How to Select a Translation Management

How to Select
a Translation
Management
System
By Benjamin B. Sargent and
Donald A. DePalma
November 2011
How to Select a Translation Management System
By Benjamin B. Sargent and Donald A. DePalma
November 2011
ISBN 978-0-9834358-9-1
Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc., Lowell, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
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How to Select a Translation Management System
i
Table of Contents
Topic ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
How to Navigate This Report ........................................................................................... 1
Translation Management Products under Review ........................................................ 2
Functions ................................................................................................................................................ 4
Business Management Modules Track Who, What, and How Much .......................... 4
Customer Management Traces Job Requestor Histories ......................................... 4
Resource Management Improves Fidelity of Job Assignments .............................. 6
Project Management Tracks Components and Schedules ....................................... 7
Financial Management Reins In Payments and Receivables .................................. 8
Process Management Modules Drive Workflow Automation ..................................... 9
Workflow Design and Selection Defines Efficiency ................................................. 9
Business Process Management Enables Agility ...................................................... 11
Language Processing Tools Reduce Human Effort ...................................................... 12
Centralized Translation Memory Processing Enforces Policy .............................. 13
Webtop and Desktop Environments Empower Contributors .............................. 15
Specialized Contributor Interfaces Expand Collaboration .................................... 16
Connection Management Tools Move Content or Data .............................................. 17
Simple Connections Offer Flexibility without Automation .................................. 17
Pre-Built Connectors Speed Deployment ................................................................ 19
Programmatic Interfaces Expose Core Functions ................................................... 20
Analytics and BPM Pave the Way toward Manageability .......................................... 21
Project Analytics Unlock Translation Business Intelligence ................................. 21
Business Process Monitoring Keeps Production Humming ................................. 23
Selection Strategies ............................................................................................................................. 24
How to Make a Shortlist .................................................................................................. 24
Start with Translation Management Orientation .................................................... 24
Decide on Best-of-Breed versus Comprehensive .................................................... 26
Understand Your Cloud Options.............................................................................. 28
How to Future-Proof Your Technology Selection ........................................................ 29
Aggressively Pursue Interoperability ...................................................................... 29
Plan for Hyper-Utility of Linguistic Assets ............................................................. 29
Wade into the Workbench Wars ............................................................................... 30
Think beyond the Immediate .................................................................................... 31
How to Complete the Selection Process ........................................................................ 31
Weight Your Selection Criteria .................................................................................. 31
Choose One or Both Proof-of-Concept Models ....................................................... 33
Special Considerations for Second-Stage Deployments ........................................ 33
ü About Common Sense Advisory .............................................................................. 34
ü Future Research ........................................................................................................... 34
ü Applied Research and Advisory Services ............................................................... 34
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November 2011
How to Select a Translation Management System
ii
Figures
Figure 1: Example of Customer Management Functions in TMS ..................................... 6
Figure 2: Example of Resource Management Functions in TMS ...................................... 7
Figure 3: Example of Project Management Functions in TMS .......................................... 8
Figure 4: Example of Finance Management Functions in TMS ........................................ 9
Figure 5: Example of Workflow Design Functions in TMS ............................................. 11
Figure 6: Example of Process Management Functions in TMS ....................................... 12
Figure 7: Example of Centralized TM Functions in TMS ................................................ 14
Figure 8: Example of Webtop Translation Environment in TMS ................................... 15
Figure 9: Example of Webtop Reviewer Environment in TMS ....................................... 16
Figure 10: Example of Simple Connector Functions in TMS ........................................... 19
Figure 11: Example of Pre-built Connector Functions in TMS........................................ 20
Figure 12: Example of Analytics Functions in TMS.......................................................... 22
Figure 13: Example of Business Process Monitoring Functions in TMS ........................ 23
Figure 14: Evolution of TMS Typology from 2007 to 2011 .............................................. 25
Tables
Table 1: Partial List of Commercial TMS Vendors and Solutions .................................... 3
Table 2: Business Information Management in TMS .......................................................... 5
Table 3: Process Management in TMS ................................................................................ 10
Table 4: Language Management Tools in TMS ................................................................. 13
Table 5: Connection Management Tools in TMS .............................................................. 18
Table 6: Oversight (Analytics and Business Process Monitoring) in TMS .................... 22
Table 7: Simple Logic for Determining Required TMS Orientation ............................... 26
Table 8: Commercial TMS Solutions Sorted by Orientation............................................ 27
üüüüü
November 2011
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How to Select a Translation Management System
1
Topic
Technology selection generally involves 1) developing selection criteria,
2) making a shortlist, 3) identifying best-fit solutions using weighted business
and technical requirements, and 4) undergoing a proof-of-concept before
5) making a final decision. We’ve structured the report to help prospective
buyers think through the functional aspects of translation management and to
ensure completeness of the resulting criteria.
In the three years since we last described the translation management system
(TMS) sector, vendors filled in their offerings by including new modules, adding
new features to existing modules, and improving interoperability by means of
enhanced application programming interfaces (APIs) and additional connectors
(see “Evolution and Revolution in Translation Management,” May08). However,
the general outlines of the category remain largely the same.
Buyers are beginning to discuss performance and usability discussions, but
vendor attention is still focused on attention-getting “bells and whistles.” We
look forward to at least two more years of fevered competition in the race toward
feature completeness before the category normalizes around a core set of
normalized capabilities.
How to Navigate This Report
The report is divided into three sections:
·
Functions. This report presents the consolidated scores and feature
comparisons for 12 software modules commonly found in commercial
translation management solutions, organized into five functional areas.
·
Selection Strategies. At the end of this report you will find a chapter on
emerging and ongoing trends, and how they affect the TMS selection process.
Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
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November 2011
How to Select a Translation Management System
2
·
TMS Live. Individual system scorecards will be made available under the
TMS menu on the commonsenseadvisory.com website (member login
required). These documents combine product descriptions written by the
vendors and vetted by Common Sense Advisory, along with objective
scoring of feature completeness and an analyst assessment. New systems will
be added and existing scorecards updated on an ongoing basis.
To review our previous assessments of some of these systems, see
“Translation Management System Scorecards” (Feb07) and
“Translation Management Technology” (Dec06).
Translation Management Products under Review
The market offers a range of licensed software and solutions available only with
a language services contract. This report focuses only on the licensed or
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. It does not include house solutions
(called “captive” in our earlier research). Well-known examples of house TMS
include: Applied Language Solutions SquidgeIT, Elanex EON, Language Line’s
LingoNET, LanguageWire Agito, Prisma PrismaOnline, and thebigword
LanguageDirector.
In 2011 we assessed licensed commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) solutions
including several from LSPs that are available as technology solutions
independent of language service offerings (see Table 1). The target market for a
TMS may include either or both enterprise buyers and LSPs. In cases where most
buyers are LSPs but the system is often sold to enterprises, we designate the
target market as “LSPs + Enterprise”; and when the primary target is enterprise
buyers but the system is also offered to LSPs, we call it “Enterprise + LSPs.”
November 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Unauthorized Reproduction & Distribution Prohibited