When Plunet originally conceived their translation project management system, the designers made a conscious choice to refrain from creating yet another translation memory product. Instead, they chose to integrate Plunet’s management features with market-leading translation memory (TM) systems. In this manner, customers could keep their existing TMs intact and build a management infrastructure and process around them. Plunet supported more TM systems as time passed. They also added accounting and CRM systems to the mix. This strategy put the international company in a sweet spot as the central core of a more complex conglomerate of software applications. It also shielded the system from having to be all things to all customers.
The constant challenges of translation technology integration
Integration is tricky, however, when one application needs to communicate with many others that are products of diverse third-party manufacturers. These companies have their own agendas, timeframes, and APIs. A recent initiative spearheaded by GALA develops a common industry standard for translation product APIs. Until such a time as there’s a universally adopted specification, however, translation technology integration will continue to be more of a CAT-herding exercise. The individual manufacturers release new versions in an unsynchronized manner. These staggered releases cause incompatibilities with central applications. These are in a constant race to keep up with numerous third-party releases as they strive to provide an optimal customer experience.
Need to keep up with state-of-the-art solutions
On the customer side, resources responsible for technology adoption and maintenance must constantly inform themselves about trends, workarounds, and the latest solutions. Keeping informed ensures that the infrastructure that they oversee is state-of-the-art. Technology support departments work hard to keep up with industry trends and developments, but no one person can know everything. For this reason, a free and efficient interchange of information is of immense importance. An ideal format for this valuable information exchange is the Translation Technology Round Table being held this month in Menlo Park, California, under the auspices of The Localization Institute.
Learn more about the translation technology industry at the upcoming annual Round Table
The Round Table event provides an informal, yet a concentrated platform that is designed and moderated to promote conversation among the participants. An advisory board of experienced industry professionals from both the client and the technology provider sides of the industry chose the topics. Among them is Plunet’s Sylvester Weise, who is a dedicated IT Support Engineer for North America. Sylvester will also attend the Round Table and give an insight into his daily work with a wide variety of customers in the translation technology industry. To whet your appetite for attending the Round Table, we invite you to watch this short interview with Sylvester conducted at Localization World Silicon Valley last November. The Round Table will be held at the Quadrus Convention Center on January 29 and 30. For more information, and to register, please visit the events page on the Localization Institute website. This event is an ideal opportunity to learn more about translation technology integration in general, and selected market solutions in particular.
About Richard Sikes
Richard Sikes is a Senior Linguistic Consultant with Content Rules. He has been immersed in localization since 1989. His current focus is on technologies that linguists use in their everyday work, and on industry best practices.
