Globalization Technologies

There are two main categories of globalization tools: language technology tools and tools used to manage the globalization process. Both sorts of tools are essential in modern globalization workflows if quality, speed and volume demands are to be met. These tools can result in significant cost savings for organizations that use them, with one large multinational corporation reporting annual cost savings of $750 million U.S. from the use of translation memory technology alone.

Language technologies do not replace skilled human translators. Instead, they allow translators to deliver better results in shorter times and to add value to the globalization supply chain. Predictions that computers would replace humans as translators have been made since the 1950s, but this appears no closer to being true today than it was fifty years ago. What has happened is that technologies have automated some of the most tedious and error-prone tasks of translation and resulted in translation volumes that would otherwise be possible to deliver. Key language technologies include the following:

• Translation Memory (TM). Translation Memory allows organizations to reuse previously translated materials when projects are updated, eliminating the need to retranslate text.
• Terminology Management. Managing the terms you use helps improve quality, customer satisfaction, and brand management.
  
• Global Content Management Systems (GCMS). If you are globalizing websites or working with content management systems, Global Content Management Systems enable you to know where your project is at all times and respond promptly and intelligently to new content.
• Machine Translation (MT). Machine translation is an effective solution where translation speed is required or where content is created dynamically.
• Localization Workbenches. Localization workbenches combine functionality to assist translators and localizers in their work.