The Evolution of Localization: Key Takeaways Last week we hosted our largest online event, The Evolution of Localization: Then, Now, and Beyond with Memsource. This event was extra special as we are also celebrating our 10 year anniversary. Joined by viewers across the globe and a great panel of experts in and out of the localization industry, we explored the essential role of technology in localization. The panel also discussed the key drivers in selecting the right tools for localization and predicted what the industry should expect in the future. Attendees tuned in from across the globe. Here are our most important takeaways from the localization event: 1. Memsource continues to grow This year not only marks a decade of Memsource but also a huge milestone for the company; the investment by Carlyle. In the first event session, Fernando Chueca, Managing Director at The Carlyle Group and Memsource CEO and Founder, David Čaněk discussed their plans to ensure continued growth for Memsource. Memsource will remain focused on technology innovation and Carlyle aims to support these continued efforts. Investing in automation will be key as well as looking into potential acquisitions of like-minded companies that will further transform the localization experience. 2. The importance of cloud solutions 10 years ago, the idea of cloud software was just starting to bloom in the translation industry, but now it’s becoming an industry standard. Cloud technology was one of the main reasons why all of the customer panelists initially chose Memsource as their translation technology provider. For Britta Aagaard, Chief Business Officer at Semantix, cloud tools were revolutionary and enabled collaboration not only with vendors but also with clients. This capability was a key factor for their success. The cloud is also great for students at The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey as they no longer have to send packages back and forth thanks to the centralized platform. This “changed the game for supporting students,” said Max Troyer, Associate Professor & Program Chair at The Middlebury Institute. 3. A good relationship with your tech provider is golden Finding a tech provider that will grow with your business and can align with your goals is crucial for success. As localization complexity increases, so does the need for customization. It’s important to have a good relationship with your technology partner in order to be able to design streamlined workflows and processes for customers. This kind of partnership has helped Semantix find a way to serve their customers best, “Memsource is open to discussing ideas and then actually making a great idea even better…and in a sense keeping the technology clean.” 4. Automation is the way forward You obviously can’t attend a localization event without discussing automation. As the expansion of business into global markets continues to rise, the need for fast and efficient translation has become critical. Semantix has adopted a strategy with machine translation and post editing to automate their processes without sacrificing quality. “The sheer amount of content is continually growing and what we want [translators] to do is put their expertise where it matters.” - Britta Aagaard. Silvio Clausen, Head of Localization at SuperCell, echoed Britta’s views and added that “automation helps you stay ahead of localization complexity.” While the volume of content can be great, the jobs - especially in gaming localization - are smaller requests. And dealing with these smaller jobs manually takes a lot of time for both the project managers and translators. While the initial integration and automation setup can be complex, it will surely ease the frustrations for both project managers and translators in the long run. It’s also important to remember that an automated workflow doesn’t equate to more free time. As Max stated, “As automation is turned up, the quantity of localized content gets turned up too.” Automation helps you manage greater volume and enables you to focus resources and human expertise where they’re needed most. 5. The future of localization While it’s impossible to predict the future, our panelists were still able to offer their perspective into what’s to come in the localization industry. With automation being a hot topic for the panel, it comes as no surprise that they envisioned ways to take automation to the next level. From AI automatically assigning the most suitable linguist for a translation job to completely saying goodbye to the traditional CAT tool and paving the way for seamless localization through better automation and revision processes backed by reliable data. It will be interesting to see which of these ideas will become a reality…and which ideas are already in the Memsource pipeline. Final thoughts Localization has evolved over the years, but one thing remains clear: localization is a growing industry and as companies expand their reach, they also need to extend their localization efforts. It’s important to keep your tools agile in order to keep up with the expected growth. Localization teams are no longer a separate entity within companies. They are, more and more, embedded throughout the company. You need more than a localization team, you need localization-minded people.