SDL Eb Translation Technology Insights Research Study en Hires Tcm125-103906

SDL Translation Technology Insights
Executive Summary
Become a Global Marketing Guru
Executive Summary
An in-depth survey investigating

the role of technology in the
translation industry and how it
can help shape the future
2 sdltrados.com/tti | sdl.com/tti
Executive Summary
Why take the pulse of the translation industry? Survey scope
As a technology leader in the translation productivity space, SDL In December 2015, SDL invited all of our contacts in the translation
is continually monitoring opinion and vigorous debate about the industry to complete an online survey. We would like to thank all the
trends shaping the translation industry and the constraints that may respondents, across 115 countries in 9 languages for taking the time to
hold it back. complete the survey.
But how many of these viewpoints are truly representative of the

industry? Which side of the debate about machine translation Groups Corporate
or cloud solutions do the majority of the community agree with?
Where should the industry be focusing its efforts to meet current 19%
Language
and future needs? service provider
(LSP)
The TTI survey Freelance 68%
13%
To find out, we contacted thousands of organizations and individuals

in 115 countries, who work in the translation supply chain
translating, managing translation workflows or running localization
businesses. We invited them to take part in an industry survey, the
SDL Translation Technology Insights (TTI) survey, asking them about
their work today, how it has changed over the past five years, their Regions
expectations for the next five and the impact that technology has on Europe,
this workload. Middle-East and
64% Africa (EMEA)
We had 2,784 responses globally from individuals involved in some
way with translation or translation technology. Our respondents Asia-Pacific (APAC) 23%
comprise freelance translators, employees of translation agencies
and translation-related roles within business and public-sector
North and South 13%
organizations.
America (NASA)
Executive Summary
Involvement with translation productivity (TP) software The three groups of respondents
In this eBook we sometimes refer to subsets of our respondents

Use the software 83%
as follows:
Have an interest in TP software 34%
Budget and pay for the software 25%
Procure the software 24%
Involved in the usage of the software 24% Freelance:

Have IT responsibility for the software 12% individual translators
Language service provider

Experience with translation productivity software (LSP): respondents from a
translation agency (of any size)
23% 5-10 years

1-5 years 32%
Corporate: respondents in
7% <1 year
translation-related roles from any
6% Don’t use/unsure other organization in the private,
>10 years 32% public or non-profit sector
Executive Summary
The challenges of a growth industry
We know from sources, such as Common Sense Advisory (CSA)

and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, that translation (or language
services) is a strongly growing sector, working hard to respond to
escalating global demand that seems to have no end in sight.
3. New ways
Rapid growth creates pressures and challenges and the key results 1. Quality 2. Productivity
of the SDL Translation Technology Insights (TTI) survey offer an of working
interesting understanding into what these are. The study confirms
many common assumptions about the industry, but also reveals a few
interesting surprises.
Five insights emerged
As a technology provider, our focus is naturally on the role of 4. System

technology in helping the translation industry. As we analyzed the 5. User
and workflow
findings, five insights emerged as significant technology trends for
integration experience
consideration within this space.
In this survey overview, we discuss each of these insights in turn and

ask what we can do as an industry to work smarter and respond more
effectively to the rapid pace of change.
Throughout 2016, we will be investigating each of these insights in

more depth and presenting our response alongside additional results
from the survey.
Executive Summary
Key survey insights
Quality is king
Quality is 2.5x more

important than speed
and 6x more
important than cost
Executive Summary
3 in 5
are not aware that standardized
metrics or models exist for
Quality is king assessing translation quality
The TTI survey asked respondents to specify
the relative importance of quality, speed and
cost for translation projects and the answer
was completely unambiguous.
Awareness of quality standards / models
Quality is by far the most important criterion 58%
ISO 9001 58%
(surprisingly, six times more important
EN15038 31%
than cost). 33% Corporate
Lisa QA Model 25%
But the respondents reported that the Language quality assessment 17%
67%
industry is not insisting on mandatory
TAUS DQF 14%
feedback and that rework is common.
The survey tells us that the top reason for SAEJ2540 7%
rework is terminology inconsistencies. Freelance 37%
MQ in-house quality framework 6%
However, despite this, terminology 63%
MQM 6%
management is a priority for only a little
ITS 2.0 LOCALIZATION quality issues 2%
more than half of our respondents.
QuEst 1%
64% LSP
Other 5%
Not aware of any of these 18% 36%
Awareness of
ANY metric? No Yes
Executive Summary
24% Qualitative
feedback
The measure of quality

35% No 37% Mixed
All of this suggests that the industry has not yet developed a robust measures/ measures
approach to consistently ensuring the quality it so clearly aspires to. ill-defined
Reinforcing this conclusion, the study found that only a small minority measures
are relying on formal, standardized, quantitative metrics for quality 4% Formal,
assessment. The majority aren’t even aware that such models exist. standardized
24%
assessment
Is this lack of awareness and adoption of quality assessment models
perhaps due to there being so many of them? Other industries have 37%
found ways to standardize on quality assessment; has the time come 35%
for the translation industry to follow suit?
Interestingly, the TTI survey does show that there is some expectation
that the prevalence of feedback and acceptance of a standardized
quality metric will improve in the next five years. Given the
59% 4%
importance of quality in the industry, this seems a natural priority for

development.
59% either don’t measure translation

quality at all, or use ill-defined or purely
qualitative assessment.
Executive Summary
Key survey insights
Productivity:
Going beyond translation memory
72%
believe they would lose
competitive advantage
without translation
productivity tools
Executive Summary
Where do we look for the next big productivity boost?
The TTI survey suggests that ‘quality may be king’, but nobody
can afford to spend so long getting it right that deadlines are
missed or translation is no longer economical.
This is why technology has come to play an increasingly central

role in the industry, as the survey clearly shows. Close to 90%
of our respondents have used computer-aided translation (CAT)
tools and the respondents say that translation productivity
tools are their #1 way of coping with increase in demand
(preferred over improving processes, increasing headcount and
outsourcing). Almost three-quarters believe they would lose
90% of respondents Only 16% of competitive advantage without such tools.
agree ‘technology respondents believe
speeds me up’ Translation Productivity
software innovation has
peaked
Executive Summary
The next frontier
But since the development of translation memory and its

integration into CAT tools, it is suggested that there has been no real
improvement in core translation productivity. The question the study
asks is, if the industry wants to take advantage of growing demand,
where do we look for the next big productivity boost?
Could it be in machine translation (MT)? Given the long-running

controversy and debate over MT, we were a little surprised when the
study suggested that this could be the case:
• While a quarter still believe that MT is a threat, closer to half

believe that it’s driving the future of translation productivity
• Of those who use it, almost three-quarters are more likely to

recommend it than not; and corporates are the most enthusiastic
40% use machine
segment
translation (MT), of whom
Only 40% of the respondents are using MT, but they are seeing
significant value. And this is before new advances in machine learning
64% say it makes them have been widely applied to this field. All things considered, MT does
appear to hold huge potential for the industry.
more efficient.
Executive Summary
Key survey insights
How do we come
together over increasingly
distributed work?
79%
of agencies and
freelancers work with
remote teams
Executive Summary
Are cloud solutions the key to working in new ways?
The research confirms two noted industry trends: What is chunking?

Also called micro-translations,
4/5
chunking refers to the splitting
70% of content into sections that
are translated in isolation.
Remote working is now The nature of translation work
the norm. Today, 4 in 5 has changed: 70% are faced
respondents work with today with more chunking and
remote teams faster turnaround times than
five years ago
The TTI survey reports on the prevalence of remote working and

chunking, which is making it harder to manage translation projects and
maintain consistency in translation. The industry has responded by
developing and adopting specialized collaboration tools.
With half of the survey respondents having used or currently using

such tools today, we can’t help but wonder: is the industry on the cusp
of universally embracing collaboration technology to better manage new
ways of working? If so, how should these solutions be developed to best
meet industry needs?
Executive Summary
A cloudy future?
49% of respondents use
Before the results were in, the assumption
or have used translation
collaboration tools... ...of whom 30 %
was that there might be a strong preference
for cloud-based working. But the respondents
(15% overall) use cloud/SaaS- revealed that this is not the preferred way of
based versions collaborating on translations today. As well as
being split about whether cloud-based tools
are as productive as desktop-based tools,
respondents have concerns about storing
content in the cloud and using cloud solutions
49% 35% to work on confidential material.
The respondents do also have reasonably high

hopes for cloud-based platforms as
the best way forward, so this is clearly an
area of development to watch. However,
the preference seems to be biased towards
a hybrid solution with the use of both desktop
Only a third think and cloud-based when and
where appropriate.
cloud-based tools
are as productive as
desktop-based tools
Key survey insights
Can we create more

seamless, integrated
workflows?
79% use 2 or more

categories of translation
productivity software
Executive Summary
Corporates and agencies Does integration mean efficiency?

prefer integrated software
CAT tool software, terminology management databases, machine
4 :1
translation tools, collaboration systems (even extending to specific tools
for particular types of translation work such as software localization) –
there’s no shortage of specialized technology in the translation industry.
The TTI survey shows that three-quarters of the survey respondents use
over standalone software or have used two or more of these types of tools, with a majority using
three or more.
Logically, the more that translators have to act as human integrators

Corporates and agencies find between these different types of translation productivity tools, the
more inefficient their work is. The respondents tell us that it helps if the
access to APIs in CAT tools different translation tools they use can be integrated or ‘speak to each
more than other’ easily.
x2
as important today as 5 years ago
Executive Summary
Opening up about integration Thinking about the requirements from five years ago
The translation community of agencies
versus requirements today:
and corporate localization teams know
what a difference it makes when they can
integrate their translation tools with other
business systems to create end-to-end
workflows. The survey confirms this, with
two-thirds preferring integrated software
over standalone software. They are also much
more likely to require cloud and desktop
solutions to be integrated than not.
Has the time come for an industry

commitment to open platforms, to meet
integration requirements?
If this expectation
continues to grow
Five years ago, only a Today, that strongly, it could
fifth of corporates and number has more signal a clear
agencies felt that it than doubled, to preference for the
was key for CAT tools almost half of the future direction of the
to offer APIs. respondents. industry.
2011 2016 2021
Executive Summary
Key survey insights
The future is about a better

user experience?
59% like to customize

their software
Executive Summary
Has consumerization of IT impacted translation technology?
The TTI survey tells us that in a world of easy-to-use consumer

75% expect CAT tools to be technology, translators (like everyone else) want easier lives at work
too. Many of the areas we’ve already looked at, from tools for quality
easy to personalize management to solutions for collaboration, are intended to make
in 5 years... their lives easier, but can only do so if the solutions themselves are
easy-to-use.
The survey shows that personalization plays a big part in this. More
...a third more than the than twice as many respondents like to customize their software as
those who don’t and their expectations for ease of personalization
are growing strongly.
57% who feel they’re easy Completely Agree Neutral Agree Completely
agree Indifferent agree
to personalize today I always tweak I never tweak
59% 18% 23%
my software my software
Executive Summary
There’s an app for that

68% agree that it’s important to
be able to add applications This is a timely reminder to translation technology providers that
sophisticated functionality needs to be balanced with choice and
and extend the functionality convenience. We should be asking ourselves how we can put the user
of CAT tools today... experience at the heart of everything we do. Can we learn, for example,
from the consumer software space, where add-on marketplaces
and app stores allow the user experience to be driven as much by
innovative user development as by vendor roadmaps?
...rising to
As with integration, this would require an industry commitment to
open platforms. And again, the survey suggests that such an approach
would be welcomed. Already today, more than two-thirds of our
respondents want to be able to add applications to their CAT tools.
In the next five years, almost four in five expect to be able to add
functionality in this way.
78% in the next 5 years
Executive Summary
In summary …
The SDL Translation Technology Insights (TTI) 2016 Survey Analyzing the TTI survey findings, several results (some expected, some not) stood
out for us as key indicators of where the translation industry can take direction for the future:
The strong contrast between the

The value of machine translation, The reality of remote working,
importance of quality and the
despite its being far from universally chunking and faster turnaround
mediocre evidence of standardized
welcomed and used times
measurement
Overall, a clear reliance on different

The modest use of User preference for customizing
types of translation productivity
collaboration tools and extending software
technology
Executive Summary
uality standards: It may well be time to adopt an

Q
objective approach to consistently deliver against
expectations for quality.
Factors for consideration achine translation: Embracing MT– ie, actively

M
Pulling the results together, we grouped the
develop and use – may well be the most obvious
survey findings under five insights, as outlined candidate for boosting translation productivity.
in the previous sections.
Within these insights we found five key factors ollaboration tools: Existing ways of managing
C
that were worthy of further comment. Each
of these deserves serious consideration and a translation projects may no longer be sufficient to
response together with a consensus from the cope with new ways of working.
industry on the best way forward.
To summarize, the five factors for Open platforms: As a technology-dependent

consideration are:
industry, we need to do better at supporting
efficient, integrated workflows.
Customizable technology: Choice and convenience

are high on the agenda for translation technology
users.
Executive Summary
Quality Productivity New ways System and User

of working workflow experience
integration
SDL’s response
In this eBook we present an overview of the key survey results and highlight five insights that have
emerged as requiring further consideration.
Throughout 2016 we’ll be revisiting the five insights, taking each one individually and exploring
the results of the survey in greater depth to give our response as a technology leader in the
translation technology industry.
SDL (LSE:SDL) is the global innovator in language translation technology, services and content
management. With more than 25 years of experience, SDL delivers transformative business
results by enabling powerfully nuanced digital experiences with customers around the world.
Are you in the know? Find out why the top global brands use SDL at SDL.com and
follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and sdltrados.com.
Copyright © 2017 SDL plc. All Rights Reserved. All company product or service names referenced herein are properties of their respective owners.
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SDL Translation Technology Insights

An in-depth survey investigating

Why take the pulse of the translation industry? Survey scope

But how many of these viewpoints are truly representative of the

To find out, we contacted thousands of organizations and individuals

In this eBook we sometimes refer to subsets of our respondents

Budget and pay for the software 25%

Procure the software 24%

Involved in the usage of the software 24% Freelance:

Language service provider

23% 5-10 years

The challenges of a growth industry

We know from sources, such as Common Sense Advisory (CSA)

Five insights emerged

As a technology provider, our focus is naturally on the role of  4. System

In this survey overview, we discuss each of these insights in turn and

Throughout 2016, we will be investigating each of these insights in

Key survey insights

Quality is 2.5x more

Not aware of any of these 18% 36%

The measure of quality

importance of quality in the industry, this seems a natural priority for

59% either don’t measure translation

Key survey insights

Where do we look for the next big productivity boost?

This is why technology has come to play an increasingly central

The next frontier

But since the development of translation memory and its

Could it be in machine translation (MT)? Given the long-running

• While a quarter still believe that MT is a threat, closer to half

• Of those who use it, almost three-quarters are more likely to

Key survey insights

Are cloud solutions the key to working in new ways?

The research confirms two noted industry trends: What is chunking?

The TTI survey reports on the prevalence of remote working and

With half of the survey respondents having used or currently using

49% 35% to work on confidential material.

The respondents do also have reasonably high

Can we create more

79% use 2 or more

Corporates and agencies Does integration mean efficiency?

Logically, the more that translators have to act as human integrators

Has the time come for an industry

2011 2016 2021

Key survey insights

The future is about a better

59% like to customize

Has consumerization of IT impacted translation technology?

The TTI survey tells us that in a world of easy-to-use consumer

There’s an app for that

The strong contrast between the

Overall, a clear reliance on different

 uality standards: It may well be time to adopt an

Factors for consideration  achine translation: Embracing MT– ie, actively

To summarize, the five factors for Open platforms: As a technology-dependent

Customizable technology: Choice and convenience

Quality Productivity New ways System and User

You might also like

As a technology provider, our focus is naturally on the role of 4. System

uality standards: It may well be time to adopt an

Factors for consideration achine translation: Embracing MT– ie, actively