Whether your project is translating documentation, localizing a user interface, or providing complete globalization services, risks can be addressed without serious impact to the project schedule and budget. This introductory, interactive session describes how project managers plan for risks to their globalization projects. With a few simple steps and armed with a list of common risks (provided), you’ll learn about up-front planning so that the classic mistakes are avoided or minimized.

1. Basics of Pro-Active
Risk Management
for Globalization Projects
Vanessa Wilburn, PMP®
© 2011 IBM Corporation

2. Agenda
Identification (breakout Planning (breakout
activity) activity)
Analysis Classic mistakes
Prioritization Trend watch
2 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

3. Identifying Project Risks
Internal and external risks
–Internal: Easier to mitigate
• Requirements that change
• Errors, omissions, poor estimates, poor communication, or
misunderstandings
–External: Hard to control
• Political changes, market changes
Ripple effects from a single risk
–Late delivery, cost overruns, schedule shifts, or
penalty payments
3 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

4. G11N Project Risks
Unplanned requirements
Changing requirements
Resource issues
Cost overruns
Acquisitions and mergers
Vendor schedules
4 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

5. Name That Risk – Breakout Activity
1. Translation done by vendor done in country?
2. Translation done by vendor done anywhere by
vendor?
3. Software G11N is done by product development
team?
4. Software G11N is done by external vendor?
5 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

6. Risk Analysis Process
1. Identify risks
2. Prioritize risks
– Qualitative methods determine likelihood and impact
of risks.
– Quantitative methods determine effect of risk and
assign numerical ratings.
6 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

7. Risk Probability
Low
–The event has little chance of occurring.
Medium
–The event has some chance of occurring.
High
–The event is likely to occur.
7 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

8. Risk Impact
Low
–The event has little potential to disrupt the schedule,
increase the cost, or degrade performance.
Medium
–The event has some potential to disrupt the schedule,
increase the cost, or degrade performance.
High
–The event is likely to seriously disrupt the schedule,
increase the cost, or degrade performance.
8 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

9. Risk Severity Matrix
Risk severity is a combination of the probability and the impact
of the risk.
Impact
Low Medium High
Probability
High Medium High High
Medium Medium High High
Low Low Medium Medium
9 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

10. Planning for Project Risks
Risk mitigation
–Determine if a risk event is too high, or if there will be serious
consequences
–Explore how to bring the risk into an “acceptable” range or
avoidance
Strategies for risks or threats
–Avoid. Change the plan to eliminate the threat posed by an
adverse risk, to isolate the project objectives from the risk’s
impact, or to relax the objective that is in jeopardy, such as
extending the schedule or reducing scope.
–Transfer. Shift the negative impact of a threat, along with
ownership of the response, to a third party. Gives another party
responsibility; does not eliminate risk.
–Mitigate. Reduce the probability and/or impact of an adverse
risk event to an acceptable threshold.
10 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

11. Strategies for Positive Risks or Opportunities
Exploit. Ensure that the opportunity is realized.
Share. Allocate ownership to a third party who is
best able to capture the opportunity for the benefit
of the project.
Enhance. Modifies the “size” of an opportunity by
increasing probability and/or positive impacts.
11 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

12. Responding to Risks
Risk plan as response to risks
Corrective actions
–Contingency plans
–Workarounds for unplanned risks
Preventative actions
–Action that reduces the probability of negative
consequences of risks
Approved change requests
12 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

13. Planning Exercise – Breakout Activity
13 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

14. G11N Project Risk Example 1
You’ve been working with one vendor on several
projects. They are always late in delivering your
globalized product by as much as 6 weeks.
–What is the probability and impact (risk severity) they
will continue this pattern on the next project?
–What can you do to plan for this occurrence?
Write down your responses.
14 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

15. G11N Project Risk Example 2
Your G11N vendor has always supplied consistent
resources – same people – on your projects,
however, the next project will have new people
involved.
–How can you keep this from happening?
–What can you do to ensure consistent quality with
potentially new resources involved?
Write down your responses.
15 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

16. G11N Project Risk Example 3
Your new project will add 6 more locales to your
product’s existing 5 locales.
–How do you determine that your vendor can handle this
new increase demand?
–What additional steps will you take to ensure delivery of
these language additions?
Write down your responses.
16 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

17. Classic Mistakes
17 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

18. Process Issues – General
Lack of communication and understanding of the
company business direction
Expectation that budget and cost estimates remain static
year to year, instead of shrinking due to today’s economic
reality
Not verifying the translation in country after it is complete
or mostly complete
Delivering too little or too much English text to translation
company
– Too much: Pay overtime to meet project schedules
– Too little: Lose money on fix-priced contracts with translation group; create ill-
will with translation company because they staffed for larger translation
18 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

19. Process Issues – Technical Education
Erroneous perception that translation = multicultural support.
Some issues are not understood as being software issues.
Engineering teams frequently have no knowledge of the basic
G11N requirements.
–Example: Incorrect assumptions are made: a text string is
always displayed from left to right.
Engineering teams might use the wrong software development
tools.
–Software development tools might not have G11N capabilities.
–Team doesn’t know that the G11N tools are available in their
software development tools.
–No framework in development environment to manage additional
languages and new elements such as message catalogs.
19 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

20. Process Issues – People
People: Structure of organization leads to conflicts.
– Functional: Hierarchy is where each employee has one clear supervisor.
– Projectized: Groups either report directly to the project manager or provide
support services to the various projects.
– Matrix: Structure is a blend of functional and projectized characteristics.
Responsibilities are overlooked and thus are not assigned to an
owner. Tasks and deliverables end up missing from the project.
Intermediary (in-country) coordinator does not advise of labor
disputes with translation vendor.
– Example: Contract issues with translation vendor are not surfaced back to
you, the project manager.
– Example: Intermediary does not inform you that a translator plans to quit
in the middle of the translation. (Lose consistency in translation when you
switch to another translator, if a translator is even available).
20 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

21. Scope Issues
PM underestimates amount to Product relies on other 3rd party
translate. software that is not globalized.
– Customer expects all aspects of
PM overlooks aspects that require product to be globalized, not just
multicultural support or translation “base product.”
(for example, only books need
translation; the online help gets Requirements definition: who wants
forgotten). what translated for which customer
and why
Sizings assumptions are not – Team does not fully understand
exposed. the requirement.
– Does the word count include the – Ambiguous objectives lead to
reused text? differing solutions.
– Does the word count exclude text
that is in the file but doesn’t Team does not know who the
appear on the screen? product is for. And nobody is asking.
21 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

22. Schedule Issues
Not accounting for Delivering too late or too early
intersections of national – Translation companies rely on
contractors; contractor schedules
holidays and hard dates
are tightly controlled.
– Where translation occurs, for
– Too early: You pay for contractors
example Asian New Year
even though they have nothing to
– Where English-language product
translate.
is developed and managed
– Too late: Contractors no longer
Not allowing enough time to available.
correct mistakes from G11N
testing
– Translated product GUI labels
won’t fit.
– Product mishandles dates.
22 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

23. Content-Specific Issues
Terminology management Help system not enabled for other
– Lack of term management early or locales, such as right-to-left
ever languages or searches with non-
– Decentralized teams using multiple
terms or product names for one thing English character sets
Too small estimates for word Community-created content, such
counts as comments
– Writers’ inexperience with estimation – No translation or MT is insufficient
– Scope creep – Culturally-appropriate content
– Lack of checkpoints to refine original nonexistent/inaccurate (users’
estimates expectation for a richer local site than
“main” site)
Tooling problems, such as:
– Mismatches between authors’ Collaboration translation (aka
software version and translators’ crowd sourcing)
version – Low quality due to poor language skills
– Complex build/transform environments or technical knowledge
for DITA > HTML – Lack of translators interested in
participating
Insufficient time allotted for
translation of screen captures Name yours!
(time-consuming)
23 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

24. Trend Watch, a Few Examples
Social
– ☺ Community-created content already translated and culturally appropriate!
– Large volumes of content, faster translation times needed
Mobile
– New technologies and delivery processes to learn, scope creep (we’re
doing mobile now?!)
Emerging markets
– ☺ G11N organizations: growth area
– New translators for potentially unusual markets, no translation memory for
new language
Today’s business reality: No resources, no budget, no time
Improved machine translation
– ☺ Machine translation starting to rival human translated information
– Corollary to previous bullet: bean counters consider MT “good enough”
24 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation

25. Thanks!
Vanessa Wilburn is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and senior
STC member with 16 years of technical communication and project management
experience. She has been a project lead, architect, editor, and writer on several
IBM products in the Software Group.
As part of a Localization Certification program, she teaches an online course,
Localization: Introduction to Project Management, at Austin Community College.
Previously, she was part of the marketing team, the developer/webmaster of the
company's Web site, writer, and instructional designer.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/vanessa-wilburn/0/417/915
25 Risk Management for Globalization Projects Vanessa Wilburn © 2011 IBM Corporation