Traditionally, businesses would do manual translation management and file handling, which involved excessive workloads and slow workflow. Moreover, manual translation management was also more prone to errors. Fortunately, things have changed now. Thanks to advanced translation management systems using AI technologies that have enabled businesses to manage large volumes of translations without compromising on the quality. Many TMSs are available in the market, but the real question is, how to choose the best translation management system.
Globalization has opened up the doors of opportunities for businesses, regardless of the size and nature of products/services they are offering. Localization is something businesses should consider to make their brand a global success. Having the right TMS will also allow you to handle massive numbers of translations with its agile workflow and translation management processes.
Read this article to know how you can pick the best TMS for your business that will fulfill all of your business expansion needs.
Things to Consider While Choosing the Best Translation Management System
Usability & Ease
The idea of having a TMS is to save time, reduce workloads and keep the translation process agile. But choosing a complex TMS will do exactly the opposite. Some TMSs are so complicated and confusing that it will be hard for a non-technical person to understand and use them.
Having a user-friendly TMS will make it easier for your translation team to use it. Make sure that your TMS is interactive, and easy to navigate, so your localization team can easily work on it. Moreover, it will not take you too much time to train your team on how to use the TMS.
Advanced Translation Features
AI technology has enabled the TMSs to deliver high-quality translations faster. The quality of your translation is highly dependent on what features it contains. Choosing a professional TMS will make your translation processes hassle-free and agile, and for this, your TMS should have the following translating features;
Translation Memory
It is an important feature in your TMS that will keep your content in context and make sure your translation doesn’t mess up with the actual intent of the original text. Translation memory is a database in TMS that stores the approved translation and uses the repeated segments for future projects. These features help you improve the quality of translated content, and you are less likely to repeat translation mistakes.
Glossary
It is a database for terminologies, which contains all technical, or industry-specific terms that will improve translation quality. The glossary contains all the approved terms and definitions for in-context translations. It is a useful tool, especially when you have to manage the abundance of specialized content.
Automated File Formatting
A lot of time is consumed in the manual formatting of translation files; TMS will make this task easy as well. It will retain the layout and create a translated document that can be downloaded and used.
Fast Communication
Most businesses would ignore this, but how your TMS enables good communication and collaboration between team members and clients matter a lot. To keep the translation workflow agile, your translation team should effectively communicate to discuss new projects, updates, changes to be made, and overall project progress.
To check if your TMS is offering good communication features, you should consider the following things;
- Having the control overall team accessibility to certain documents
- Collaboration on translation edits in real-time
- Versioning and branching controls
These features reduce the need for employees to communicate over emails for every new update on the project. These are the features you can find in cloud-based TMSs.
Customer’s Feedback
You can get feedback from the existing users of TMS about its usability, and if there are any issues they are facing. To get an idea about the credibility of your TMS, you can check its reviews on Google, or explore the social media pages of TMS providers. By seeing the comments of previous and existing customers, you can get accurate feedback from customers. So, you would know how satisfied our customers are and what sort of complaints customers are having with a particular TMS.
Data Protection
Information security and privacy of data is the major concern of businesses. Sometimes you have to translate your confidential business assets; you want to be 100% sure about the security. While choosing your TMS, it is also very important to note what safety measures your TMS allows you to take to prevent any data breaches.
If you are using a cloud-based translation management system, it is important to make sure that your data will not be lost in cases of system breakdown. Therefore, having a TMS that ensures data security and keeps your information confidential is imperative.
Affordability
No matter how good a TMS is, you can’t exceed your budget. The challenge is to find a TMS that comes under your budget, and also fulfills all of your business needs. You have to beware of any hidden costs because some companies don’t keep their prices transparent. It will be better to ask your company personally about their TMS pricing and if there are any hidden costs that are not being mentioned on their website.
Final Words!
In a nutshell, having a TMS is essential to successfully expand your business to the international marketplace. With a reliable TMS, you don’t have to worry about bulks of content being translated into multiple languages. It is significant to choose the right TMS for your company, it will save your time and provide you with the exact content quality, which you require to beat the competition. Do consider the checklist provided in this article to choose the right TMS for your business.
