Globalization Consulting & Support Services

     Localization (L10n) means making the content suitable for a target locale.  That means adapting the content for a specific geographical location, typically indicated as a country and language.  Examples would be Canadian French, or UK English.  While localization focuses on the content, when we deal with software code, Internationalization (i18n) of the code becomes a required step before localization can start.   Globalization (G11n) is a term that encompasses both L10n and i18n , as well as other topics that need to be considered when launching to a new global market.  Some examples include considerations for business logic, local laws, searchability, security and other restrictions with the use of specific technology tools.  

 Our Globalization Strategy Assessment is a three-pronged analysis of your business processes, people and technical environment. To fully understand the scope of your project, an EGS consultant interviews all key players in your organization, analyzes your current IT environment, content creation, and localization processes, and examines the objectives for your globalization initiative. Timelines, resources, and content volumes are also considered as input to our assessment. Based on this comprehensive data gathering and a   gap analysis, our globalization experts create a detailed report that summarizes our findings and enumerates our recommendations to remediate the gaps, and define your long-term sustainable globalization strategy. The set of recommendations and the underlying strategy forms your Globalization Program designed to reach your business goals successfully and within the planned launch timelines, and maintain them after that. 

The recommendations may include establishing new processes, improving existing processes, staffing, training programs, and selecting technology to implement including Translation Management Systems (TMS), Content Management Systems (CMS) among others and as appropriate.  

If desired this service can be combined with a Globalization Roadmap or ROI service to plan how to execute on the recommendations and identify the budget implications of applying the new strategy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 The Globalization Roadmap is a companion service to the Globalization Strategy.

The Globalization Roadmap considers the findings from the Globalization Strategy Assessment looking at each globalization issue and its recommended solution, as well as the dependency of these issues in conjunction with your strategic business milestones, resources, and budget. Next it outlines an implementation plan for the recommended changes. The roadmap report targets an audience of localization, content, technical and business managers.

When laying out the Globalization Roadmap EGS identifies immediate actionable items for immediate gains, as well as a step-by-step plan towards meeting the desired future Globalization model by target timelines, based on a strategic vision suitable for each customers own scenario. EGS team has experience with implementations of Translations Management Systems (TMS), Software Localization Technology, and AI solutions. Fueled  by this expertise, EGS is well positioned to provide the best steps forward, including designing pilot programs, help define the success criteria for your needs and lay out the roll-out steps to implement the technology through out your organization following the pilot. 

Our Technology Implementation and Support service turns your globalization strategy into a working, scalable reality. 

Our technical localization consultants work alongside you and your chosen translation technology partner, serving as a knowledgeable point of contact who represents your localization needs throughout the implementation. From configuring localization projects and establishing integrations between TMS platforms(translation management system), content repositories, and automation tools to testing the final solution, our consultants take on the technical details and help ensure everything works as intended. If you have completed translations in the past, our service also supports the migration of localization assets—including translation memories, terminology, style and brand guidelines, and do-not-translate lists. We work closely with technology platform engineers to ensure these assets are transferred accurately into TMS systems and configured as necessary for effective use. 

Once the implementation is complete, EGS will monitor the projects to ensure the solution reaches a business-as-usual state. If a bug or other issue results in a support request, EGS will help submit the ticket and monitor its status through resolution. 

Our customers value this service because it extends their teams with technically skilled, localization-savvy experts who understand their technology environment and industry best practices. You will receive weekly updates on implementation activities or support ticket resolution, unless a different cadence is requested. By taking on the day-to-day technology and implementation burden, we allow your team to stay focused on your core business while keeping your globalization goals at the center of the work.  

The Globalization ROI is a companion service to the Globalization Strategy.  Organizations that already are localizing their content for other markets, often times need to know -in quantifiable terms- why they should invest to make the recommended changes, and how to plan for future budgets. This is where our consultants can help you with ROI calculations following the Globalization Strategy deliverable. The Globalization ROI service calculates and compares current cost of localization operations, versus the costs of running with the recommended future globalization model. We consider the reduction on internal effort as well as savings in translation costs, and compare that to the spending related to moving to a new strategic model.

The AI Process Optimization Service can be requested on its own or as a companion service to Globalization Strategy.   

This service reviews your software development, internationalization and localization processes including underlying technology solutions used in order to identify where further optimizations can be obtained by utilizing AI.  It can be extended to include content authoring and content management processes if desired. The goal is simpler and less effort-intensive processes that provide quality and cut costs.  

We consider existing AI optimization options in the i18n and L10n market, such as TMS and other AI orchestration tools provided by localization service providers, as well as options you can consider outside of these. This analysis will help guide a "build versus buy" or "build on top" decision.

   Program Management - I18N to L10N to Global launch

The Epik Global Solutions team brings localization expertise and firsthand knowledge of both the technical and linguistic aspects required to launch multilingual websites and software products, ensuring that your localization initiative stays consistent, accurate, and effective across your target markets. We provide a turnkey solution, with one single point of contact managing all project resources and processes, leaving you to reap the rewards.   EGS' Globalization Program Management service allows you to outsource your entire localization coordination with your localization service provider, leaving you free to focus on developing your business and expanding your market.   

With this service EGS customers are assigned a dedicated Globalization Program Manager to act as primary point of contact throughout each globalization initiative and connect software i18n and L10n efforts so that they can both be completed in sync and continuously. Our seasoned Program Managers bring a combination of internationalization and  localization strategy and project management experience as well as a commitment to achieving complete client satisfaction across the board. We seamlessly coordinate all necessary internal and outsourcing activities, either as a "jump start" to quickly launch your global presence, or as an ongoing engagement. The result: high-quality localization, on time and on budget.                                                                                                 

Content Internationalization and Suitability Review

Once you have your globalization strategy in place, technologies implemented, and your software and web applications internationalized to support localization, now you are technically ready to start localization. In order to minimize the time spent during the localization, with back and forth questions from translators, needing to change source content mid-localization, its important to ensure that the content is internationalized, in other words suitable for global markets.

With Content Internationalization Review every content piece is checked for suitability for global markets and translation, before being sent to localization. Where necessary it is adapted to remove current local flavor, idioms, slang, etc. and make it more standardized so that it can be easily translated to other locals. Not doing so, can easily result in bad translations where the meaning is lost or cloudy, and target audiences easily noticing that the content was not written for them.

Content Internationalization also spots where market adaptations are necessary, because certain references such as technology offerings, business practices, market prices, and cultural elements related to daily life, are not the same in other countries. When using symbols, icons, pictures, or other visuals, our experts would recommend what is understood globally where possible, and thus reducing the amount of time needed in each localization effort. Fixing content issues upfront and in the source language once, produces shorter localization cycles and cost savings on each target locale.