Global Partnerships for Localization Processes
The flat world is now creating several opportunities for developing economies, especially for the countries like India and China because of many reasons. For instance, in China it is not only mandatory for the country to focus on its language part to make the U.S.-based customers comfortable with the Chinese business culture, but it is also necessary for the Chinese business world to understand English language properly. This is because a lot of cross-border trades also demand solutions for all language-related complexities despite the fact that Chinese is a difficult language to learn and the number of English-speaking people is very less in China.
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| 2007 Top 20 Translation Services Companies |
- L-3 Communications
- Lionbridge Technologies
- SDL International
- Language Line Holdings
- TransPerfect/Translations
- SDI Media Group
- RWS Group
- Xerox Global Services
- euroscript International S.A.
- Moravia Worldwide
- Logos Group
- CLS Communication
- Honyaku Centre
- LCJ EEIG
- Semantix
- Merrill Brink International
- Welocalize
- Skrivanek Group
- HP ACG
- thebigword Group
Source: Common Advisory
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nterestingly, the localization services industry — not so known in the sourcing world — is also witnessing big outsourcing deals and partnerships. Most recent one is the partnership between UFIDA, China-based enterprise software provider, and Lionbridge, a globalization and testing services provider with offices in 26 countries around the world. Under the terms of the partnership, Lionbridge will localize UFIDA’s U9 enterprise resource planning software to reach more English-speaking audiences.
“We are very excited to be working with one of the largest Chinese manufacturer. To serve UFIDA, we have built a project-management team. Also, the customer-relationship management will happen from our Beijing office,” adds Lionbridge’s Bolen.
Associations: Link Local to Serve Global
Many associations are also encouraging outsourced localization services on a global scale. One such association/community is GALA — an international non-profit association. The popularity of such firms can also be seen by the fact that GALA, formed in 2002 with only 15 such providers, now has more than 260 members — localization service providers, translation companies, globalization consultants, internationalization service providers, industry publications and language technology developers.
However, the industry is growing rapidly, and is expected to cross $13.5 billion mark by 2011 — and by 2010 the global outsourced language segment is expected to cross $12.6 billion with the maximum share of the U.S.A. and Europe — as per Common Advisory’s recent study. The accurate and consistent localization represents a critical barrier for any global expansion. “In the near future, we also expect a lot of localization happening in the life sciences, technology and pharma industries,” says Bolen.
