Our Analysts' Insights

Back in the day when I first began working in localization, we didn’t have a translation management system (TMS) – they didn’t exist – and our LSP was refusing to use translation memory because it created “too much overhead” for the first venture into producing a customer care website in more than one language. Knowing that the advent of the internet was likely to produce masses of new content in – hopefully – all the languages in which the company operated, we took a huge risk. We found...

It’s the end of 2023 and, rather than contemplating a bright and happy new year, many enterprise localization groups are looking at another year of austerity measures. Through most of 2023 they told us they were either holding steady on spending or cutting it. Here’s the rub though: By saving a bit on language services now, they may block substantive contributions to revenue in order to save comparatively small expenses. In this blog we review why this penny-wise approach could be pound foolis...

Multimedia, transcribed audio, and AI-generated content in all the world’s digital languages join more traditional content types in filling up data centers. Together they create challenges and opportunities across organizations, raise the alarm for more oversight of content, and further the case for aligning enterprise content strategies, investment, and operations.

It’s planning time once again, but this task is especially fraught this year as companies are facing another year of turmoil just as large-scale pandemic woes seemed to end. But now, looking at hyperinflation levels not seen in the US and western Europe since the 1970s, companies are naturally cautious. Localization groups – usually treated as a necessary evil in the best of times – may find themselves the target of bean counters eager to save money. So what are you to do when executives and ...

With no standard budgeting model for language teams, budget managers and directors continue to consult CSA Research on how to win more funding and, conversely, how to avoid budget cuts. Many continue to scramble to stretch flat budgets to cover an expanding number of markets, products, and publishing platforms each year. Here are 11 guidelines for budgetmeisters this planning season – and throughout the year.

For the last few months pundits across the political spectrum have written op-ed columns and long articles questioning whether geopolitical events such as war and polarized politics signal the end of globalization. This post considers those concerns of policymakers but contends that activities to address the growing complexity of a de-globalizing planet raises the bar for any organization operating in multiple countries – and that this reality will create new opportunities for anyone who can ma...

In the late 19th century my great-grandfather, Otto, smuggled the culture for Gruyère cheese from Switzerland to the United States. Thinking about him reminds me of the “Swiss Cheese Model,” an approach to accident prevention that focuses on putting up multiple barriers that should collectively prevent major mishaps even if one or more of them has a hole in it. A similar “Reverse Swiss Cheese Model” applies to international customer experience. To see how, imagine an English-centric company ...

Are you ready to implement language as a feature at the platform level? Do you know how to gain executive approval for the business case to achieve that? Do you even know what I’m talking about?! Read on to find out how Airbnb did it and the questions to ask your team to find out if you’re ready to embark on the same journey.

A dashboard – in a vehicle – is familiar to every one of us. So familiar that we don’t even think about it. You never just sit and stare at it. You don’t spend hours reading it and figuring out what all the numbers mean. Instead, you see and understand it, and your body and brain adjust and take action based on what the display shows – from speeding up or slowing down to pulling into the next service station for fuel or to add air to your tires.

Our current research into continuous localization has revealed more companies adopting the “Spotify Model” to organize their development teams – and in some cases all business functions. Since Spotify has been in the news quite a bit over the last few weeks, we thought localization teams should be on the lookout for the model to be coming their way.