Software service firm Moravia IT, based in Brno, South Moravia, is teaching the Windows operating system how to speak Czech.
And not only Czech, but also a raft of other languages, including some fairly uncommon ones. The localization of software is not only about translating text to the local language and reshaping what it might look like, but is a truly complex process.
The process of software localization generally starts with a deep analysis of source files that give the broadest indication of what needs to be done. This leads to further processes, such as creating the project plan and budget estimates, preparing terminology and the preparation of source files to start with. Then, the general work of localization can start, depending on what the client wants to localize. For example, it might only be a user interface or a complete project that also includes help files and online support, translation of the graphics and pictures or manuals for the software product itself. During this process, some software engineering also takes place.
“It is good to start by saying that the whole process is usually realized in cycles. We are not provided with the final product to localize, but work on localization step by step at the same time development is still being done. The original English product is transformed in our hands. We are usually provided with a ‘package’ of files to translate. We translate it, carry out file engineering and the company will do an actual localized build that is tested on and on, over and over, until it is completed,” Libor ŠafáĹ, marketing manager at Moravia IT, told CBW.
The translation is not an easy task either. There is usually documentation for the project of how some things need to be translated and there is a long list of the proper words that must be used to stay within the terminology base. This all must be reflected by the computer-aided translation (CAT) software through its translation memory. There is also a lot of testing in the final phase before the product is ready and properly localized. There are not only translators working on the projects, but also engineers and other IT experts, who are needed to properly carry out full implementation.
A company of many tongues
Moravia IT has a special competitive edge in the localization field due to the large number of languages besides Czech that it is capable of translating software into. In fact, according to information provided by ŠafáĹ, the company is able to translate into more than 100 languages. Among these are widely spoken European languages like French, Italian, German and Spanish as well as Asian languages such as Chinese, Korean and Japanese. The selection also includes more unusual choices for a Czech company, with translation into languages such as Hebrew, Hindi, Kazakh, Thai and Farsi available. The company takes full advantage of its three global production centers. Besides the company headquarters in Brno it also has centers in Nanjing, China, and in Rosario, Argentina.
“These branches provide us with the possibility of being close to our clients, in the same, or almost the same, time zone and engineering and project management positions are usually concentrated there to make these critical positions localized. There are some sales branches in other regions. Only a small number of our branches are concentrated only on translators or translation in that particular country. In practice, we work with qualified translators and correctors regardless of their location—we don’t need branches for every country,” ŠafáĹ said.
It is not only IT projects that are being localized at Moravia IT. “We also specialize in [providing services to] the medical and pharmaceutical industry, telecommunications, heavy industry, consumer electronics and more,” ŠafáĹ said. “We can mention some of our clients. Among them is [software company] Adobe Systems Incorporated, [anti-virus and computer security software company] F-Secure, [computer technology company] International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), [computer peripheral device-maker] Logitech International, [software company] Novell, [software developer] Oracle Corporation, [medical device company] St. Jude Medical, [test and measurement equipment company] Tektronix, [manufacturing conglomerate] Toshiba Corporation and many others. We do a variety of products for these clients: software—from anti-virus to corporate financial solution software—manuals for cardiac stimulators, marketing materials for consumer electronics, graphic packages, peripherals, and so on,” he added.
Teaching Microsoft
One of Moravia IT’s biggest customers is computer technology giant Microsoft Corporation. In fact, Microsoft has been one of Moravia IT’s mainstays for more than a decade. “We have worked more than 14 years on localization for Microsoft and there are a lot of products to name—almost too many to count. The first of them was Office 97 and Internet Explorer 2.x. However, besides the flagship products of Microsoft (Office and Windows) we have also localized small ones such as Windows Server, Exchange, Product Support Services, MSDN, MacOffice and many more,” ŠafáĹ said. Again, the company’s draw is that it is not only doing a localization into the Czech language, like many other Czech companies do, for example, for Google projects, but is also localizing Microsoft’s projects into other languages. “We are able to translate to more than 100 languages and for some projects for Microsoft we are reaching this number,” ŠafáĹ added.
Moravia IT has been selected as a Microsoft Premiere Vendor for the last six years, an award given only to the most reliable vendors. “The criteria for selection for this award were designed by Microsoft to identify those vendors who are qualified and have the scalable capacity to undertake a significant proportion of Microsoft’s outsourced localization work. Some categories of criteria under assessment were performance track record, the outcome of previous projects completed by the vendor company, as well as the company’s ability to meet Microsoft’s growing requirements,” Lukáš KĹovák, product manager at Microsoft in the Czech Republic, told CBW.
“This generally means that a small number of companies that receive this award around the world can localize anything into any language for Microsoft and that Microsoft splits all of its localization offers among these companies. From our experience, Microsoft has one of the most complex and effective processes and infrastructure for localization,” ŠafáĹ added.
The introduction of Windows 7 has provided the company with a significant amount of work. “Considering the number of words and number of languages, we can say that Windows 7 was our biggest job order,” ŠafáĹ said. “We don’t know the exact price of the whole localization process, partly because it is too complex. Besides specialized services offered by specialized companies like Moravia IT there are additional costs for internal teams directly in Microsoft who are coordinating localization directly, as well as costs for the testing of localized products, costs for external language control and so on. Generally, costs for localization are a relatively small part of the whole project’s total cost. Microsoft has an advantage in this area because it localizes not only into major languages representing markets of a certain size, where the economic impact is obvious—around 35 languages—but also in some form into some smaller and developing markets with a rising potential—in total more than 100 languages. This step is not only making Microsoft’s position stronger on these markets, but also allows cooperation on the total development of the IT sector and terminology in other languages,” he added.
