboration it enables between localisation teams, clients and vendors.
What are the main elements of Localisation Management Technology?
Some of the most common elements of LMT include:
Machine translation (MT)
MT uses algorithms to translate text from one language to another. While it is not as accurate as human translation, it can be useful for getting a rough idea of what a text means. MT is often used in conjunction with translation memories to improve accuracy.
If your company operates in multiple countries, you know how important it is to have region-specific content. The more locations you target, the more often you need to translate your content — which can take a lot of time if you don’t use automated translation management tools.
Advanced MT tools make the translation management job much quicker by generating automated translations in seconds with minimal human intervention. Most translation tools support various language pairs and you can also customise the language pair support based on your target regions.
Translation memory (TM)
TM stores previously translated text so that it can be reused in future translations. This saves time and money by reducing the need for translators to translate the same text over and over again.
Quality assurance (QA) system
Quality is arguably the most important factor when it comes to localising content. If your marketing campaign or video game is poorly translated, it will fail to hit the mark with the target audience.
That’s why having a QA tool in your localisation system is crucial for ensuring consistent, error-free content every time. Not only will it detect and eliminate all potential mistakes from your translations, but it will also save the time required for proofreading and editing your translation documents.
Security and file storage
LMT can also include robust security measures such as password protection and data encryption to keep your data safe. It is also becoming more common to use cloud technology to store files, allowing you to access your files from any device or computer with internet access.
This makes collaborating on translations easier than ever before, which is important when you’re working with teams of people in different locations.
Localisation Management Technology offers a glossary of tools
A glossary is a list of terms and their translations that are used throughout a translation project. This helps to ensure consistency and accuracy in translations.
What are some popular Localisation Management Technologies today?
New and exciting tools and technologies are emerging all the time, but some of the most popular ones at present include
AI
The localisation industry, like many others, is being transformed by AI at a rapid pace. Not only does AI technology improve the speed and accuracy of translations, but it also makes it easier for translators to get high-quality results with less effort. A lot of MT tools already use AI technology, and the demand is steadily increasing.
CAT tools
CAT tools can streamline your translation workflow, improve the consistency of your translations and significantly reduce your delivery times and costs.
What does the future hold for Localisation Management Technology?
As global markets continue to expand and the importance of localised content grows, Localisation Management Technology will become an even more vital tool for businesses seeking to conquer new markets.
LMT will undoubtedly continue to evolve and offer even more features to streamline the localisation process, such as
Localisation Management Technology could morph to augmented translation
We will likely see AI technology evolving to fill the cultural, linguistic, and market gaps in translations. This will have multiple benefits, such as improving the efficiency of the translation process and helping translators to get consistently high-quality results in less time.
Multimarket digital localisation
A 2020 study commissioned by CSA Research and conducted by Kantar found that 65% of online buyers prefer content in their native language, and 40% of them won’t buy a product if it’s in a different language.
Going forward, multicultural and multilingual content marketing will play a massive role in enhancing customers’ interactions with the brand and delivering on their expectations for a more personalised experience.
International Achievers Group are your localisation experts
In the future, Localisation Management Technology will continue to play a crucial role in navigating the complexities of global markets — and International Achievers Group will be at the forefront of these exciting developments.
Our localisation recruitment services can match you with the brightest talent and help you not only expand but also to grow and thrive in new markets.
Get in touch today to find out more, and be sure to check out our blog and resources for more localisation news, trends and developments.
