Localization in the Real World: Managing Cost, Schedule and Quality within Product Life Cycle

Localization in the Real World: Managing Cost,
Schedule, and Quality within the Product Life Cycle
Scott Bass, Kristie Burr, and Amy Friend
Introduction
Localization is the process of adapting a product to the target language and
culture of a particular region. There may be many components to a product
that need to be localized for a worldwide product launch, ranging from sales
collateral to user instructions, packaging, software, and training.
Companies localize product components for several reasons. These may
include:
• Regulatory requirements (which vary by country)
• Expanding to new global markets
• To increase sales in a particular country/region
• Customer requests for ease of use
For companies that sell products and services worldwide, localization can be
one of the largest growing enablers of—or obstacles to—meeting business
goals in terms of schedule, cost, and quality.
For even the best of project managers, it is a tricky balance to juggle the
cost, schedule, and quality of the localization because we want: (1) to be
ready in time to enable sales, (2) to ensure that the quality of the localization
is accurate and up to date with any product changes, and (3) the cost to be
affordable.
As Technical Communicators, we need the ability to verbalize how to
balance these pros and cons and their consequences when balance is not
achieved.
This paper will explore the following questions:
• What are the key influencers upstream that impact quality, cost, and
schedule?
• What are the key influencers during localization process that impact
quality, cost, and schedule?
• After the localization process, what are the key influencers that impact

Localization In The Real World: Managing Cost, Schedule, and Quality,
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Overview of Localization Process within Product Development
Successful localization requires robust, repeatable processes. Due to the
number of individuals involved—especially in larger multilingual projects—
without such processes in place the risks of delay and failure of a project are
far too high. Well-defined processes give everyone involved a common
vision of how a project will be handled; all actors understand their
individual roles in the larger context of the project workflow, which
reinforces a natural accountability. Having mature, rationalized processes is
also less expensive and faster than an ad hoc approach to localization and
translation.
1. Project Plan
2. Pre-Process
Engineering
3. Terminology
Management
4. Translation
Cycle
5. Regional SME
Review
6. Desktop
Publishing/Post-
Process
Engineering
7. Quality Control8. Delivery
9. Update
Linguistic Assets
Figure 1. Standard Localization Process for User Manuals
At a high level, the localization process includes:
Table 1. Localization Process
1. Project Plan Define localization needs. Include languages, deliverables, costs, schedule
requirements, product specific requirements that may affect the SME team
for reviews, all team contact information, and how the localization is
done.
2. Pre-Process Engineering This step addresses how content will “flow” throughout the localization
process. UI resources, if not already properly “bundled,” need to be
extracted to a translatable format. More standard formats are prepared for
the translation process. Images that require translation are identified and
the relevant text is extracted.

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3. Terminology Management/;
style guide preparation
Technical and/or problematic terminology is identified and maintained in
a terminology database (termbase). For ongoing product development,
this step serves as a maintenance role. Appearance of new terminology is
assessed, deprecated terms are tracked, non-translatables are identified.
Style guides also need to be established or updated at this point to cover
new/changed content.
4. Translation Cycle Selected translation/localization vendors prepare the files (extracting text
from source format), send them to linguist teams for translation and
editing, then prepare the special-format intermediate files for the regional
review step. During this step, Translation Memory (TM) is used to
leverage all previously translated content into the new files.
5. Regional SME Review This is done, in the specific region(s) where the language applies, by a
subject matter expert (field/service engineer, application specialist, HR
team member, marketing/sales team member).
6. Desktop Publishing / Post-
Process Engineering
Process of putting the translated text back into the source format and
preparing it for distribution (formatting, QC, bug fixes for Web and
software files, etc).
7. Quality Control This is a proofing and/or functional check of final deliverables either by
the localization provider or a third party. It is sometime referred to as
“desk edit.” During this step, the proofreader/tester checks the files by
comparing target language resources to English (or source language) to
ensure completeness, formatting, ensuring that region-specific
requirements have been met.
8. Delivery For the purpose of internal archiving, the translation vendor sends
specific file formats, required as part of the deliverables to the client, as
well as all source files for each language, along with the updated TM,
termbase, and style guides for the project for each language. These assets
are stored for future use, updates, additional deliveries at a later date, and
in accordance with internal company requirements.
9. Update Linguistic Assets
(TMs, termbases, and style
guides)
This step may be done prior to the delivery of the project deliverables so
that all language assets can be delivered at one time. However, this step is
often skipped (at the peril of corporate buyers and the translation
providers who service them). Typically, this maintenance step is done
after delivery of project-specific resources, and it should be completed
within 2–4 weeks of the project deadline.

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1. Collect Input
2. Analysis 3. Design 4. Draft
5. Edit/Review
6. Make updates
from review
7. Additional
review
8. Make additional
edits
9. Approval of final
version
Take the time to educate your clients on the localization process including
the steps, inputs, resources required, and timing. Point out that the
localization process encompasses far more than just the translation step.
Localization is part of a larger documentation creation process and an
overall product development process. It is important to for the client to
understand the localization process within this larger context.
Determine
content
requirements
for product.
Create
content.
Localize
content.
Integrate
content with
product.
Launch
product
worldwide.
Figure 2: Product Development with Content Creation and
Localization
It is important to understand the content creation process upstream from the
localization process.
Figure 3. Standard User Documentation Creation and Localization
Content creation and localization are part of the larger product development
process. A standard product development process includes several stages.
Frequently the process is divided into phases and gates where particular

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steps are conducted and deliverables are checked at a gate review.
Deliverables should be complete prior to moving on to the next phase of
product development.
Table 2. Standard Product Development Process
Product Development
Process
Relevance to Content Creation and
Localization
Define Product Concept Define documentation and training
requirements.
Identify resources needed.
Identify languages needed.
Design and Build Design deliver strategy, templates,
and standards.
Conduct content analysis.
Create publications and training.
Verify Validate that publications and
training enable use of the product as
intended. Participate in trade trial
with materials in limited languages
required for trade trial.
Manufacture Complete localization for remaining
languages. Produce deliverables.
Integrate content with product.
Sell Deploy deliverables.
Support/Service Product Evaluate effectiveness of
documentation and training. Update
and maintain deliverables and
content.
Communications and Localization personnel should participate in gate
reviews to be sure requirements are met prior to moving on to the next phase
of development. Passing gates with missing deliverables may result in
quality issues such as rework, incomplete deliverables, and customer
dissatisfaction.

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What are the key influencers upstream that impact quality, cost, and
schedule?
There are several areas upstream from the localization process that directly
impact cost, quality, and time of product development:
• Planning – Make sure to identify all components for localization to
avoid problems downstream
• Go-To-Market Strategy – What countries to sell to; regulatory
requirements by country; ROI
• Authoring content – Writing for localization, controlled authoring, tool
selection, structured-authoring, re-use strategy with content-
management system
• Content Management
• Change Management – For example, 100% drop vs. 90%, 110% ,etc);
communicating changes, approving changes, impact downstream,
review and edit/updates, and version control
Planning
In advance, address localization needs including budget, vendor
relationships, and resources. There are several components that may need to
be developed as part of the product launch. Plan for these events early in the
Product Development Process. Advanced planning ensures adequate budget
and resources during product development.
Identify all the communications and labeling materials that are needed for a
successful launch. Some elements may require localization due to regulatory
requirements. If they are not localized, a country may not allow the product
to be offered in their country. Other materials may not be required, but they
may need to be localized to enable customers to use the product and workers
to sell and support the product to meet business requirements.
Online Help
Quick Reference Card(s)
User Training
Packaging
Web
Service Documentation
Sales Collateral
GUI – Software
Sales/Customer Training
CD Label(s) and Jewel Case
Tender/Contract
Installation Instructions
Figure 4. Possible Components for product Launch Requiring
Localization
Work with your company’s purchasing organization to acquire localization
vendors. Conduct a benchmark study to find the best mix of localization
partners that offer your company the best balance of cost, schedule, and

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quality. Consider vendors that have experience with products in your
company’s industry. Establish contract terms with cost for translation and
particular localization functions. Some costs may be per-word and others
may be at per-hour rates. Where possible, address response-time targets.
Emphasize the value of maintaining the same contact person with the vendor
so that that person's knowledge of your company’s needs will grow over
time. Also address how quality and schedule issues will be addressed in a
timely manner and with possible cost recovery.
By focusing on these elements, you can dramatically improve the outcome
of marketing your company’s products and services overseas.
Go-To-Market Strategy
One of the best ways to ensure successful product communications in
overseas/multilingual markets is with proper assessment and selection of
target markets from the outset. A strong understanding of local market
requirements and expectations (regulatory, cultural, linguistic, technical,
etc.) will guide you in setting the right priorities.
The mistake that many companies make is that they assume an all-or-
nothing approach for each market. It is rational, reasonable and acceptable
to choose the type of product support each or your target markets will
receive based on factors such as volume of sales, in-market product offering,
local expectations and ROI.
Table 3: Assess localization requirements for each component and market.
Component French German Italian Spanish
User Manual Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
Safety Information Yes Regulatory
Requirement
Yes Regulatory
Requirement
Yes- Regulatory
Requirement
Yes- Regulatory
Requirement
Sales Collateral Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
Service Manual No No No No
Quick Reference
Card
Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
GUI Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
Sales Training Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
Customer Training Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business Yes for business
For example, specific markets may not require a translated user manual for a
specific product, rather that only safety information is provided in the local
language. If the market in question is a new one and your initial hopes are to
simply demonstrate the product in-country, then perhaps localizing product
labeling and interface and a quick reference guide is sufficient until first
sales are realized. Later as viable potential sales surface, you can add user
documentation to your list of localized deliverables for that market. To do

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this you need to understand the lead-time to localize and the cost to offer the
product in local language.
Conversely, your product may be used only by a select group of engineers in
your target market who all know enough English to work with your
product’s user interface. But, it might be helpful to them to have detailed
reference materials in their own languages regarding how best to use the
product. This could save your company expensive product localization
costs, enabling you to spend more for translation on a larger volume of
content.
If you follow such an exercise for each market, you will better balance the
basic local requirements that enable you to successfully market your
company’s product and identify the “nice-to-have” features, functions and
documents that you can possibly include in future releases or versions of
your product.
Authoring Content
A fundamental challenge to achieve consistent localization success stems
from the disconnect between authoring of the original content and its
subsequent translation. All too often the original content (for the purposes of
this paper we will assume that it is written in English) has not been written
with localization in mind.
Tool Selection
Prior to creating any content, assess your selection of tools for creating and
publishing your content in multiple languages. Very often tools are chose by
technical publication departments based on the preferences of authors.
Attention must be paid to the effectiveness of software when dealing with
multiple languages. Does the software support Unicode, proper
hyphenation/line-breaking, spell-checking, bidirectional text, proper sorting
for target languages, glossary and index generation, and correct search
functionality? Some tools are more localization-friendly than others.
Generally, tools that utilize XML for content creation and storage are more
efficient, requiring less effort to access the text for to be translated and
subsequently reintegrate localized text into the final format.

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Table 4: Tool Selection for Content Creation
Component Less Localization-
Friendly Tools
Localization-friendly
Tools
User Manual WORD Structured FrameMaker
XML using DocBook
DITA
On-line Help Macro-based
applications (e.g.
RoboHelp)
Standalone, XML-based
applications (e.g.
Madcap Flare)
Sales Collateral Quark Xpress Adobe InDesign
Presentations Flash PowerPoint
Training Programs Articulate
Captivate
Embedded visuals,
audio
XML templates or Flash
with external text file
(xml)
In general Any application with
embedded visuals, text,
and audio
Assets are external
Standards and Styles
In regard to document design, the use of templates is highly recommended
to facilitate publishing in multiple languages. Design templates must be built
from the ground up with localization in mind. Size requirements (both
horizontal and vertical) must be taken into account. The ability to mirror the
design for bidirectional languages (e.g. Arabic and Hebrew) should also be
considered. Images should be used with flexibility in mind. Artwork should
have broad appeal, and ideally should not have to be changed for different
locales other than to address textual content. Font selection must be made
with both Roman and non-Roman script in mind. Overly stylized fonts that
may be appealing in English may be far less so in other languages that use
diacritical marks (e.g. accents). Also, some font choices may not even
support extended characters for Slavic languages. If Asian languages need to
be supported, it is important to consider how text will be emphasized and
what the stroke width of the font should be. For some Chinese characters,
for instance, bolding causes strokes to blend together, rendering those
characters illegible.

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In addition, all technical communicators must agree to adhere to the same
writing standards. If your company does not have at least a rudimentary
style guide that addresses how trademarks will be treated, how contact
information and regional addresses will be referenced and displayed, how
numbers will be treated (e.g. dates, measurements), and how product names
and descriptors should be used; then you need to put one in place and
standardize your content before you consider localization.
Creating Content
It is vital that content authors are aware that their text will undergo
localization. Provide “Writing-For-Localization” training for authors
creating content. Authors should follow good writing principles to enable
smooth, efficient and cost-effective localization:
• Favor active voice over the passive voice
• Include articles
• Utilize simple verb tenses
• Use consistent language
• Avoid noun stacking
• Write short sentences and avoid compound ones
• Write and store content in smaller chunks (e.g. modules, topics)
• Favor the use of visuals rather than words
• Avoid lingo, jargon
• Avoid embedded text, graphics, audio
• Consider a limited-vocabulary
Terminology Management
The most prevalent problem in source text that has not been written without
localization in mind is the inconsistent use of terminology. It is critical that
authors undergo at least basic training in proper terminology management.
The focus should be on the core technical terminology that is specific to
your field. However, attention must also be paid to standardizing banal
terms (e.g. “press” vs. “push”) and defining DNTs (Do-Not-Translate
terms).
Content Management
After these basic tenets have been well established, focus should be on
managing content well. Organizations that have been able to successfully
deploy structured authoring typically recognize significant efficiencies in
regard to content reuse across all languages. Even smaller organizations can
benefit from single-source tools that utilize XML technology without having
to undergo technically intensive development. Off-the-shelf tools such as

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Madcap Flare and Doc-To-Help can be deployed by smaller organizations at
reasonable cost with many of the same benefits of high-end deployments.
Figure 5: Content Re-use Strategy
Depending upon the creation tool and component, there could be hundreds
of assets that when assembled make up the finished deliverable. A standard
file naming convention and file storing plan make it more efficient to locate
assets and re-use for other components as needed.
Table 5: Example of Components and Assets
Component Scope Estimated Number
of Assets
User Guide 100 pages, text and graphics 50
Online Help 100 topics, text and graphics 1500
Quick Reference
Card
2 pages, text and graphics 10
Sales Brochure 4 pages, text and graphics 15
Multimedia
Interactive User
Training
1 hour of training, highly
interactive with narration,
music, animations, and graphics
>5000
A full-blown CMS deployment is not necessarily required. For smaller
organizations, proper structuring and modularizing of content may be
enough to recognize the benefits of managing content. As far as localization
is concerned, managed content ensures reuse of common text across
documents, which drives down translation costs and turnaround time, while
maintaining consistency and quality in all language versions. For larger
organizations, deploying a CMS will provide a solid foundation for future
localization efforts. When researching CMS tools, be sure to keep the
localization workflow in mind, since many CMS systems—while claiming
multilingual support—fail to recognize the practical realities of the
localization workflow.

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Change Management
Another stumbling block for authoring and localization is change
management. Change in documentation for technical products (especially
software) is a persistent issue at the authoring stage. If it is not managed
well at that level, there will be a cascading effect once content reaches the
localization phase. It is important that you have a clear process for
conducting reviews, tracking changes, and, more importantly, securing
finalized, localization-ready content.
Ideally, you will freeze your content prior to beginning localization.
However, in the real world, tight cycle times are required due to competition
in market. You may not have the luxury of delaying localization until all
your English-language content is finalized. If the pressures of simship
(simultaneous shipment) are upon you, there are strategies that you can
adopt that can minimize the pain:
1. Do not live in denial: If you have no power to change the flow of changes
that come from engineers and developers, then admit defeat and attempt
to take control of how changes are handled.
2. Ascertain what drives change requests. It might be possible to “bundle”
changes and assign them to future releases, or at least time them so that
they fit more smoothly into the authoring workflow.
3. Prioritize changes. Some changes may not be that critical. Instead of
carrying out a global change to your documentation, may be it can be
deferred or even ignored.
4. Emphasize to SMEs the importance of conducting a thorough review
rather than doing a partial job and assuming they can catch the rest later.
Be sure they understand the cascading effect of rework across multiple
languages downstream versus an efficient review of the source-English
content.
5. Emphasize to SMEs specifically what they should review for- what they
should look for and what is non-negotiable due to required standards.
6. Work with developers and engineers to manage change. Agree on the
extent of changes that will be allowed for a give product release. Perhaps
you have agreed to hand-off 90%-complete content so that localization
can get a head start. Make it clear to engineering/development that
downstream processes can only handle another 10% change in the current
timeline and budget.
7. Apply changes to content assets first before sending new content for
translation. For example, you may encounter the name change for a
function, instead of applying the name change to only the new content
that may be involved, see if the change can be made to all impacted
content. In addition, make sure the change is made to all translation
memories (TMs), termbases and/or glossaries and style guides if
necessary.

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Example of Impact
Figure 6. Ideal workflow for a localization project.

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Figure 7. Consequences to Localization from poor upstream management
Content
Creation Team
Requestsnew
Translations
Complete
Drop?
YES
NO
Prepare
Vendor
RFQ &
postfiles
Translation & Edit
Reviewer
Feedback
received
Initial files
for internal
QA
Review ?
YES
Localization
Process Flow :
Impact of Weak
Change
Management
Final Files
Rec’d from
Vendor
YES
Corrections
made at
vendors
Approved ? NO
Fixed filesfor
another round ofQA
Final Deliveryto Client .
Filesposted to content
repository
DTP/
Integration
atvendor
Review Vendor
Quote & Analysis
Translation & Edit
Requestmissing
information /
content
Reviews
Implemented at
Vendor(s)
Send review files
to regional teams
LPM checks
source drop
NO
Changesto
source after
initial drop
for
localization
Changesto
source
while in
translation
Changesto
source
while in
review
Changesto
source
while in
DTP

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What are the key influencers during the localization process that
impact quality, cost and schedule?
Addressing upstream issues will significantly improve the chances of a
successful localization effort, but there are critical factors to consider during
localization that will ultimately determine the likelihood of success.
Set Realistic Expectations
Set realistic expectations with clients about how long a typical localization
process takes. When steps are skipped or rushed, errors occur causing
quality issues, schedule delays, and extra cost.
The Aberdeen Group examined the documentation localization processes
and strategies of more than 350 enterprises of which 210 are localizing
product documentation. Their benchmark is helpful to understand the range
of time that could be required to complete localization as well as schedule
impacts.
Table 6: Industry Benchmark Documentation Schedules.
Source Aberdeen Group, April 2008
Best-in-
Class
Industry
Average
Laggard
Time between original
language release and
localized release
20 days 40 days 73 days
Initial product launch
due to incomplete
documentation
10% 17% 40%
Subsequent product
launches into regional
markets are delayed due
to incomplete localized
documentation
10% 24% 43%
Many factors influence the time to localize including:
• Review time
• Product Changes causing multiple drops of source documentation (e.g.
90%, 100%, 110%)
• Complexity
• Number of components
• Number of languages

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Standard Process
Understanding how your localization vendor works will improve overall
performance of your development process. Not all vendors work in precisely
the same manner, but there is a general flow to the work that must be
followed in most cases.
Project Management
There is value in having a Project Manager manage the localization process.
Project Manager should understand the content creation processes,
localization process, and product development process. Some key
responsibilities may include:
• Establish vendor requirements with Purchasing
• Establish standards with peers across Technical Communications
• Prepare job specifications
• Train content creators on best practices
• Prepare files to provide to translators
• Build the budget including client approvals
• Monitor the process and troubleshoot issues (e.g. “churn”, scope
changes, etc)
• Manage the workflow including process source changes, updates,
review cycles, and asset management
• Track performance including Translation Memory, Cost, Schedule
If your organization is fortunate to have an internal Localization Project
Manager, then you will be able to recognize significant benefits in regard
to process, cost and schedule optimization. This individual ensures that
your organization’s needs are being met by vendors and that your internal
processes are optimized for localization.
Project management on the vendor side is even more critical. Do not
underestimate the importance of having a dedicated, professional project
manager on staff within your vendor’s company. Your vendor’s PM may
be responsible for:
• Project quoting and setup
• Planning and scheduling
• Managing the project budget
• Assembling a translation team
• Overseeing content integration
• Managing QC
• Maintaining linguistic assets
• Post-mortem and knowledge management
• Invoicing

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Translation Memory (TM)
Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) has been in existence since the ‘80’s.
However, by the early ‘90’s it became more mainstream and today enjoys
near ubiquity in the corporate translation/localization industry. CAT’s
primary tool is Translation Memory (TM). TM technology assists human
translators by enabling them to reuse existing translations while they are
working. Essentially, a large database of translation units is created, in
which a source (e.g. English) sentence is stored with its corresponding
translation. When the translator encounters the same or similar sentence, the
software alerts the translator about a potential match.
TMs enforce consistency, accelerate production and reduce costs, since
translation can be easily reused (leveraged) at minimal cost. Another benefit
for large projects is that multiple translators can work in parallel and share
translation from a centralized TM.
For a new project, existing TMs are used to analyze all translatable content.
The resulting analysis indicates the total number of words, the amount of
repetition within the text, how much text may match existing translation and
how much new translation needs to be done. Below is an example of an
analysis summary from the translation memory application SDLX.
Figure 8: TM analysis summary from SDLX
If your company works with multiple translation vendors, you will need to
devise a method for synchronizing translation memories if two or more
vendors are working in the same language. Translation Management
Systems (TMS) are one solution. A TMS is a central server for TMs and
allows access by multiple translators at one time. These systems are
expensive, complicated and require extensive integration and ongoing
administration, so they are generally used by larger organizations that have
high volumes (one million or more words/year).
If your company’s translation requirements are not as large, it is possible to
synchronize TMs prior to projects and then disseminate them to your
respective vendors. While you will not benefit from real-time access to a
central TM, the potential cost savings from a centralized TM is usually
minimal when the volume of content is smaller.
If your sourcing strategy for translation leads you to work with multiple
vendors that do not work in the same language, then you can simply have
each vendor manage their own TMs.

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It is helpful to track savings from translation memory and share the results
with management in order to demonstrate the value of a well managed and
equipped localization process. Sharing this data leads to productive
questions such as “how can I get more savings for my product area?”
Table 7: Communicate Savings from Translation Memory
Product Area Total Words Potential Cost
of Translation
without TM
Percent of TM
Leverage
Actual Cost of
Translation
with TM
Cost Savings
Product 1,038,000 $1,400,000 60% $576,000 $824,000
Product 2 81,500 $105,000 39% $65,750 $39,250
Product 3 18,000 $19,100 40% $11,500 $7,600
Product 4 345,500 $144,000 60% $58,000 $86,000
Product 5 200,000 $175,000 0% $175,000 $0
Total Savings $956,850
From the example in figure X, it becomes apparent that substantial savings
can be realized from the use of TM technology. However, this technology is
subject to the old “junk in, junk out” adage. If your content is not well
written, your savings will be diminished. For example, if the sentence,
“Press the Start button to proceed” appears in your product, and that
sentence is repeated hundreds of times throughout your documentation, then
writing, “Push the Start button to proceed” shifts from being a 100% match
to a 95% match. This may seem trivial, but the cumulative effect of
inconsistent terminology and usage increases translation costs and
production time.
Regional Linguistic Review
By the time product development gets to localization, time is pressing to get
the product to market. An important step to not rush through is the regional
linguistic review. During this step the translated content is checked for
accuracy by someone qualified to understand accurate wording within the
country and industry the product will be sold. Skipping the linguistic
review, rushing through it, or deferring to a less-than-qualified reviewer
may result in customer complaints after the product is launched. Their may
be legal exposure for the company. Regions may lose confidence in the
Localization team and decide they can do better themselves-losing valuable
savings from the rest of the professionally managed localization process.

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Examples
Do the math to see the impact of translation memory on localization cost.
Without Translation Memory With Translation Memory
60,000 words in online help
X 14 languages to translate into
840,000 Target words
X $0.15 per word
$126,000 Cost to Localize
60,000 words in online help
X 14 languages to translate into
840,000 Target words
- 60% Translation Memory Re-use
336,000 Target words to localize
X $0.15 per word
$50,400 Actual Cost to Localize
TM Savings of $75,600
Figure 9: Savings from Translation Memory
What are the key influencers after the localization process that impact
Downstream activities—those following the localization process—also have
an impact on quality, cost and scheduling. To improve future performance,
be sure to focus on the following areas.
Final Archive
Once the final files for a localization project have been delivered all workers
involved with the project from the product managers, project managers,
authors, localization project managers and vendors breathe a collective sigh
of relief. Unfortunately, this point in the localization production cycle is the
wrong time to rest. For the end of one project marks the starting point of the
next.
All the long-term value that can be won from a specific localization project
does not reside directly in the project deliverables. Rather, the value lies
within the work product of the translation memory databases, termbases,
style guides, and query and bug logs. These items will enable your
organization to amortize the cost of one project over many others, since you
can use them to reduce the cost and effort of future localization initiatives.
Here is a short to-do list when closing out a localization project properly:
• TMs have been updated to include all last minute revisions to source
and translated documents.
• Termbases have been updated to reflect all new and approved terms.
• Style guides have been revised to include new/changed style points.
• Query and bugs logs have been reviewed to generate a “Lessons
Learned” document.

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Manage Vendor Invoices
For localization project managers, the end of a project also marks the time
when vendors’ invoices come flooding in. This is an important
administrative task, since proper oversight will detect any billing errors or
possible additional charges. Also, if particular vendors’ work contained
errors that caused rework within your organization, you may be in the
position to recover some of the cost from them.
The project manager can then ensure that all vendors are paid on time and
that all costs are properly accounted for so that they will be reflected in
future budgets.
Lessons Learned
Taking the time to confer with vendors, content specialists, integration
engineers, reviewers and testers is all too often a luxury in most fast-paced
development environments. However, skipping this step will lose your
company more than it will ever cost in additional incremental time. It is at
this point in time that the collective memory (and associated pains) of the
project are the freshest. Confer with everyone involved in your project to
assess what went well and what did not. It is important to take your findings
back to the development team. For example:
• Did ambiguous content cause a high number of queries by the
translation team?
• Were internationalization bugs found in your product during final QC?
• Were there unexpected changes to the source late in the localization
process?
• Were regional reviewers able to keep pace with the localization
schedule?

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Examples
Figure 10. Post-process steps in the localization workflow

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Case Study
Case Study 1: Online Help
Localization of online help systems—especially those that are integrated
into a product—pose special challenges as compared to localization of
documents. Since help systems are becoming more contextual, they directly
are impacted by changes to product interfaces. Such changes may occur late
in the development process and may even occur after localization has
already commenced. Figure 11 shows a possible workflow for localization
of an online help system. If compared to the general workflow for
documentation, you will notice more steps surrounding integration and
quality control in the latter part of the process. These additional steps are
due to the technical integration of help systems as well as the possibility of
creating both online help and printed documentation from the same content
source.
To streamline this process, the following steps are recommended:
• Manage changed effectively at the source.
• Avoid using screenshots since this adds to localization time and
costs. Screenshots require that the product be finalized in all
language versions by the time the topic needs to be finalized, which
may not be the case, since work on the software may be ongoing.
• Focus authoring at the topic level.
• Utilize an XML-based authoring system.
• Establish clear specifications for the type of help you require. There
are myriad help formats (Win Help, Web Help, Web Help Plus,
DotNet Help, HTML Help, etc.)
Managing change prior to the process fork that is inherent in multilingual
localization is critical, since every change made to the source will be
multiplied by the number of target languages. If changes do need to occur
late in the process, then modularized authoring may allow you to hold any
topics that are in flux until the last possible moment in hopes that they will
be finalized prior to release to localization.
Having clear specifications for final deliverables is also critical. Even
though creating final output has become easy thanks to better tools, finding
out late in the process that some languages are arriving in CHM format
when your need Web Help will cause unnecessary delays.

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Figure 11. Localization workflow for an online help system

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Case Study 2: Multimedia
One of the most challenging types of localization is that of multimedia
applications. Multimedia communications are intended to be more engaging
and interactive for the user. To achieve this level of communication video,
audio, images, animation and special software controls may be combined.
Historically, design of such applications has been driven by graphic
designers. This in itself is not problematic if the designer is also aware of
proper internationalization standards and localization requirements for
whatever they design. Oftentimes, the cool, whiz-bang idea for a multimedia
presentation or application is driven by domestic marketing, so visual design
becomes the driving force behind the project. This in turn forces designers
to choose tools and technologies that will enable them to meet the aesthetic
requirements of the project. Unfortunately, the tools that are most often used
are not the most localization friendly. For example, Flash technology
enables designers to create truly engaging animation, but more often than
not, the final deliverables will require localization to be done manually,
driving up costs and timelines.
Multimedia projects also make heavy use of video and audio--again, a very
appealing way to engage the target audience. Unfortunately, localization
costs for video and audio are quite high and require specialized talent as
well as video and audio production specialists. For example, talented,
experienced voice over talent is actually quite difficult to find. The best
voice over talent is also always in high demand, so fitting recording sessions
into a tight production schedule can be difficult. If video has to be reshot,
you are then looking at directly duplicating part or all of your original
production costs.
If multimedia presentations are designed with localization in mind, much of
the manual labor can be avoided. For example, if external resource files are
used in Flash, the underlying XML files can be translated quite easily into
all target languages. There may be some need for tweaking some of the
localized animation to optimize text fit and movement, but this approach is
far more efficient than having to manually copy and paste all the content
back into Flash.
Similarly for video, if story boards and scripts are created with localization
in mind, costly rework of the visuals can be avoided. The same holds for
audio voice over. It is important to allow for flexible lay back of the
translated audio so that all segments will fit without having to shorten the
script or edit the underlying video.
The best approach is to use multimedia for the most critical facets of your
communication. The “cost per word” spoken, acted or animated will be
much higher than boring old printed words.

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Summary
There is value in having skilled professionals create content and manage the
localization process within the product development process. Further, there
is tremendous value in having the Product Development Team understand
the impact downstream in how the product is developed and managed
upstream. As one example, Carestream Health has saved over $1,000,000
annually in localization costs by applying these best practices. These savings
enable Carestream Health to go to additional new markets and reduce
operating costs.
Localization will always be more cost- and time-effective if the original
materials from which the localizers work is of the highest possible quality in
regard to authoring and tool selection. These combined with excellent
upstream processes integrated seamlessly with downstream processes and
all under the auspices of solid project management will make localization an
excellent investment for the organizations in which we work.
Author Information
Scott Bass, president of Advanced Language Translation Inc., has been
working in the international business communications field for over 20
years. He began his career as the Director of Operations of a corporate
language training institute and Director of Translation Services. He founded
Advanced Language Translation in 1994. Scott has a Bachelor of Arts
degree in German Language and Chemistry from SUNY Binghamton and
has a Masters degree in German Studies from the University of Rochester.
He has lived, studied and worked in both Austria and Germany. Scott is a
board member of the International Business Council of Greater Rochester.
He is also a member of the American Translators' Association, the Society
for Technical Communications, and the World Trade Center
Buffalo/Niagara. In January of 2004, ALT achieved ISO 9001:2000
certification under Scott’s guidance in his role as company Quality Systems
Manager. Scott and his wife Lynn live with their two sons in Irondequoit,
New York. He is an avid competitive road cyclist and craves the outdoors.
Scott can be reached at sbass@advancedlanguage.com
Kristie Burr is a Localization Project Manager for Carestream Health. She
graduated with highest distinction (GPA 4.0) from college in the early
2000’s with a degree in Information Technology. Kristie was employed by
Eastman Kodak in Product Localization and a local Localization house,
currently ~7 years experience. .Always striving to achieve a more efficient
and cost effective process for localizing all different types of content. In her
spare time she rescues Ferrets. She can be reached at:
Kristie.Burr@carestreamhealth.com
Amy Friend manages Technical Communication & Localization at
Carestream Health-where she oversees content creation, localization,
content management and production. Before joining Carestream Health, she

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worked as a Supervisor, Quality Consultant, and Training Designer at
Kodak. She serves as Adjunct Faculty at RIT where she teaches
Instructional Design. Over the years, Amy has served for STC as Spectrum
Seminar Chair, Treasurer, President, Competition Judge, Presenter and
Education Chair. She is proud recipient of several awards by STC including
a Tech Pubs Award, Barbara Knight Award and Associate Fellow. She is a
certified Black Belt and ASQ Certified Quality Manager. Amy received an
undergraduate degree from RIT in Biomedical Photographic
Communications and a Masters Degree from RIT in Instructional
Technology. She can be reached at amy.friend@carestreamhealth.com

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