“Yes, your prediction could be correct: my company could disappear or become simply a component of a larger company in the next two years. “At a recent conference of the LISA (Localization Industry Standards Association) in Silicon Valley, these words were uttered by the CEO of one of dozens of companies” dot-com “of technology and globalization offer “the best solution in the field of globalization through the Internet.” These companies provide their customers with a “machine location”, more commonly known as “system workflow by ASP”, done by external translators or sub-traitants.Ce CEO, who has not opted to retain the anonymity but merit was politely informed of the subject of my next presentation. I replied: “Surely you would prefer not to attend my presentation *, I predict that most companies in the technology of globalization, including yours, will soon be brought to disappear.” In a surprising honesty, this CEO had agreed with my basic theory: there is no hope for many companies in the technology of globalization recently created (they have not already failed before they start ?) Likewise, many companies are locating on the brink of collapse, having recently invested heavily in research and development, which is illogical in my opinion, expensive and shows poor management. As I predicted at the conference: “Half of the companies and individuals represented at this meeting will be gone in two years. “It is perhaps unfortunate that so many disappearances are imminent when so many dollars, dreams, hopes and lives were devoted to the advancement of technology globalization. However, “in the jungle, it is easy to be swallowed up if we move recklessly. This applies to all companies in our industry, including SimulTrans. If we do not concentrate on what is essential to our survival, we disparaîtrons. Where is the true value? Course I have mixed feelings in regard to the technology of globalization. On the one hand, I hoped that some of them succeed so that my company can draw on their recent and “discover the true value, what our five counterparts widespread (AILP, BNE, BTZ, LHSP and LIOX) failed to perform, as evidenced by the disappointing course of their actions. (Course disappointing their actions leads to the best companies’ globalization solutions through the Internet “to renounce their affiliation with the localization industry, as explained below.) On the other hand, I am satisfied that the actually perform my predictions against the tide, that “the consolidation and financial engineering of our industry have used the few executives who have profited at the expense of smaller investors, employees and customers. “The allegations concerning a” technological solution “are really just a cunning maneuver to spread the excitement and confusion among investors and customers. Customers want to be naive to believe that it is possible to replace the project managers and engineers with a software solution. A technological solution does not make sense, especially in the very stimulating to the location site. Indeed, the recent enthusiasm for the technology of globalization is similar to the furore caused by the translation in 50 years when it promised a reduction of costs and execution time is due to ordinateurs.Il not difficult to predict, as I did, the end of the newest businesses. After all, the end is near, even imminent, for many (if not most of them) working in different sectors of technology, not only ours, funded in recent years by the community of capital risqueurs. For hundreds of companies, the hope of a first entry on the stock market has been destroyed, falling as rapidly and fatally that the NASDAQ in the spring dernier.Rapport pathologiqueTel an anatomo-pathologist preparing autopsy reports as a result of Train accident, I now give some reasons for the drop next to these companies in the technology of globalization, which usually target the Internet market (which was synonymous with prosperity for the venture capitalists before the crash of the month April) .1. Service companies fail when they put all their hopes on technology to the detriment of clients.La localization is a complex, well beyond translation. Its various elements require a high level of understanding and urgency that the products can never match, at least not in the near future proche.Des services companies of all types have been successful in understanding and using technology but not so turn into product companies and technology to replace human intelligence by the intelligence artificielle.Existe there a single service company already managed to forge a competitive advantage on the market with its own product technology? Does the service companies (specializing in legal, accounting, advertising and management) such as Oracle and IBM develop and retain their customers through these technology services companies? No, the service companies are successful in recruiting and retaining the right people and managing and motivating people to serve their clients faithfully. In a service business, getting the technology before people and the quality is more than a conflict of interest: it would be financial suicide to try to succeed in terms of technology and services at the same time. Why? In the location, margins are too low (as insiders know, and as soon discover the venture capitalists) to allow a company to pay good wages (necessary to retain employees) and to develop efficient technology, leading disturbances in these two areas. In addition, the management of a company consists of employees is very different from running a business product, and few CEOs in any industry whatsoever throughout the world have managed this pari.2. In the area of the location, customers want and need a humaine.Dans location, clients and patients of a doctor: they want to talk to people competent and pleasant and advice, not go to a database or a portail.Si a customer wants to buy books, watches and toys, sold in identical form in hundreds of different places and therefore corresponding to the goods, he can go Amazon, Ashford or etoy. If a person needs a knee operation or take legal action, it is aimed at a professional service provider. If people need localization services effective, they turn to a business as SimulTrans, not www.freetranslations.com. Translations and localization services in particular can not be treated as merchandise and can not be created or delivered efficiently by a machine or web.3 site. The current market for tools of globalization is limited and it is difficult to remove bénéfices.Qui really believe that the “real” services market globalization amounts to “$ 10 billion (about 8 billion euros) and “20 up to 30% every year? These projections are absurd for the sole purpose to encourage naive investors to spend money. The market where business leaders should pay (and which they can access) is probably 10% of estimates analyst (or analyst), or about 1 billion dollars (about 800 million euros), more than half are already under the control of the ten greatest actors of the location. Yes, the U.S. military, the European Union and the Japanese Patent Office (as well as quasi-governmental companies such as GM and Toyota) have many translations, but importe.Seule just a fraction of this market will be monetized by technological solution, but only through human intervention. Trados already monopolize this market, having revolutionized the localization by automating recycling, which was the most inefficient services globalization. In other words, Trados has swallowed the lion’s share of the market location could be automated, leaving little opportunity or real competitive advantage exploited by the best companies of “globalization solutions through the Internet.” Investment moderate outilsA in my view, it makes sense for companies to locate investment in development tools, but only in moderation. A SimulTrans for example, each year we spend 1% of our revenues to improve our Lotus Notes system, developed internally, which saves time for our employees when seeking data. In addition, we use applications, ready to use Excel and such Goldmine whenever possible. In addition, our localization engineers have created many tools to accelerate the process engineering and test.Il is too tempting for a company headed by an enthusiastic and misunderstood CEO of a board of directors too confident investing too heavily in technology. I know a major location which spent $ 3 million (about 2.4 million euros) for a suite of workflow / automation that has been a failure. In the end, it still does a system of time sheets with few options, although less efficient than those already available on the market. IllusionsTant that the globalization of business via the Internet will choose to deny (in their business plan and registration form S-1 prior to entry into the exchange) that are basically companies and location such as e-commerce businesses choose to believe they can charge premiums involving Vice President Marketing and offering their “unique selling proposition”, they will be forced to take a decision when they are presented with the ‘miserable responsible for localization whose e-mail is “if you want to contribute to our work, fill out this spreadsheet so that we can compare your prices with those of other conventional subcontractors. Confirm that you provide automation tools such as non-proprietary Trados, so that we can replace easily. Moreover, as everyone knows, the Internet has replaced the interim, let us therefore not charge the project management will be handled automatically by your system for handling files. “If this recurring refrain does not push the board to abandon its dreams of entering into fellowship and to seek emergency in a more modest, then wait six months since their accountants (the modern pathological) dictate that their production costs have doubled their income. Companies will be taken sick by the Mower of the location (ie Microsoft), including “the millions of dollars in profits,” the importance of its role as a reference account “and” promises Personal CEO “cause the death of the company. The venture capitalists and employees will be left in the hands remain empty (or full of no value). ImprudenceD’autres Greed and technology solutions such as those offered by the suppliers of hybrid technology and services “as SDL, Lionbridge , Berlitz, L & H and used only three Alpnet evasion that most market players have begun to discern: to make customers dependent on the owner of the solution sub-contractor, to monitor, for example, the “loyalty” and spending location of a client sow confusion among naive customers, who tend to trust black boxes rather than personnessemer confusion among investors (by making them believe that a service business location is in fact a business Internet solution “with” competitive advantages revolutionary “in order to drive up the values and actions) how many customers want to be dependent on proprietary technology solution to a subcontractor localization? How many sub-contractors to support a competitor by buying its technology solution? The answer to all these questions is “very little” since most customers (and subcontractors) prefer to use standard tools of the market, universally accepted. (This is why SimulTrans not develop or sell its own tools.) Why all businesses related to the field of translation, having invested heavily in developing their own technology, they have failed over the past ten years, thus swelling the ranks of victims of failed mergers? They failed because they have lost sight of their objective, they also lost money by seeking a “technological solution” instead of investing in the key: make customers and employees heureux.En of other words, the recent period of “technology of globalization is more than a fad created by the fury, recklessness and greed of investors” dot-com, venture capitalists, investment bankers and some managers in the localisation.Qui survive? It should be noted that some of the “hybrid technology providers and services” mentioned above do not disappear probably due to a disproportionate investment in the technology of globalization (they can fail due to other management problems, but it is an entirely different subject). If their CEOs are smart, they invest in their employees, give priority to their customers, waiting patiently for their mistakes and commit to better weaken rush and pick up the remaining crumbs. If I had bet on the survivors, I would choose Lionbridge and SDL. Their CEO, I have never met, but I am the press releases and financial statements, are admirable in respect of their objectives, financial skills and understanding of the market in general. Other companies mentioned above seem to be comatose or moribund éteintes.Bien already I think my own business, SimulTrans survive, I am not proud or confident enough to assert as a fact. The location is a tough field, especially in Silicon Valley, and any miscalculation could mean the end of SimulTrans. In analyzing the industry in general, I think that some, but little of the business location more conventional benefit from these developments in the years to come. The demand for location services will increase dramatically through the Internet. The resources of service providers (large and small) will decrease with the sustained consolidation of the industry. Customers will be smarter, because of poor results and the short life of companies in the technology of globalization. Subcontractors are most successful over the next five years will present the following characteristics: – effective sales offices in several cities strengths in the areas of project management, engineering, localization, multilingual desktop publishing and the software internationalization opportunity to address all major European languages and Asian-effectiveness with priority given to the foundations of a service (recruitment and retention of competent staff, customer satisfaction, process improvement, etc..) — strong financial management, including strict financial controls to prevent “creeping investments” such as technological development, international expansion and production capacity excessiveEn summary, a company thinking of its survival plan must have a well developed business and the possibility of implementing it. Beyond the business plan, the company should be headed by a CEO with a strong management team and unity, composed of knowledgeable industry insiders and directors of business sense. Profound changes are transforming the localization industry, which surely will increase the suffering in the next two years before falling, only companies with a great inner strength and vision will survive to prosper ensuite.Une stronger consolidation to avenirCela does not mean that companies in the technology of globalization on the Internet have no place. On the contrary. And this place is not as autonomous, but in the description of the functionality of a product content management system (CMS). Their names will be added (in lowercase) to the list of missing our industrie.Permettez me explain why companies buy the CMS business of technology and globalization will put an end to these dernières.Le Web which extends by definition to the “world” ( “world wide”) is currently short of standards in several areas, including engineering multilingual, creation, publication and monitoring, which all fall under the category of GSC. Large and powerful companies GSC as well as their customers are confronted with aspects of multilingual desktop publishing on the Internet, which range from A) to structure a website so that it can support multiple languages to Z) translating sites web.Pour address these problems, businesses in the technology of globalization have emerged offering combining A and Z. However, to create a long-term solution to problem Z downstream (ie, translate web sites in a direct way), companies GSC must first deal with the problem upstream A (c ‘ is to say, create standards for the design and management of web sites). A When the problem is solved upstream, downstream Z problem disappear and companies devoted solely to solving this problème.Les firms in the technology of globalization can hardly compete with businesses in the GSC. The latter, part of the localization industry, are too small, insignificant and meaningless to survive facing companies GSC, with more than stock market (ie more support from investors), the strongest balance sheets and management teams stronger. Now that the end of companies in the technology of globalization is inevitable in the eyes of venture capitalists, they enter into partnership with (ie accept investments from) companies such SGC that Interwoven and Vignette to increase their chances of being acquired. It’s a race against time. Before their funds run out, companies in the technology of globalization to be acquired. However, selling a business is not easy in the purchase market today because many companies backed by venture capitalists are secretly purchased enchères.Lorsqu an undertaking of the technology of globalization is sold, its venture capitalists are dispossessed, employees lose their jobs (except developers), managers of new businesses join or retire and customers, who thought the dream of a ‘localization simplified’, are required to find new subcontractors. The new species and / or survivors of the subcontractors of the location shall include any variants of “industry standard” applies to software CMS in the same way that we managed to publish applications such as FrameMaker, Quark, PageMaker Interleaf.ConclusionCe portrait and a dismal future may seem gloomy, but that is part of evolution. The technology is improving all the time. Businesses go through cycles of life, just like men. Fortunately, most of the technologies and companies are created to meet the clients who ultimately benefit from this development.