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. Published by: Common Sense Advisory, Inc. 100 Merrimack Street Suite 301 Lowell, MA 01852-1708 USA +1.978.275.0500 [email protected] www.commonsenseadvisory.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission requests should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Common Sense Advisory, Inc., Suite 301, 100 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852-1708, +1.978.275.0500, E-Mail: [email protected]. See www.commonsenseadvisory.com/en/citationpolicy.html for usage guidelines. Trademarks: Common Sense Advisory, Global Watchtower, Global DataSet, DataPoint, Globa Vista, Quick Take, and Technical Take are trademarks of Common Sense Advisory, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Information is based on the best available resources at the time of analysis. Opinions reflect the best judgment of Common Sense Advisory’s analysts at the time, and are subject to change. 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 Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc. Unauthorized Reproduction & Distribution Prohibited 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 Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc. Unauthorized Reproduction & Distribution Prohibited 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. Unauthorized Reproduction & Distribution Prohibited 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