Nimdzi Exclusive: SDL Language Cloud First Impressions

Nimdzi独家介绍:对于SDL语言云的初步印象

2020-08-17 17:00 Nimdzi Insights

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In May, Nimdzi participated in a private demo of SDL’s new enterprise product, SDL Language Cloud. Our initial impression is that this new product represents a strong step  away from SDL’s old-fashioned Worldserver and translation management system (TMS) interfaces into an all-new user experience. SDL Language Cloud is a true cloud application with a microservices architecture. There are very few tools on the market that are scalable and can operate in a distributed environment. The continuous delivery approach SDL has taken, though not new in software development, speeds up bug-fixing time. A new focus on user experience SDL has raised the bar with the clarity of the interface. The heatmap helps project managers quickly identify projects at risk, and the Kanban boards give a simple view of what tasks are in what state. While SDL retained workflow management, of course, it has simplified Worldserver’s over-complicated workflow designer, to the benefit of localization managers. Project overview in SDL Worldserver. The task-based overview in SDL Language Cloud. The translator/reviewer interface is not new—products like Groupshare have been using a similar online editor for the past two years. It is a feature-rich online editor, aiming to recreate the Trados Studio experience in a web browser. The feature set inevitably brings complexity, and translators new to this interface need some time to become accustomed to it. The online translation and review editor in SDL Language Cloud. One area for future improvement will be the preview. Right now the only preview users can get is for Microsoft Word files. The concept of reviewer groups is particularly interesting. It allows a user to assign a project to not only just one single person but also a group, and reviewers can claim and unclaim the tasks. This solves situations where one person is not able to review everything correctly. SDL Language Cloud also brings a new innovation: it analyses the document’s content and classifies the subject of the text automatically. Text classification is part of several natural language processing (NLP) APIs, including Google’s AutoML, but was not yet included in a commercial tool. Text classification in SDL Language Cloud. What this tool means for SDL's market position SDL has not released a new generation of enterprise tools in a while. The first time the company announced a new tool—they titled it Project Affinity—was in 2009, and in 2015 they were also talking about merging SDL Worldserver and SDL TMS. However, it looks like SDL Language Cloud will become a solid contender and gain back some market share that companies like Memsource or XTM have taken from SDL. The quickest route will be to convert Worldserver customers, simply by offering a more modern tool—yes, more modern than tools that have been around for ten years. We have seen how SDL Trados Studio, released in 2009, became a solid tool only after a couple of years on the market. While we expect that SDL now has a better approach towards understanding the market, it will take time until the many functionalities are implemented. So far, query management is fully missing from the tool—SDL relies on Kaleidoscope’s solutions—and when asking about InDesign preview functionality, they mentioned they were currently looking for a partner to implement it with. SDL Language Cloud is not replacing Worldserver, however. It is a fully cloud-based solution, so users not willing to migrate from an installed copy to the cloud still have to remain with Worldserver, which will remain a supported solution. A solution for the entire supply chain Compared to competitors, SDL remains strongly committed to supporting both translators and language service providers (LSPs), and so SDL Language Cloud is not purely an enterprise tool. A modified version targets LSPs. We have not seen the LSP offering, but looking at the design of the system it was evident that it reflects the enterprise mindset. SDL is still very keen on promoting Trados Studio to LSPs and translators, which definitely makes sense for translators themselves—and thus the new Studio version that is able to directly open packages from Language Cloud is a welcome change. Still, having project managers move packages back and forth is working against the trend of automation. Summary In summary, SDL Language Cloud is a welcome (albeit one might say overdue) addition to SDL’s increasingly complex technology offering. There is an apparent commitment from SDL leadership to use Language Cloud to unify existing offerings, rather than adding yet another tool into an already bloated suite of offerings.  SDL Language Cloud tackles the difficult challenge for the company to offer a flexible, user-friendly, and scalable solution that industry users have come to expect, while still leveraging their long history and reputation for comprehensive feature sets. The “classic” features are still well represented, allowing for minimal user shock upon switching, while a flexible development and release strategy will allow SDL to adapt to the needs of the end-users as the tool is continuously improved.  At this point, there are still features that are missing from the current iteration, although this is not out of the norm for newly released software solutions. Although incomplete, SDL Cloud is a solid first step towards a flexible and modernized localization management solution. Time will tell how well SDL’s Language Cloud offering will fit within the translation supply chain, and we plan to closely monitor and report ongoing developments.  Selecting the right TMS There are many translation management systems to choose from in the industry. There is no single “best TMS.” Each company has to define and evaluate their own specific criteria for selecting the technology best suited to their needs. Because of high implementation/switching costs, this can be a risky decision without having access to all the needed information.
5月,Nimdzi产品参加了SDL新企业产品SDL语言云的内部演示。我们对这款产品的初步印象是,从SDL过时的Worldserver和翻译管理系统(TMS)界面走来,它代表着产品向全新的用户体验迈出了强有力的一步。 SDL语言云是一个真正的云应用程序,其具有微服务架构。目前,市场上很少有支持扩展功能,且能够在分布式环境下运行的工具。SDL所采取的持续方法虽然在软件开发中并不是新鲜事物,但它缩短了修复错误所需的时间。 聚焦用户体验新视点 SDL使界面更清晰 热图功能可以帮助项目经理迅速速发现处于项目风险,看板功能通过简单视图展示任务状态。当然,SDL还保留了工作流管理,不过它简化了WorldServer中应用的过于复杂的工作流设计器,这为本地化管理人员提供了有力的帮助。 SDL WorldServer项目概述。 SDL语言云任务驱动概述。 翻译/评论合一的界面并非新鲜事物--像Groupshare这样的产品在过去两年里一直也采用类似的在线编辑器。作为一个功能丰富的在线编辑器,旨在web浏览器中带来使用Trados Studio新体验。当然特性集不可避免地也增加了使用的复杂程度,初次使用此界面的翻译人员需要花一些时间来习惯它。 SDL语言云在线翻译和评论编辑器。 未来将获得改进的一个领域将是预览功能。目前,用户唯一可以获得授权预览的是Microsoft Word文件。 审阅者分组的功能特别有趣。它允许用户不仅将项目分配给一个人,还可以分配给一个审阅者组,审阅者也可以声明和取消声明任务。这解决了一个人难以完整检查所有内容的难题。 SDL语言云还有一个创新:它可以对文本内容进行分析,并自动对文本主题进行分类。文本分类是几个自然语言处理(NLP)API的一部分,包括谷歌的AutoML,但这一功能还没有用作一个商业工具的一部分。 SDL语言云文本分类 这一工具将对SDL的市场地位带来什么 SDL暂时还没有发布新一代的企业工具。该公司第一次发布的新工具--他们将其命名为Project Affinity--是在2009年,2015年他们还在讨论要将SDL Worldserver和SDL TMS合并。然而,看起来SDL语言云将成为一个强有力的竞争者,夺回一些像Memsource或XTM这样的公司从SDL手中所夺走的市场份额。最快的途径将是转换现有的Worldserver客户,而只需提供一个更现代化的工具即可--是的,比已经存在十年的工具更现代化。 我们已经看到了2009年发布的SDL Trados Studio是如何在上市几年后才成为一个可靠的翻译工具的。虽然我们期望SDL现在更加了解市场,但这需要时间,以使许多功能得以实现。到目前为止,这款工具完全没有实现查询管理--SDL依赖于Kaleidoscope的解决方案--当询问到InDesign预览功能时,他们提到目前正在寻找一个合作伙伴来实现这一功能。 然而,SDL语言云并没有取代Worldserver。它是一个完全基于云的解决方案,因此那些不愿意从已安装的软件副本迁移到云的用户仍然必须要使用Worldserver,Worldserver仍然是一个获得了支持的解决方案。 供应链整体解决方案 与竞争对手相比,SDL仍然坚定地致力于支持翻译和语言服务提供商,因此SDL语言云不是纯粹的企业工具。更新后的版本以LSP为目标。我们还没有看到LSP的产品,但是从系统的设计来看,很明显它反映了企业化工具的心态。SDL仍然非常热衷于向LSP和翻译人员推广Trados Studio,这对于翻译人员本身来说肯定是有意义的--因此能够直接从语言云中打开新的Studio版本将是一个可喜的变化。然而,让项目经理来回调动翻译包却与实现软件自动化的趋势背道而驰的。 摘要 总之,SDL语言云是SDL日益复杂的技术产品中广受欢迎的(尽管有人可能会说它已经过时了)。SDL管理层明确承诺使用语言云来统一现有的产品,而不是在已经很庞杂的产品套件中添加另一个工具。 SDL Language Cloud解决了公司面临的困难和挑战,即提供一个灵活的,对用户友好,可扩展的解决方案,以满足行业用户的期望,同时利用其悠久的历史和其在综合功能集方面的极佳的声誉。“经典”特性仍然得到了很好的保留,以帮助用户在切换时获得适应,而灵活的开发和发布策略将允许SDL随着工具不断改进以满足终端用户的需求。 在这一点上,仍然存在当前迭代版本中所缺失的特性,尽管这对于新发布的软件解决方案来说并不是不正常的。虽然不完整,但SDL云还是朝着灵活,现代化的本地化管理解决方案迈出了的坚实的第一步。时间会告诉我们答案,SDL的语言云服务最终将如何适应翻译供应链,我们准备密切进行关注和报告当前的发展。 选择正确的TMS 尽管业内有很多翻译管理系统可供选择,但是没有唯一的“最佳技术管理系统”,每个公司都必须定义和评估他们自己的标准,以选择他们最需要的技术。由于实施/转换成本较高,在无法访问所有所需信息的情况下,这将是一个风险较大的决策。

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