Translation Management System

Translation management systems (TMS) are software tools that allow managing your day-to-day translation and localisation activities as you would any other business process. The need for using such a TMS might not be pressing when you just start localizing your content — but you may start drowning in paperwork and email threads once the volume of such content grows.

Key reasons to use a TMS

Easier project management

With a TMS in place, every translation activity you need to undertake becomes a well-manageable and trackable process. Here’s an analogy: Would you like your photos scattered on your PC, with non-descriptive filenames and rigid folder structures? Or would you rather keep them in a specialised cloud photo storage, with tags, face recognition, filters, and all kinds of fancy new tools at your fingertips?

Better translation quality

TMSs have a variety of built-in translation tools that improve quality. For example, translation memories, which “remember” all previously translated text and rid you of the need to ever translate it from scratch again. Or glossaries of your standard corporate and industry terminology so that your voice stays the same across your translated content. Or sophisticated QA checks. And so on, and so forth.

Lower translation costs

Sometimes you have to translate a slightly modified version of a previously translated document. It is really no good if you have to pay the same price twice. By employing translation memories, TMS systems are able to automatically translate parts of documents that have already been translated before. Another factor is the indirect costs that you save by doing much less manual work in the process.

Who will benefit from using a TMS

• Business owners & executives
• Project & product managers
• Localisation team leads
• Software engineers

in…

• Multi-national corporations
• Software companies
• Media & PR firms
• … basically any company

Use cases

Translation management systems are most useful in cases where you release a lot of content, even if individual batches are small. Moreover, the more fragmented and irregular your releases are, the more you are likely to benefit from having a TMS.

Here are some examples:

Document translation

If you have documents — help articles, contracts, corporate materials — circulating inside or outside your organisation, you can easily get lost in what gets translated when. With a TMS at hand, you will be able to keep track of things and deadlines.

Website localisation

If you want to localise a blog or an e-commerce website, you will have new items of content issued every week or even several times a week. Having a TMS connected to your website via a localisation plugin will let you translate it on the fly.

App localisation

If you have an app or a video game you publish in several languages, you’ll likely store its strings somewhere in the cloud. In this case, TMS can get connected to that storage and watch for every new string that arrives or gets updated.

These are just a few examples. A rule of thumb is, if you have more than ten pieces of content issues in the last month, you might want to start thinking of using a TMS.

How to set up a TMS

There is a variety of Translation Management Systems out there. Some of them are desktop while others are in the cloud. If you are not closely related to the language industry, setting up and configuring a TMS for your processes might be a challenging task. In that case, you might be better off delegating it to someone in the know.

If you choose AISA as your partner, we will get you a localisation portal running like clockwork. The TMS we use comes from our technology partner Smartcat, one of the most respected and advanced technology companies in the industry.

Make sure you stay ahead of the curve in your localised content just as you are in your own business with AISA.