Global Businesses Depend More Than Ever on Translation and Localization Supplier

s to Meet International Marketing Goals

New Common Sense Advisory report sheds light on how global organizations are man
aging their vendors and developing partnership approaches with language service
providers (LSPs).
Boston, MA – September 22, 2010 -- Organizations that seek success on the global s
tage have no choice but to market their products and services in other languages
. To do this, they have long relied upon translation agencies and localization f
irms. New research from Common Sense Advisory shows these relationships are beco
ming more strategic in nature, and businesses are beginning to view their transl
ation agencies as partners.
Common Sense Advisory conducted a detailed survey of 73 organizations that purch
ase translation services. The resulting report, “How Buyers Manage Translation Sup
pliers,” highlights the characteristics that companies consider most important whe
n selecting their providers, shows why they end relationships, and reveals detai
ls about how the practice of translation vendor management is evolving.
Comments report lead analyst Nataly Kelly, “The largest group of respondents spend
between US$2 and $10 million per year on translation, and many report spending
far more than this. With such vast amounts of resources dedicated to language se
rvices, global companies are developing a more refined palate when it comes to c
hoosing translation suppliers.”
Key survey findings include:
Multi-language vendors receive most of the work. Companies that offer translatio
n services in many languages receive more than two-thirds (67.46%) of the client’s
total volume.
More clients send work to freelancers than to single-language vendors. On averag
e, buy-side organizations send 8.80% of their work directly to freelance contrac
tors than to single-language vendors, which only receive 4.82% of the work.
Reliance on many suppliers is common. Buyers frequently reported engaging two to
five vendors (52.5%), followed by the next largest group which consisted of six
to 10 vendors (27.9%). Very few buyers reported relying on just one translation
agency (4.9%).
Buyers in Europe have longer relationships with vendors. Europeans were signific
antly more likely to have relationships of six to 10 years (41.30%) with vendors
, compared with far fewer of their North American counterparts (17.32%)
Firms want just a few trusted partners. The survey found that buyers overwhelmin
gly prefer to stick to a select group of trusted translation vendors (91.7%) ver
sus adding them on an ongoing basis (8.3%).
“We spotted significant differences based on geography and budget size, but one th
ing was the same across all variables – the single most important factor to buyers
was on-time delivery. Time is money where translation projects are concerned,” ad
ds Kelly.
“How Buyers Manage Translation Suppliers” contains 27 figures and 33 tables detailin
g these and other survey findings. The report enables companies to benchmark the
ir own translation vendor management efforts, and includes average language serv
ices budgetary ranges as a percentage of total company revenue.
For more on the firm’s research, visit www.commonsenseadvisory.com.
About Common Sense Advisory
Common Sense Advisory, Inc. is an independent research and analysis firm special
izing in the on- and offline operations driving business globalization, internat
ionalization, localization, translation, and interpretation. Its research, consu
lting, and training help organizations improve the quality of their global busin
ess operations. For more information, visit:€www.commonsenseadvisory.com or€www.twit
ter.com/CSA_Research.
Contact:
Melissa Gillespie
Common Sense Advisory
760-522-4362
Boston, MA
Melissa@commonsenseadvisory.com
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com