20 Practical tips for a successful internationalisation project

your digital identity | www.ecomplexx.com 09.06.2009 | 1

ecomplexx

Internationalisation

20 Practical tips for a successful internationalisation project.



Who we are

Ecomplexx Facts and Figures

Founded 1995

Turnover ca. 5 M€ (2008)

Employees 80

Executive Board Christoph Mause, Helmut Nachbauer, Klaus Oberlehner

Branches Leverkusen (Deutschland), Reading (UK), Wels (Österreich)

Sales offices München, Oldenburg, Paris, Wien

Segments Strategy, Design, Technology, Marketing, Services



ecomplexx and Open Text – RedDot

ecomplexx is Europe‘s leading RedDot partner

•  Most successful RedDot Partner 2005

•  RedDot Integration Award 2005 / 2008

•  Own ECM department

•  over 30 trained RedDot developers (CMS, LiveServer, XCMS)

ecomplexx is one of the most experienced partners

•  Experience with large scale CMS projects

•  Main focus on internationalisation, integrative solutions, LiveServer/J2EE

•  Over 400 successful RedDot projects


Key Clients



Tip 1 – Experience counts

A good project manager should :

  Not participate in company politics

  Be armed with enough competencies and authority

  Be good at communicating

  Be assertive

  Be a good negotiator


Tip 2 – Get your project structure right

Language variants

Project copy

Master/Child


Tip 3 – Start simple

Start simple!


Tip 4 – Test thoroughly

Mistake x (No. of countries)

=

BIG Problems!

!



Tip 5 – Build an intelligent structure

  Keep publication packages, permissions and workflows simple and to a minimum

  Develop a project prototype with all the requested functionality first

  Have everyone involved speak the same language

  Carefully plan your asset manager structure, using as few folders as possible


Tip 6 – Keep the template count down

  Define the templates set up front   Test all these in the prototype project   Stick to them

A modular approach offers greater Flexibility than one catchall content class


Tip 7 – No static content in templates!

.modul-460-text div.top, .modul-460-text-right div.top {

height: 30px; width: 460px; overflow: hidden;

background-image: url(<%img_bg_modul_460_190_top%>);

background-repeat: no-repeat; }

.modul-460-text div.middle, .modul-460-text-right div.middle {

width: 460px; overflow: hidden; min-height: 160px;

background-image: url(<%img_bg_modul_460_190_middle%>);

background-repeat: repeat-y; }

html .modul-460-text div.middle, * html .modul-460-text-right div.middle {

height: 160px; }


Tip 8 - Develop documentation as you go

  Detail the steps involved to set up a new country project

  What elements need to be translated?

  What needs to be configures in LiveServer? (If anything)

  What parts need to be re-tested?

  …


Tip 9 – SmartEdit usability is the key

Carefully plan your interface


Tip 10 – Workflows seldom flow

Keep it simple!



Tip 11 – Don’t use locales

Why use individual projects?

Easier to maintain/support

If a project has a problem, only one country will be affected


Tip 12 – Be organised

Keep everything in the CMS; save heartache


Tip 13 – Use LiveServer functionality

Project 1

Project 2



Tip 14 – Translate centrally

Central translation of the complete content by one service provider

Provision of content in finished web projects using RedDot

Proofreading loops via clients in participating countries


Tip 15 – Set up a training schedule

Training Timeframe Contents

Base training Day 1 Introduciton to RedDot and project

Day 2 Work on final project and coaching

Online Training 30-60 mins as needed at start. Every 4 weeks thereafter

Online training using Webex (or similar) with the ability for people to ask questions

Advanced Training

1 day (after about 4 months)

Review of previous work, coaching, future development requirements


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 week

Tip 16 – Devise a realistic roll-out plan



Tip 17 – International means 24/7

Decide what hours you will cover

Plan backup and maintenance schedules

Use a publication server to improve performance


Tip 18 – Take analytics into consideration

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Datenreihe1

Gather analytics from the start


Tip 19 – International SEO is tricky

Decide what is important to you


Tip 20 – Plan your international support

How much cover do you need?

Document common issues

Find the resources


© by ecomplexx Juni 09

This presentation and all it‘s content are the property of ecomplexx

The transfer of documents to third parties or publication, reproduction, dissemination, reproduction or other exploitation of the ideas and solutions, without the prior consent of ecomplexx is not permitted.

ecomplexx are always at your service when it comes to implementing the ideas and solutions presented

- Thanks for listening! Any questions?