The demand for outsourcing of translation activities combined with the large volumes and high complexity of jobs automatically resulted in the start-up of the first multi-language vendors (MLVs), who mainly focused on large-volume translation projects into multiple languages. Most MLVs also offered project management of these large, complex, and time-critical translation projects. MLVs were either start-ups, for example the INK network in Europe, or large divisions of established companies, such as Berlitz's translation division, now called GlobalNET.

Still, many software publishers were experiencing bottlenecks just before their multilingual product releases, for example in their engineering and testing departments who suddenly found themselves having to test multiple language versions instead of just one English version. This called for an extended outsourcing model, which really took off in the beginning of the 1990s. Apart from translation services, MLVs also started offering engineering, testing, desktop publishing, printing, and support services.

This period can be considered as the start of localisation as we now know it. With teams of translators, project managers, engineers, testers, and desktop publishers, MLVs could provide one-stop multilingual solutions to software publishers.

An important trend that started taking shape in the late 1990s was the consolidation of the localisation industry. Many localisation vendors either merged with others or were acquired in order to achieve more market share, a better geographical spread, or additional skills. In the 1990s, the number of large localisation vendors decreased from 30 to 10. Examples of major consolidations taking place in the late 1990s were the acquisitions of Mendez by Lernout & Hauspie, LMI by Berlitz, and (very recently) ILE/IC (INT'L.com) by Lionbridge.

The yearly growth of the localisation industry since the beginning of the 1990s has averaged 30%, and in 2000 total revenues are in the range of US$ 6 billion. The most popular languages into which products are localised are French, Italian, German, Spanish (FIGS), Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. In 80% of the localisation work outsourced by clients, the source language is English.

MLVs and SLVs

Today, at the beginning of 2000, the major players in the localisation industry are the following companies...

• ALPNET
• Lionbridge
• Berlitz GlobalNET
• Bowne Global Solutions
• Lernout & Hauspie

These companies are all examples of multi-language vendors (MLVs) offering a wide range of services besides localisation, varying from SGML/XML consulting and large volume documentation translation and publishing (ALPNET), to multilingual internet services and testing (Lionbridge), from speech technology (Lernout & Hauspie) to language training (Berlitz). Revenues of these companies are approximately US$ 70 million. The second tier of multi-language vendors are companies such as SDL, ITP, and the localisation department of Sykes.

Even though these MLVs usually get the most publicity, most of the revenue in the translation and localisation industry is still generated by the thousands of single-language vendors (SLVs) and freelance translators that are active in every country. SLVs typically focus on one target language, have 1 to 30 employees, and offer mainly translation and desktop publishing services. Most SLVs work for MLVs; freelance translators usually work for both MLVs and SLVs.

Organisations

In 1990 the Localisation Industry Standards Association (LISA) was founded in Switzerland. LISA defines its mission as "promoting the localisation and internationalisation industry and providing a mechanism and services to enable companies to exchange and share information on the development of processes, tools, technologies and business models connected with localisation, internationalisation and related topics".

LISA organises quarterly forums and regular workshops in which members can exchange information and attend training. These forums typically deal with business aspects of localisation and globalisation. Very little attention is paid to the activities and issues of translators. For more information about LISA, visit their Web site at www.lisa.org

In Ireland two organisations were founded in the 1990s to establish contacts between software publishers, localisation service providers and universities in and around Dublin.

The Localisation Research Centre (LRC) was established at the University of Limerick in April 1998 as the result of a merger between the Centre for Language Engineering and the Localisation Resources Centre.

The Software Localisation Interest Group (SLIG) is a special interest group for all parties involved in software localisation. It was founded by the Localisation Resources Centre in February 1994. For more information about LRC and SLIG visit their Web sites at lrc.csis.ul.ie and www.slig.ie respectively.

Training & Further Reading

Not many opportunities exist for translators to be trained in localisation processes and tools. Most localisation firms train their staff internally. Translation and language schools and universities typically do not supply technically aware translators.

Standard technologies such as translation memory tools are often not even covered in translation or language studies.

Over the past few years, several surveys were conducted to research how educational establishments could change their curricula to better train translators for the "real world". Examples of these surveys are...

• LEIT: Short for LISA Education Initiative Taskforce, a commission that was formed in March 1998 and consists of representatives from universities in the U.S. and Europe. More information at www.ttt.org/leit.
  
  
• LETRAC: Short for Language Engineering for Translators Curricula, a project funded by the European Commission. More information at www.iai.uni-sb.de/LETRAC.
  
  
• CLP: Short for Certified Localisation Professional, a project initiated by the Irish Software Localisation Interest Group, and several industry leaders. More information at lrc.csis.ul.ie/CLP.

Currently, very few translation schools or language universities specialise in localisation. There's a post-graduate course in localisation at the University of Limerick in Ireland, and some institutes integrate localisation modules into their translation education.

Not much information is available about localisation which is especially for translators. To fill this gap, A Practical Guide to Software Localisation was written. The book was published in 1998 and a new edition will be published in the second half of 2000. It can be ordered through www.amazon.co.uk.

Future Developments

It is difficult to predict how the industry will develop in the next few years, especially because localisation is more fragmented than ever and everybody seems to be questioning what the localisation industry actually encompasses. Where localisation firms once distinguished themselves from traditional translation companies by specialising in translation, engineering and testing of software applications, now most of them are migrating to web localisation solutions.

Since the web is obviously not limited to software publishers only, many localisation firms find themselves again translating large volume web-based product and marketing information which might have nothing to do with software applications, just like the good old days of translation.

In other words, the localisation industry will most likely slowly integrate back into the translation industry. And when large localisation firms such as Lionbridge and ALPNET keep moving upstream in the publishing process and offering content creation and product support solutions, today's localisation industry will soon be called the "multilingual solutions industry".

Bert Esselink has been active in localization since 1990. After graduating in technical translation and doing coursework in programming and computational linguistics, he worked for several years as a software translator, localization engineer, and technical manager. In 1996 he joined ALPNET in Amsterdam as localization manager, training new engineers and localization specialists and coordinating software localization projects and since early 1999 as globalization manager developing production standards. As of 1 January 2000 he is employed by INT'L.com in the Netherlands, managing consultancy services. His first book, A Practical Guide to Software Localization, was published in 1998 by John Benjamins Publishing Company (www.benjamins.com). The second edition is now out and further information is available at http://www.locguide.com/

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