Cloud Translation is one of the many platform services Smartling provides to their translators to improve the quality of their services. But what is it, exactly?
What is Cloud Translation?
To the more polished and professional translator, Cloud Translation means access to an entire Translation Management System, with features like Translation Memory and powerful automation, no matter where you are in the world.
The advantages are indisputable but also easily attainable: faster translations, saving time and costs, improved quality of work, and, more broadly, Cloud Translation can give translators powerful leverage to stand out among competition.
When you pair a sensible solution with a savvy linguist, the work you do will be next level.
Cloud Translation Features You Won’t Want To Work Without
Under traditional circumstances, a typical translation process would require a lot of back and forth to get all the pieces of a project into place, even before a translator would be able to begin working.
Smartling’s technology allows translators to get started and do their job according to their clients’ needs without wading through a chain of endless emails, sharing spreadsheets, or enduring the time suck of setting up calls to align on minute details.
These assets are essentials, and include:
- Brand glossaries and style guides to ensure consistency with brand tone
- Visual Context editing to see how translations fit into the overall design
- Automated quality checks to remind translators of any errors in their work
- Translation Memory to save time by reusing previously translated content
- Project Automation for assignments and even up-to-date job opportunities.
With the right tools in place, translators can focus on the small, but crucial, elements to language translation that help express and carry your brand’s voice and tone.
Faster Translations
Translators have a leg up when using Smartling’s technology because it ensures faster translations and faster logistics.
Who doesn’t want to have an advantage in their field? In short, Cloud Translation Management Systems put all the vital elements for a successful project at your fingertips no matter your physical location in the world. And our translators love the freedom of working from wherever they please!
When it comes to components, some of the major features of Smartling’s technology includes the previously mentioned glossaries, style guides, and translation memories to provide translators with incredibly useful guidance.
With less guess work in the process, translators can cut down on the time spent searching for the right word or phrase to use, and instead are empowered to complete their tasks much faster than before.
And that helps translators push out quality work in an efficient, timely manner, which leads to increased productivity and the confidence to take on multiple projects. Cha-ching!
Save Time and Money
All businesses want to save time and money, right? Well, so do translators.
If you’re in the translation world you know there are prevalent challenges across the industry including, but not limited to, lack of insight or visibility into the progress of your projects and subjective quality management.
With the ability to analyze key metrics, Smartling makes it possible to understand where content is held up in the process, and how to better optimize around cost savings. For translators, this means they have clear visibility into the project and existing progress, allowing them to better budget their time around individual tasks.
Translation memory also helps translators save both time and money every time they work, while working to improve translation quality at ther same time. As translators get to work on content, Smartling is continuously scanning for new words or phrases, adding them into the TM. Next time those strings are re-used, the platform pulls them directly from the Translation Memory, saving both time and money.
For example, if your brand utilizes specific a boilerplate statement for every press release, instead of paying to translate a recurring blurb, Smartling’s translation memory will automatically recognize the strings and apply the correct translation, eliminating the need to translate it repeatedly.
Powerful Automation
The other side of the coin is that businesses and translators also reap the rewards of Cloud technology. For any business allocating annual spend for translation services, there is always the potential to lower costs by implementing automation.
Saving time and money via automation leads to your content getting to market faster and with significantly less errors. It also means that translators aren’t burdened with the more basic and repetitive tasks that would otherwise take up critical time in their workflows.
A simple example: an app update is needed. The new content goes straight to the translator’s workflow and assigned as a job, so they can begin working as soon as they’re ready. It’s that simple!
Reducing cost and saving time are top tier goals across all industries. Gone are the days of wasting time and energy. In Adrian Cohn’s blog piece about cloud tech he writes, “Translation job automation alone completely eliminates the need for people to do the same thing over and over again when it can simply be configured once.”
Let’s say a developer updates their code repository for an app update; using Smartling’s automation, they could quickly pump the latest app version directly into the platform and have translation begin immediately.
Better Quality Translations, Too
Whether you are on the linguist end or the business side, we can agree that old adage, “Saving money means sacrificing quality” doesn’t benefit anyone.
With Smartling’s Cloud Translation platform, companies and translators work in tandem on one platform, streamlining project management, honoring the context of the project and cutting costs without risking sloppy execution.
The results are faster translations, slashing time and cost, and turning out stellar, quality work. Used consistently, Smartling’s platform can give both translators and companies a bridge of control and input, resulting in healthy working relationships and a happy rapport.
Professionals understand that the power of brand recognition and trust is a major component of success as we build our customer base and the list of our clients. No one wants to be labeled as inconsistent or associated with being untrustworthy. Staying organized and ahead of the game is crucial no matter the industry.
The Smartling Advantage
See Smartling in action- it just takes a couple of minutes. Our Smartling team can show you how to measure and manage quality, decrease your cost and increase your efficiency.
You can request a demo and someone will take you through options that meet your specific concerns. Or, join in on one of our free webinars and events, happening every week! You’ll be surprised how easy it can be to streamline your translation needs.
About Laura
Laura Wyant is a freelance digital strategist and writer/editor. She is currently working with start-ups, tech companies, and health and healing spaces. Laura has been contributing to the Smartling blog on topics around cloud translation, digital strategy, and overall creative translation process. When she isn’t working in media, she is working to educate herself on matters such as intersectional women’s health and advancements in technology.
