New Language Software Tools Report Available

Report focuses on the technology trends, business dynamics and specific products for developing international applications

Report focuses on the technology trends, business dynamics and specific products for developing international applications

Boston, MA — March 18, 2005 — Research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory today released a new report focused on both a business perspective and on technical aspects of global software. The report, "Beyond Global Websites: Guide to Language Tools from the Desktop to the Enterprise for Developing International Applications," hones in on tools that help in authoring and modifying global content managed by corporate databases, content and document systems.

According to Donald DePalma, president of Common Sense Advisory Inc. and the lead analyst on the report, multinational corporations produce Web sites, publish marketing collateral and write documentation for dozens of languages. But only a small fraction of potentially useful text ever gets translated.

"The reasons are simple," he said. "Too many words, too few people to translate, not enough testing to ensure quality, too much integration between words and software to make it happen, and not enough money to do it even if all those other problems did not get in the way." DePalma explained that the report lays out a roadmap for creating and adapting content for the needs of different international audiences.

Organizations with global content needs, language service providers, data warehousing companies, multinational companies focused on successful business globalization, growing companies that are beginning to tackle globalization, and globalization service providers can all use the report, according to DePalma.

Some of the information the report provides includes guidelines to ensure that databases, business intelligence and other corporate applications purchased can support a value chain for global content development and management; an overview of the software products available for creating and managing the global or multilingual content value chain; an outline of the evolution of specialized globalization tools and how globalization software will change over the coming few years; and what companies should look for in a globalization tool.

The company said "Beyond Global Websites: Guide to Language Tools from the Desktop to the Enterprise for Developing International Applications" will be released in increments, beginning with the 38-page introduction, which focuses on the demand, supply, and high-level market and technology dynamics for the globalization tools industry. The remaining four sections referenced in the report will release throughout March. These sections will deal with authoring, engineering, translation and management solutions for dealing with global content.

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