According to SDL, the buy will provide it with a global web content management (WCM) offering that will allow organizations to create and maintain multiple language content for communication with global audiences. This will be achieved by integrating Tridion R5 with the SDL Translation Management System, which will enable the management of the translation supply chain with a centralized virtual language repository to allow the reuse of content that has already been translated.
This is a significant acquisition for SDL. Through its global information management technology offerings, it supports the supply chain for the translation of content into local languages to enable the globalization of content. The translated content could be used for manuals or other product-focused literature for a manufacturer, it could be for a drug submission that needs to be produced in multiple languages by a pharmaceutical company, but it is increasingly used by organizations to produce content in multiple languages for websites.
Research has shown that customers prefer to view web content in their native language, and any company that can provide this capability is immediately at a competitive advantage. The cost of translating content into multiple languages can be prohibitively high, and, even when organizations have implemented WCM solutions to manage the life cycle of web content, they are no better off because WCM products do not manage the translation process very well. This lack of management often results in inconsistencies in content between each translation, no reuse of translated content, and longer time-to-market for content.
Although WCM workflows can include translation processes, they are typically confined to sending the content to the translator and then receiving it back. This does not provide the level of management and control that is required to fully manage the process of translating content into multiple languages. Therefore, organizations need to implement specialist products that integrate with WCM solutions to fully manage the translation process, and this is where SDL, with its global information management products, provides added value to organizations with a WCM solution.
The integration of SDL’s product set with Tridion will enable organizations to fully manage the end-to-end translation process, and then push out global content in local languages to local sites ensuring that brand consistency is maintained. This will enable the reuse of translated content in the same way that any other content can be reused in the WCM repository. It will also allow the centralized management of websites, while at the same time allowing local sites to create local content in the knowledge that brand consistency can be adhered to.
That SDL has been able to take the initiative and acquire a WCM vendor shows the strength of its product offerings in the marketplace. This acquisition should provide SDL with a real competitive advantage, not only over other WCM vendors and global information management vendors, but also over the WCM capabilities of enterprise content management platforms. This acquisition will raise the profile of SDL, and should increase its market share in both areas of the market it now plays in.
Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)