Social Selling

Panel: It’s budgeting season! How localization pros plan their budgets

Every year localization managers need to face the same exhausting exercise: calculate the budget they’ll need for the year ahead, considering all the expected requirements… while keeping an eye out on the unexpected! This exercise also comes with additional challenges, like allocation, accountability and associated KPIs and ROI, for instance. In this panel discussion, we will have three localization professionals with extensive experience in companies from different verticals (gaming, software, digital services) discussing the challenges and opportunities of creating a localization budget within large organizations. We would like to dig into the failures and lessons learned, as well as best practices when it comes to plan the localization budget depending on your stage in the localization journey and earn the buy-in of the rest of the stakeholders. How do you create a localization budget from scratch? What are the common pitfalls? What are the must-haves? What strategies work? What tools can you use? How can you communicate the plan in the most effective way? All these and more questions will be discussed in this panel, which aims at providing clear takeaways for localization managers with similar challenges.

Hidden waste in the localization end-to-end process

We will share a few stories and examples of unnecessary waste in the localization end-to-end that has high impact on cost and performance. Managers often misunderstand or fail to see it, because our best practices and tools rely on traditional management thinking. If you want to tap into new space for process innovation, don't miss this session.

Translation triangle redefined: the unlikely solution for Continuous Localization

LSPs (translation agencies) are the biggest bottleneck for continuous software localization - their waterfall-type processes slow down their clients' agility and global expansion efforts. However, leaving them out of the process is not smart either, as they possess lots of expertise, contacts and translator community experience. So, what is the answer then?We created an experimental solution which required us to use technology wherever possible (this went much farther than we had expected) but always rely on humans to do what they do best - talk, understand, collaborate. These principles were rooted in Infobip's belief that automation is a must today but human communication is still at the centre of any technology.The results were strikingly positive - translators earned more, LSPs got a steady (but rather different) source of income and we got a scalable, efficient way to make our products work for multiple markets. But above all, we created a truly collaborative environment - which would be impossible with the typical LSP-walled setups - and we'll now keep working this way.I'll be diving into the details of this unique collaborative effort and (almost certainly) provide the audience with some fresh food for thought.

Mental health in the workplace: the coming revolution

Since the start of the pandemic we have seen an acceleration of the industry’s evolution toward a more matured stage of Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 where we are more connected and digital. What was unprecedented is not only the dimension of the changes from personal, professional to social, but the speed. Unlike machines, human beings need time to process a change and adapt to the new environment. The impact of mental health on our performance is unquestionable, and we must check our well-being in the same way that we keep an eye on our physical health. Still, there has been a spike in mental health issues, which has put this topic firmly in the spotlight, both on individual and corporate level. The panel talks about employers’ responsibility in this very personal matter. They may need to invest to tackle this issue because their employees’ mental health affects not only their business results but reputation.

Expecting a TMS: 9 months of wonder, reflection and hard work!

Сhoosing TMS is exciting, but is neither easy nor fast. When we just started we didn't know that it would take exactly 9 month to prepare and held a TMS selection project. I would like to share our experience in launching and leading a TMS selection project from a buyer perspective. I will talk about our challenges and findings, and how preparing the offer and going through selection process for the vendors might be different when the buyer is an enterprise like Agilent. Join me to get the insights on how to prepare for RFI/RFP, what to check during the POC and how to choose an ideal candidate among several perfectly fine suppliers.

Localization M&A, Quo Vadis?

The industry’s latest M&A operations show that more than ever localization is a “hot commodity” for different kinds of investors. PE, venture capital and existing companies are all longing for the stable growth that the industry has provided for the last decade. As investors outside the industry try to diversify and strengthen their portfolios, acquisitions are happening at a fast pace. In this panel we will analyse past trends, the most recent M&A operations and what they mean for the companies involved, the industry as a whole, and what does the future look like. We will look and discuss these and other related topics through the lens of 3 M&A experts who will be sharing their views and opinions based on their experience and strategic view.

Selecting a loc model and a loc vendor

In this session we will discuss ways to address localization under different models with detailed insights into the pro and cons of each model. On the second part we will discuss useful criteria to select a localization supplier. If you want to know more about localization models, RFPs or just curious how companies organize their localization internally this is a good session for you. No prior knowledge is required for this session but a general understanding of localization is helpful.

Multilingual content delivery at scale

Continuous localization is something usually associated with software development. However the same principles can be applied to other content — marketing, or support. In this talk we will describe how a new approach to building connectors enables scalable continuous multilingual content delivery.

The big localization industry consolidation – how to compete against the big LSPs

The localization industry is consolidating with global agencies growing larger and larger. M&A activity is heating up and the air for local, specialized LSPs gets thinner. Founders and CEOs from Supertext, Venga Global, Versacom and Terra Translations discuss their experiences in competing against bigger LSPs. What are their strategies for retaining clients and winning over new prospects? How do they differentiate themselves? Attendees will learn about different approaches to building and growing localization businesses in a competitive environment and what it takes to compete with and win against the likes of the largest LSPs in the world. The panel will be aimed at attendees who own, manage and work for small and medium-sized LSPs, but also at buyers looking for the right commercial partners. Find out more about the power of true complementary, service quality, industry focus, and local presence. The panelists are highly experienced founders and CEOs at small and medium sized localization businesses. They are ideally positioned to speak about their experience in growing and competing in this industry.