From Cobblers to Conductors

Paula Shannon

CSO, SVP, General Manager

Lionbridge

The Cobbler‘s Song

I sit and cobble at slippers

and shoon

From the rise of sun to the set

of moon

Cobble and cobble, as best

I may

Cobble all night and cobble all

day

And I sing as I cobble this

doleful lay…

The stouter I cobble, the

less I earn

For the soles ne’er crack,

nor the uppers turn

The better my work, the

less my pay

But work can only be done

one way

The Cobbler‘s Song

…and Conductors

The Mozart EffectThe issue service industries face is The Mozart Effect, as described by

William Baumol, an economist at New York University*

As noted essayist and author, James Surowiecki puts it, “When Mozart composed his String Quintet in G Minor (K. 516) in 1787, you needed five people to perform it—two violinists, two violists and a cellist.

Today, you still need five people, and, unless they play really fast, they take about as long to perform it as musicians did two centuries ago.

So much for progress.”*Performing Arts: the Economic Dilemma

(1966), Baumol and Bowen

Baumol’s “Cost Disease”In a range of businesses, such as

the car manufacturing sector and

the retail sector, workers are

continually getting more productive

due to technological innovations to

their tools and equipment.

In contrast, in some labor-intensive

sectors that rely heavily on human

interaction or activities, such as

nursing, education, or the

performing arts there is little or no

growth in productivity over time. As

with the Mozart string quartet

example, it takes nurses the same

amount of time to change a

bandage, or college professors the

same amount of time to mark an

essay, in 2006 as it did in 1966.

Are We Cobblers or Conductors?

workers are continually getting

more productive due to

technological innovations to their

tools and equipment.

Industry Group A

labor-intensive sectors that rely

heavily on human interaction or

activities, such as education, or the

performing arts where there is little

or no growth in productivity over

time.

Industry Group B

The Translation Industry Exhibits Elements of BOTH!

Airlines, Car Wash, even Lawn Care: Differentiated Services and Pricing Models

What About Pricing Models?

We talk about different types of content, but the price is

remains, on average, .22 USD cents per word?*

*Common Sense Advisory

CheeseburgerCheeseburger,Cheeseburger.No Coke, Pepsi

QUALITY MEANS

“My requirements have been met”

“Staying on message and on

brand”

“Avoiding adverse outcomes”

“That LSPs use the resources I

dictate”

“Minimizing headaches on our end”

“Consistency I can trust”

Industry Standards? Customer Expectations?

Most Meaningful KPIs and SLAs are Specific to the Client and Content

Let’s Get a Few Definitions Straight

English

Chinese

Spanish

Japanese

German

French

Portugese

Korean

Italian

Arabic

Rest of World Languages

Millions of Users

0 35050 100 150 200 250 300

329

159

89

86

59

56

40

34

31

28

Shift Happens - Growth is Migrating to Developing Nations

• Reaching 1 Billion Users requires +/- 127 languages• Connecting 5 Billion Users will necessitate more than 1,000 languages

Internet Top Ten Languages

1,400,000,000

1,200,000,000

1,000,000,000

800,000,000

600,000,000

400,000,000

200,000,000

0

Chin

ese

Russia

n

Ara

bic

Hin

di

Englis

h

Spanis

h

Bengali

Port

ugu

ese

Japan

ese

Germ

an

Fre

nch

Kore

an

Java

nese

Telu

gu

Mara

thi

Vie

tnam

ese

Tam

il

Italia

n

Turk

ish

Urd

u

Punja

bi

Ukra

inia

n

Guja

rati

Thai

Polis

h

Mala

yala

m

Oriya

Burm

ese

Azerb

aija

ni

Fars

i

Sunda

Pashto

Rom

an

ian

Bhojp

uri

Hausa

Maithili

Mala

y

Serb

o-C

roatian

Aw

adhi

Uzbek

Yoru

ba

Dutc

h

Sin

dh

Igbo

Am

haric

Oro

mo

Indon

esia

n

Tagalo

g

Nepali

Assam

ese

Sara

iki

Cebuan

o

Hungari

an

Chitta

gonia

n

Zhuan

g

Shona

Madura

Sin

hala

Marw

ari

Magahi

Hary

an

yi

Gre

ek

Czech

Chhattis

garh

i

Fulfuld

e

Deccan

Mala

gasy

Bela

rusan

Kannad

a

203

© Lionbridge 2008

Plotting Quality and Value of Content

Lower Value Higher Value

Info

rmati

on

al

Pu

bli

cati

on

Qu

ali

ty

Community

Generated Content

Product Information

Advertising & Collateral

User

Interface

After Sales Support

Customer Education &

ServiceEnpocket

Mobile Ads

eCommerce

Customer Care

FAQ’s

Varied Content Mandates Differentiated Approaches

High

Low

Solution

Efficiency

Demands

Marketable Shelf Life of Content1/year 1/hour

Product,

Technical Doc

and online Help

Product Updates

and Training

Materials

I18N

Initial Product

Localization

Marketing

Content

Streaming Web

Content

Transaction Cost

Translation Cost

“…But Work Can Only Be Done One Way”

Or Can It?

Type A: Basic

The following rates are all-inclusive. Rates include all file preparation,

translation & editing, recording & project management – Audio is VOIP and

does not include dialog director or post production engineering and QA

Type B: Advanced

The following rates are all-inclusive. Rates include all file preparation,

engineering, desktop publishing, quality assurance and project management.

Audio performed by talent in a studio and includes post-production engineer.

Varied Service Levels – An Example

Type C: Professional

The following rates are all-inclusive. Rates

include all file preparation, engineering,

desktop publishing, testing of compiled

application, quality assurance & LQI checks,

DTP Print proofs, professional voice talent

and project management.

Hybrid Model – UI, MT & Community

More Content = More OptionsMicrosoft’s View from 2010 On

Premium-level quality for targeted product audience

Lower-cost alternative for expanded marketplace

Broad reach to penetrate new markets effectively

Community outreach at lowest cost for widest expansion

Deliverables

Quality

ProofTranslationCopy

Editing

~60% ~25% ~15%

Traditional Premium localization cost breakdown

95% Average Quality

• What % of quality comes straight from translators?

• What % gets improved via each of the post-translation steps?

Logoport LTB

Current Localization Cost Model

50% of cost

Average to Good Translators + Tools

50% Average Quality?

Logoport

LTB

• Use of MT as baseline for Basic loc

• LTB will post-process files and identify/flag strings with highest probability of wrong MT translation (based on experience + statistics)

• Must cut 50% of costs and reach 50% of quality (to be tested/proven in during pilot)

MT MT Post-Editing

Basic Pilot #2MT Post-editing + Tools

70% of cost

Good (not great) Translators + Tools

70% Average Quality?

• By using only translators + tools, we can eliminate 2 steps in process

• Probably can cut costs by 30% and still maintain >=70% of quality (to be tested/proven during pilot)

• Perform a LQA to measure the Quality

Logoport

LTBMT Translation

Value Pilot #1Direct Translation + Tools

Cobblers and Conductors

Service Oriented Architecture &

Components for Enhanced Connectivity

Community

Models

Crowdsourcing

Human

Translation

Authoring

Asset &

Terminology

Mgt.

Computer

Assisted

TM

MT

Language

Quality Mgt.

Global

Search

Relevancy

Global

Branding

A Symphony of Service Models