Software Localization

The world is becoming smaller every day, as communications improve we are able to do business with people all around the world. One of the challenges that this presents is that we don't all speak the same language. This is especially challenging for companies selling software since it is of little value if it doesn't work in the language of the user. The result is that most companies have to do what is called software localization before they are able to sell their product overseas.

Software localization is simply the process of having your software translated so that it can be used by speakers of other languages. Obviously nobody is going to buy your software if they don't speak the language that is required to use it. Naturally this limits your sales since there are billions of people out there who speak languages other than English. You will actually have a competitive advantage if you make software that targets speakers of other languages since the overwhelming majority of manufacturers only make software in English. Therefore it is very definitely worth having your software localized.

In general software localization is done with its own set of software which will do the actual translation. This allows the localization to be done very quickly and will save you a lot of time. While the software can do most of the translation it does not remove the need for a human translator. The reason that you need to have a translator is to make sure that the results are acceptable. In most cases when you have software do a translation for you the results are understandable but clearly not written by a person. Having software with poor grammar or structure is going to make your company look unprofessional. Clearly this is not something that you want.

One of the reasons that software has become so important for software localization is that it removes the need for the translator to be a coder. It is hard enough to find somebody who can translate to certain languages, expecting that they will also be a programmer is a little bit unrealistic. Besides which there are very few software makers who are all that keen on the idea of an outsider messing around with their source code. Using software for the task of localization allows the translator to do the job without needing to be a programmer or even seeing the source code.

In most cases you will find that the easiest and cheapest way to do software localization is to outsource it. This saves you having to buy the required software and having to find a translator. Obviously if you have a lot of products that you need to translate it might make sense to do it all in house but for smaller companies it rarely does. There are lots of companies that you can outsource this to at a very reasonable rate.

For references, please get in touch with MaregCom or Infocom LTD and ask them about our services!