27 May /15

Text Translation Not Enough? IT Solutions for Your Translated Materials

IT solutions for your translations. Translation engineering
IT solutions for your translations. Translation engineering

This four-part series looks at IT in the translation industry or, more specifically, what is known as translation engineering. Part I considers the growing field of translation engineering against the backdrop of the industry as a whole, and looks at exactly what translation engineers do. Part II explains in more detail the solutions that our translation engineers at EVS Translations can offer clients. Part III offers practical advice on preparing your materials for a translation that requires desktop publishing work. And finally, in Part IV, we’ll meet one of our translation engineers at EVS Translations who talks about his workload, creating animation videos and speaking four languages.

Part I: IT solutions for your translation

The trouble with translation

Last year, the US-based business magazine Inc., which focuses on growing companies, rated the translation industry as one of the top industries for starting a business. It highlighted positive contributors to growth, including the continued demand for translation from businesses seeking to globalise. This is an industry that was able to maintain growth even during the previous global economic downturn—things are looking up.

But in Jill Krasny’s follow-up article for the magazine: Lost in translation? There’s a whole industry to help, she notes that despite this positive outlook “Commoditization remains a big hurdle in the industry”. The problem is, consumers find it difficult to distinguish between products and services, so purchasing decisions are being made on price alone. The translation industry may seem like an attractive industry to enter, but unless you can offer solutions and go beyond the translation of text to gain competitive advantage, you will not reach high enough on the value chain and may ultimately not survive.

One German to English translation to go. Would you like DTP with that?

There is an increasing demand for complex projects in the translation industry that require the expertise and resources of translation engineers. Clients might not want to send a Word file—they want the option to work in different file formats. They want a print-ready brochure, not just translated text. Can you help with a website translation, too? Involved in the technological aspects of translation, but not responsible for the linguistic work, translation engineers may work in the areas of:

These additional services add value for the client and the extent to which a translation service provider can respond to these demands is one factor that differentiates the competition in the industry. EVS Translations excels in the area of translation engineering because it has expert in-house translation engineering teams at each of its international offices and does not rely on outsourced expertise. These teams can respond immediately to changing requirements or issues that arise, and can communicate directly with project managers and translators. This further enhances the quality of the translation and ensures a high level of client satisfaction with the overall service.

In Part II, we’ll look more closely at the five areas of translation engineering and the benefits for clients.