Attaining
global commercial success as a brand is not an easy journey.

There
are several considerations businesses need to make in order to get to their
desired destination. A number of these factors need careful navigation, while
others are beyond a brands’ control.

But
perhaps the most common denominator within the control of most successful
global entities is that they all operate an efficient workflow.

An
efficient workflow makes the aforementioned considerations work in unison and
effectively. And we daresay that utilizing a translation management system
(TMS) brings organizations with global aspirations a step closer to developing
an efficient workflow.

Therefore
in this post, we would be making a case for translation management systems and
why they should be a prime consideration for global brands.

What is a translation
management system?

A
translation management system (TMS) is as its name suggests. It is a platform
that helps companies manage their translation or localization efforts. Every
process involved in releasing a global product; the product design, translation,
editing, quality assurance, task management, and document exchange are
coordinated from one central hub with a TMS. Think of it as a motorway service
area where all road users embarking on a trip can stop to access services to
make their journey a lot smoother.

A
translation management system brings together all sorts of professionals —
product designers, copywriters, translators, developers, project managers,
etc., under one roof (figurative) to enhance effective collaboration. It also
automates most of these stakeholders processes, thereby reducing errors and at
the same time improving their workflow efficiency.

What makes up a
translation management system?

A
translation management system could contain many components. There is no
one-size-fits-all description of a TMS’s composition, and its constituents
usually depend on the peculiar needs of the organization deploying it.

That
is why it is common to find larger enterprises with diverse needs with
proprietary translation management systems, while smaller companies or
enterprises with more measured needs tend to opt for 3rd party TMS. But going
by the previous definition of what a TMS is and what purpose it is meant to
serve, we can come up with a simple model of a translation management system that
satisfies most of the basic needs of an organization.

A
basic TMS could incorporate project management and computer-aided-translation
functionalities, while having integrational modules that make it compatible
with a wide range of tools for enterprises to use. The simple model illustrated
below is by no means the entirety of what a TMS comprises, but just a visual
representation of what one might come to expect.

A model TMS

Who needs a
translation management system?

Although
translation management systems were created to facilitate the operations of
language service providers, it has evolved to do much more.

Senior
Project Manager at TranslationsinLondon, Valentina Vignolo-Love elaborates on why a
TMS is crucial to language service providers.

“A
TMS is an essential tool for any LSP that works with many translation vendors.
It is not only a quick or more effective tool to assign tasks but also to
monitor vendor performances.”

But
contrary to popular opinion, TMS’s are no longer meant for LSP’s alone. Any
enterprise whether large or small with global ambitions needs to invest to some
extent in translation and localization services, and would therefore benefit
from utilizing a translation management system.

Even
sectors like finance that are usually stringent in adopting 3rd party apps due
to security and risk reasons are adopting translation management systems to
boost their workflow and hasten product releases.

Liva Paudere, VP of Content Design
at DBS, one of the largest banks in Southeast Asia, explains why they opted for a translation management
system.

“During
development, we constantly had to try to figure out what the correct and final
version of the translated copy was. The content was scattered across Word
documents, Excel files, emails, Teams messages, etc.”

A
TMS provides a centralized platform that addresses these bottlenecks head-on,
where these files can be shared and accessed, with translation and other
product creation stints occurring in real-time.

What are the benefits
of using TMS?

By
now, you may already be visualizing the bigger picture regarding why global
brands need a translation management system.

It
all stems from the desire, or rather, the necessity for enterprises to adopt a
framework that makes their entire product creation process proceed smoothly.

On
that note, TMS brings the following benefits to organizations;

Improves product
quality: The
primary objective of most businesses is to make sales, but that can only occur
sustainably when value is added to the end consumer.

By
utilizing a platform that combines project management and
computer-aided-translation functionalities, all stakeholders can work in
harmony to create a final product that is free from errors and of the best
standard.

Enhances
collaboration: Imagine a designer, marketer, and developer working together on
the same platform with a project manager to develop a product. That is
basically what a TMS facilitates.

A
translation management system provides a platform for all relevant stakeholders
to interface with one another, exchanging resources, and communicating
effectively. Such a platform makes it easier to collaborate towards the
collective organizational goal.

Promotes workflow and
automation: Anchoring on the previous two points should make it clear to
see how a TMS helps boost the workflow and productivity. A TMS could be the
difference between operating manually with several processes occurring in
batches and running your localization process in a centralized and
simultaneously format.

Speaking
on how a TMS transforms workflow, Vignolo-Love had this to say.

“To
be honest, it revolutionized our workflow. Now all our vendors, projects,
invoices, and clients are under one roof, which means we were able to cut down
on the barrage of emails. We are also able to monitor a vendor and a project.

Our
TMS gives us the ability to work remotely and delegate to other project
managers easily and perhaps, most importantly, it sends notifications
automatically when deadlines are approaching, keeping everyone on their
toes.”

And
since most translation management systems are built with automation functions,
product development stints can occur faster, which leads to a shorter time to
market and also making it easier to scale an enterprise.

Cost savings: Several components of
a TMS are geared towards reducing expenditure for enterprises. For starters,
translation memory on its own could help with churning out faster translations
on the path of LSP’s which is a cost-saving measure, but there are still
other ways to look at it.

Adopting
a translation management system helps mitigate errors and bottlenecks
associated with product development, which otherwise would have financial
implications for brands.

Easy access to
relevant assets: TMS often comes with document management and the corresponding
integrations that make it easy to access assets relevant to product
development.

Considerations when
choosing a TMS

Choosing
a TMS is a crucial and by no means an easy decision that could have dire
financial implications for brands if done wrongly. While there are a host of
factors to consider when making this choice, decision-makers can always focus
on the following key considerations;

Budget: Most translation
management systems do not come cheap and just like with any expensive business
decision, a lot of thought should be put into it to ensure that the solution
being adopted caters to the unique needs of the organization.

It
is quite common to find brands going for the extremes (most simple or
sophisticated) solution, which could either be too expensive in the case of the
latter or too cheap in the former. Instead, decision-makers should go for a
product that aligns with the business’s goals and is compatible with the
brand’s workforce.

Integration: As long as it is
impossible for a TMS to completely integrate every plugin and 3rd-party apps
since so many exist performing several functions, enterprises would always have
to factor in their integration needs when selecting a TMS.

For
instance, if your LSP uses the IBM Watson engine for all their machine translation needs, it is only
logical to go for a TMS that integrates that engine in its framework, rather
than just going for the most popular product.

Integration
is basically the driving force for automation which itself goes a long way to
enhancing workflow and productivity.

Ease of use: No matter the
functionality of a TMS, either in terms of sophistry or otherwise., it is only
as good as its user. That said, Project managers and decision-makers need to
factor in the level of sophistry when choosing a translation management system.

An
easy to use TMS would take less time for the product team to adopt, thereby
making it possible to harness its benefits quicker.

In
essence, a TMS should be a tool that is easy enough to facilitate the
productivity and efficiency of the product team instead of being a hindrance.

Conclusion

A
translation management system is the final piece that completes the jigsaw for
organizations that want to scale by going global.

The
combination of what a TMS entails from its product management, automation and
translation functionalities make collaboration and workflow seem like smooth
sailing, but organizations must ensure that due diligence is observed when
making the choice of a TMS in order to get the best out of it.

Although
deploying a TMS might no longer be an afterthought for companies that want to
go global, it needs to be complemented with a language service provider that
understands how they work and can merge into your workflow.

Translationsinlondon is a translation and
localization service provider that can effectively merge into your routine
to ease your global expansion journey.

Give
us a call or send a message today to get started.