The Smartest Translation Technology: Tools for Seamless Localization

Flaunting the latest translation technology tools has been a huge selling point for most translation agencies, and they usually market the technology as the solution to all your localization struggles.

The truth is, while translation technology tools can be extremely beneficial to aiding a localization project, understanding how to use the tool to reach your localization goals is more important. Otherwise, you’re likely to make an expensive investment in translation technology with a low return on that investment. In this article, we’ll discuss the best tools for tackling translation projects on your own and how we make those tools work better for streamlining a project’s completion.  

Five Must-Have Translation Technology Tools

Translation technology tools have gradually become more and more specialized. Knowing which technology tools are needed to create a complete translation management system for any localization project is the first step in deciding which tools will help you meet your goals. The following are examples of the specific tools needed to successfully tackle your translation projects:  

Translation Management Systems

Translation management systems help manage translation projects, allowing translation editors to perform and monitor the jobs and file parsing to transform the files into translation-friendly formats. They also typically include features such as translation memories and glossaries for optimized translations. Differentiations include:  

• SDL Trados: Includes advanced linguistic technology, content integration, flexible customization, project analysis, etc. This system is desktop-oriented and does not have cloud-based capabilities.  
• MemoQ: Includes integration with business management tools, machine translation, external databases for translation memories, quality assurance modules, etc. This system does offer a cloud-based platform.
• Smartling: Includes business management, process automation, customer support platforms, marketing automation, etc. This system offers a cloud-based platform.  

Terminology Management Systems

Terminology management systems are tools designed for identifying and storing previously translated material specific to various clients and industries. This increases the efficiency of translations and ensures consistency in the brand tone across all translation projects. A few TMS systems include:  

• Acrolinx: Integrates with writing tools to point out errors in translation or quality and gives suggestions for future translations.
• evoTerm: Centrally stored terminology base to optimize future translations with internet access to the platform.  
• LogiTerm: Web interface that provides databases for terminology, full text, bitexts, and references and allows creation/modification of terminology records for all databases.  

Business Management Systems

Business management systems keep track of all project development and implementation aspects. It’s necessary for managing and organizing all day-to-day operations, including project management, financial structures, automation, etc., in one central location. Standard business management systems include:  

• ProofHub: Centralizes apps for linguist assignments, progress tracking, translation updates, task management, etc.  
• Timely: Includes automatic time tracking, up-to-date project dashboards, project rates, and client reporting aspects as top features.
• Zoho One: Allows over 40 additional business apps connected for company management and document storage with personalized business workflows.  

Quality Management Systems

A quality management system helps track and resolve issues related to the quality of work being done and delivered. A QMS can obtain an ISO 9001:2015 standard certification to help guarantee that a high level of quality is maintained with each deliverable. Translation agencies typically create their own rigorous quality review processes that include everything from linguist vetting/training, editing, outside auditing, and performance analysis to ensure that their clients receive quality translations. A few quality management systems used for auditing and assurance are:

• Arena: Boasts data visibility for tracking and managing quality and quality processes for compliance and audits.  
• Dot Compliance: Boasts a flexible platform with superior document management, electronic firmed, and advanced analytics for data review.  
• Qualio: Boasts free conversion of paper-based quality review systems to online ones and risk management and automated workflows.  

Accounting Software

Accounting software helps create invoices and manages incoming and outgoing payments while analyzing your company’s financial health. Standard accounting software includes:  

• Intuit Quickbooks: Allows invoice crafting, sending and receiving payments, managing/tracking expenses, etc. It also integrates with several business management systems.  
• Oracle NetSuite: Focuses on invoice automation and includes enterprise resource planning tools. It manages all aspects from a user-friendly dashboard.  
• Plooto: Manages payments, approvals, and reporting from one central location. Plooto limits the applications it syncs with, which needs to be considered before choosing its platform.  

While all of these tools are typically purchased separately and require engineering teams to integrate data, Bureau Works takes a different approach using translation technology tools.  

Bureau Works and Translation Technology

The Bureau Works platform wasn’t built to be a singular tool to complete the systems listed above. Instead, we created a localization management platform that focuses on combining translation technology tools that work together to make translations more predictable and as easy as possible. We encompass business management, translation management, terminology management, quality management, payment automation, etc., in one system, eliminating the extensive engineering needed to make these management systems work together. We tackle the challenges associated with translation jobs by introducing AI automation for linguist assignments based on performance data analysis and continuous workflows to free up the time spent on project management. We also provide end-to-end project tracking, API integrations, transparent price quotes, performance tracking, etc. We’ve created a system that can be adapted to meet you at your current state and help you elevate to meet your localization goals for any of our 134 supported languages. The translation technology tools that you choose are incredibly important, but even more so is finding a way to utilize them and creating an environment that makes translation easier, maximizing your return on investment for purchasing the tools.  Choosing tools that work for your company’s use case is imperative to successfully implanting and managing a translation project. Whether you use a platform like ours to make the job easier or tackle the project with separate management tools, it’s essential to choose a system that aids the vision you have for your company instead of working against it.