Knowledge Vault


Follow us





Translation software aid CIOs with global ambitions

Found in Translation

The boom in globalisation gives firms tremendous opportunities, particularly as the internet means that selling and marketing to growing economies is easier than ever.

Translation software technology can help support growth abroad but has traditionally been difficult to use, and in budget-constrained departments has struggled to demonstrate return on investment.

It’s still the case that translation software is not perfect but its promise is compelling, especially for companies with a need to reuse information. The software can add an economy of scale by getting translations correct first time – usually with the assistance of experts – and applying the same terminology to subsequent documents. Most of the world’s population does not speak English fluently and technical language can be complex even when it comes from a native speaker. Translating often means that subtleties are lost and there can be unforeseen consequences: the long words of German can mean document overspills, for example.

Registration is free, and gives you full access to our extensive white paper library, case studies & analysis, downloads & speciality areas, and more.

Using software at least saves time and so-called translation memory technology offers a way to spot and store phrases so that consistency improves and more reuse is possible. Supporters of the sector claim that about 80 per cent of content can now be automated. Costs are cut, review time is reduced and there is superior control of processes.

However, although translation and global information management technology would appear to be of paramount importance to firms of all sizes as they expand on a global basis and publish sales and marketing literature, support documents and so on, it has typically been a hard sell. CIOs have struggled to get the importance of the seemingly ‘bolt-on’ technology across to the board, despite its obvious (to those in the know) benefits.

As well as ease-of-use issues, there is a variety of standards in the area, the market has taken a while to mature, and unlike many pieces of software, translation tools have never been truly automated, always requiring a keen set of human eyes to monitor and assess its work.

So is translation software an expensive folly? Not according to experts in the field who say translation tools can actually -improve, advance and empower the CIO, and become a key factor in organisations’ global plans.



Email Updates

CIO Newsletters: Expert insight, advice and tools for technology, business, leadership and the CIO career.


Send to a friend

Email this article to a friend or colleague:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story, and in case of transmission error. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.


CIO White Papers

The financial economics of cloud email

This white paper evaluates cloud computing as a flexible alternative to your current IT capability that delivers tangible benefits including: projects delivered earlier, faster adoption to change, lower risk, reduced costs and easier to scale up or down services.

Beyond Dropbox: Requirements for Enterprise Secure File Sharing

This whitepaper explores the danger “Dropbox” type services pose for enterprises, and the security and compliance requirements for deploying enterprise-wide file sharing solutions.

Top 10 considerations for your IT operations management in the cloud

This paper explores ten questions every IT organization should answer to help determine their cloud based ITOM needs.

How to get your business ready for the 2012 Olympics

IT Manager: "I'm working on contingency plans to ensure that we can keep the business running whatever happens during the Olympics. Hopefully, it'll just be a case of letting people work from home but we need to be ready for anything".


CIO UK - Business - Technology - Leadership

Voice Applications in the Cloud

Watch this webcast to learn about new network and telecoms options.

Register now

Download the CIO BlackBerry App -
Access CIO's Content on the Move


The CIO UK BlackBerry App provides daily business and technology news, opinion and indepth features direct to your BlackBerry device.

Find out more

CIO Transformation Summit

CIO Roundtable:
The Private Cloud

Wed 29 Feb 2012
Tower 42, London, 7pm.

Join a select group of your fellow CIO's to discuss private cloud computing and how best to apply the private cloud to your organisation

Register here to book your place.



Knowledge Vault


* *