In-Country Review: Reducing the costs and cycle times of localization review processes

As companies continue to expand globally, it is critical that they deliver products and services in the local languages of their target markets. How can they ensure their products will gain maximum market share? Do the products accurately reflect the linguistic, cultural, and business practice nuances that exist in each international market?

To answer this question, more companies are making language quality review a normal part of doing business. Some check all materials; some review one in five documents; and some check work periodically. Product companies are beginning to include localization testing as part of their normal testing process, and device manufacturers are setting up dedicated test centers to ensure devices will work in the local language.

Unfortunately, what should be an easy process can be cumbersome, ineffective, and inefficient. When a company wants to penetrate a new market with a new language and uses non-dedicated, in-house people for review work, it has to find, recruit and train those people. If the company has a dedicated in-house review staff, it has to pay them even when workloads are not at their peak.

This paper examines the trends in technology and services that are addressing these inefficiencies, making the benefits of in-country review less costly and more attainable for a greater number of companies.