A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper Commissioned By SDL November 2016 Remove Translation Barriers That Obstruct Digital Experience Success A Global Content Operating Model Provides Significant Benefits
Table Of Contents Executive Summary... 1 Companies Run Websites In Many Languages Around The World... 2 Localization Is Common, But The Process Is Not... 2 The Benefits Of A Global Content Operating Model Are Significant... 5 Key Recommendations... 7 Appendix A: Methodology... 8 Appendix B: Demographics/Data... 8 ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING Forrester Consulting provides independent and objective research-based consulting to help leaders succeed in their organizations. Ranging in scope from a short strategy session to custom projects, Forrester s Consulting services connect you directly with research analysts who apply expert insight to your specific business challenges. For more information, visit forrester.com/consulting. 2016, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. [1-ZSOV82] Project Director: Lisa Smith, Senior Consultant, Market Impact Contributing Research: Forrester's Application Development and Delivery research group
1 Executive Summary In the age of the customer, digital experiences and touchpoints must be not only available but also relevant to customers local needs. For this reason, are operating a multitude of websites, often localized by language or geography. Additional content is often translated and localized by local teams, including brand content, product content, and pricing information. All of this requires coordination, and are finding that current technologies, processes, and operating models must evolve to support global web and content operations. In order to balance global brand standards with local content needs, companies currently weave together a patchwork of technologies, services, and often local translation and content resources to build relevant content. But is this sustainable in the long term? Will shifting to a global content operating model streamline processes? In July 2016, SDL commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the shift toward global web and content operations. Forrester developed a hypothesis asserting that companies will need a global content operating model that balances global efficiency with local control. Successful will use this operating model to create and manage websites, content, and experiences that delight customers and meet business needs. A global content operating model includes technology and processes to manage security, localization, compliance, and workflows for local and culturally relevant digital experiences at global-local scale. Forrester conducted in-depth surveys with 151 business and IT professionals in the US, and found that nearly half of are planning to move to a global content operating model within 24 months, anticipating better brand consistency and improved customer experience. Enterprises support a multitude of languages, local websites, and content types. Seventy percent of companies support five or more languages across not only websites, but also additional content types like product content and pricing sheets, marketing content, technical information, and rich media like video. Few have direct integration between their web CMS and translation services or systems. For those working with a language service provider or translation management system, only 29% reported their web CMS has direct integration with the language translation service or system to fully automate the localization process, leaving 71% with subpar manual processes. Organizational and technical challenges slow progress. Distributed content and multiple repositories combined with a fragmented ecosystem of complex legacy systems undermine technological solutions, and the resulting organizational challenges are significant. Sixty-two percent of have five or more content repositories that they need to juggle for localization efforts, and 36% have 10 or more repositories. Distributed budgets lead to distributed control, making it challenging to develop, test, and deploy new functionality. A global content operating model can alleviate challenges and provide clear benefits. While only 19% of have a global content operating model today, an additional 48% plan to adopt one in the next two years. Our study found that companies see value in a global content operating model regardless of the number of languages that need to be supported. Enabling brand consistency and improving customer experience, coupled with operational efficiencies, are the key drivers for this shift. KEY FINDINGS Forrester s study yielded five key findings: Enterprises struggle with localization. Ninety-two percent of companies face challenges as they translate content into different languages, including lack of standardization and a lack of understanding of customer needs at a local level.
2 Companies Run Websites In Many Languages Around The World The balance of power has shifted in favor of the customer, and as a result, businesses need to create superior customer experiences to remain competitive. In order to build relevant dialogue with a global audience of prospects and customers, many large organizations realize the burden of relevance is on them. In order to deliver web experiences tailored to customers needs, we found that: Enterprises operate a multitude of websites. Of those companies running multiple websites, more than twothirds (68%) run 10 or more websites, and 15% are running 100 or more. Country-specific websites mirror this trend nearly half of (47%) are running 10 or more country websites, and nearly a third (31%) are running 20 or more. Enterprises support multiple languages. Seven of 10 companies are supporting five or more languages across all websites. More than a fifth (21%) support 20 or more languages across all websites (see Figure 1). Websites and digital touchpoints are multilingual. While English digital customer touchpoints such as websites, marketing collateral, and brand content are available for virtually all responding, half of reported supporting touchpoints in five additional languages, including Spanish (87%), French (73%), Chinese (64%), German (59%), and Japanese (50%). FIGURE 1 Seventy Percent Of Enterprises Support Five Or More Languages How many languages does your company support across all your websites? Which of the following languages does your company currently support for digital customer touchpoints? 30% Less than 5 languages 23% 16% Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US (top languages supported by 50% or more of respondents) FIGURE 2 Localized Content Is Predominantly Marketing And Product Focused 5% 5 to 9 10 to 19 20 to 49 50 or more Top Languages Supported English Spanish French Chinese German Japanese What types of content does your organization currently localize? (Select all that apply) Localization Is Common, But The Process Is Not Most organizations embrace translation of digital content into local languages. Unfortunately, digital content owners find it difficult to prove value or attribute local success back to this effort. For many organizations, the disconnect lies at the heart of fragmented localization strategies, budgets, processes, and technologies. Specifically, we found that: Product content Marketing messaging Marketing and sales collateral Brand content Email and other customer communications Pricing information Technical documentation Video 71% 70% 68% 59% 58% Awareness 48% 47% 47% Enterprises focus on localizing the content that helps them drive brand and product awareness. The majority of US localize marketing messaging and product content more specifically, top content types include marketing and sales collateral, brand content, and email or other customer communications (see Figure 2). Training Software 34% 44% Consideration or usage Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US
3 However, over 50% of companies do not localize content types that support midfunnel and post-purchase activities, such as pricing, technical documentation, and training. Yet companies struggle to prove the ROI on localization. A quarter of the that do not currently localize websites don t see the added business value or potential return on investment necessary to grow localization efforts. In addition, operational issues and technology challenges drive complexity as work to keep localized content consistent with master content. CONTENT TRANSLATION IS A HODGEPODGE OF SOLUTIONS TODAY Enterprises are using an assortment of technologies, processes, and partners to translate website content today. This coupled with the distribution of website responsibility and budgets leads to both organizational and technical challenges, which can compromise the business value of localization efforts. Our study found that : Still often translate content themselves. While nearly half of firms (45%) reported using a language translation service provider (LSP), 40% translate content themselves. Less than a third (29%) use a translation management system (TMS) to manage translation workflows (see Figure 3). Are embracing machine translation. Depending on the type of content, up to two-thirds of use some degree of machine translation. Most are still in transition, however, as the vast majority of firms (between 72% and 87%) rely on a combination of machine and human translation or solely human translation (see Figure 4). FIGURE 3 Forty-Five Percent Of Enterprises Use An LSP Or Translation Proxy Provider How does your company currently translate content? We contract out to a language translation service provider (LSP) or translation proxy provider We translate the content ourselves We manage the translation workflows with a translation management system (TMS) We don t translate content; every piece of content is created in its intended language Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US 3% 29% 40% 45% FIGURE 4 Machine Translation Is A Critical Component Of Localization Which of the following types of translation services do you use for each of the items below? Machine plus human translation Human translation Machine translation Don t know/does not apply Brand content (n = 60) 52% 35% 13% There are areas where we ll require a great deal of internal politics and management. There also will be budgetary challenges. Rich media (e.g., videos) (n = 47) Pricing information (n = 55) Marketing messaging (n = 72) Product content (n = 73) 49% 45% 43% 42% 23% 38% 15% 36% 19% 40% 16% Digital manager, consumer packaged goods Have website ownership and budgets dispersed across teams and business units. There s no clear consensus on who owns translation and localization of Base: Variable managers responsible for global digital experiences in US
4 website and mobile experiences. More than a third of companies reported that ownership sits in functional groups like marketing (38%), web operations (38%), and/or country teams (35%). Meanwhile, only a quarter of companies have a separate language translation process and team. With responsibility and ownership of translations dispersed, it isn t surprising that 49% of reported that budgets are spread across multiple teams and business units. FRAGMENTATION STYMIES LOCALIZATION When it comes to localizing content, significant implementation challenges often stand in the way. Large organizations often uncover a fragmented landscape of complex legacy systems and repositories that undermine a standard technical solution. Our study found that face these major challenges: A multitude of content repositories. Content that is localized and translated for online use resides in multiple content repositories, or content management systems (CMSes). Nearly two-thirds of (62%) have five or more content repositories that they need to juggle for localization efforts, and 36% have 10 or more repositories. Meanwhile, only 38% have less than five content repositories. A lack of integration. For those working with an LSP or TMS, only 29% reported their web CMS has direct integration with the language translation service or system. While 49% reported their CMS has workflow to help translate content built in, 17% are manually integrating translated content into their CMS, increasing time and effort needed for localization (see Figure 5). We're actually going to get a lot more engagement from the countries on keeping this stuff updated and relevant. Director, digital marketing, technology FIGURE 5 Less Than A Third Of Enterprises Have Direct CMS Integration You said you use a language translation service or translation management system to translate content for your websites. How do you integrate these into any content repository or system? Our web CMS has workflow built in to help us translate content Our web CMS has direct integration with our language translation service/system We do it manually; there is no direct integration Don t know Only 29% can fully automate the process. 17% 29% 49% Base: 102 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US that use a language service provider or translation management system ORGANIZATIONAL DYSFUNCTION IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF ALL Nine out of 10 companies have localization challenges or issues, and most report that localization cannot be solved with a one-time capital investment. In fact, the technology angle of this challenge often pales in comparison to the organizational problems. Digital operations leaders told us that they face: Distributed budgets. Nine out of 10 companies reported having some level of difficulty managing global and local content efficiently. Nearly half (49%) are challenged by budgets spread across multiple teams or business units. Distributed budgets create organizational challenges as well; for example, 34% of companies struggle with stakeholders who won t give up control. 5%
5 FIGURE 6 Nine Out Of 10 Companies Face Translation Challenges said that they can t empower local teams to make changes or add new pages on sites. What challenges does your organization face as you translate content into different languages? Lack of standardization for translation process 35% There is reluctance from the local level to implement what is mandated at a global level. Digital manager, consumer packaged goods Lack of understanding of the needs of customers at a local level Lack of centralized budgets or chargeback model Inability to operate at scale/speed while maintaining costs and quality Lack of clear goals for what we re trying to achieve with our localization efforts Different stakeholders won t give up control It s too expensive and/or difficult to prove value Not applicable; we don t face any challenges Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US 8% 24% 30% 28% 31% The Benefits Of A Global Content Operating Model Are Significant A global operating model is the true embodiment of localization maturity. A global content operating model includes technology and processes to manage security, localization, compliance, and workflows for local and culturally relevant digital experiences at global-local scale. Digital content leaders tell us that while there are many challenges, the benefits of a global content operating model content ops are clear. For those organizations FIGURE 7 Brand Consistency Is The Top Benefit Of A Global Content Operating Model... it wasn't really possible for me to do that without some level of senior management sponsorship. Basically, people evangelizing about the fact that this is a model that will take our general level of capability in digital to a more competitive level. Head of digital operations, automotive Translation challenges. As translate content into different languages, they face challenges including lack of standardization (35%), inability to scale (28%), lack of understanding of customer needs at the local level (31%), and lack of centralized budgets (30%) (see Figure 6). Mismatched global and local operations. As companies work to localize global websites, it s difficult to deploy new functionality. Nearly half (48%) find there s no simple way to develop, test, and deploy globally, and 35% find it hard to make changes to local sites. Yet despite these challenges with central execution, processes impede local execution as well nearly a third (32%) What benefits have you realized or do you anticipate by implementing a global content operating model? Better brand consistency Higher experience consistency Better compliance More content reuse Improved customer experience Faster time-to-market Lower costs Lower staffing levels and costs Faster experience improvements Reducing or eliminating regional product launch delays Increased revenue Increased control for local teams 25% 24% 23% 19% 15% 38% 36% 36% 33% 49% Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US
6 that manage to stitch this global operating fabric together, they reap the benefits. Specifically, our study found that: Global content operating models are not yet the norm. Six out of 10 currently organize websites by country/region (39%) or business unit (20%). Only 19% reported using a centralized operating model to organize and operate their sites, and the remaining either use a mix of organizational models or organize some other way. The study showed that regardless of the number of languages that need to be supported, companies see value in a global content operating model. A global content operating model provides both customer experience and efficiency benefits. The most realized or anticipated benefit of implementing a global content operating model is better brand consistency (see Figure 7). In addition, a third of expect a global content operating model to improve customer experience, and 24% anticipate faster experience improvements. Qualitative interviews supported this finding, as one respondent stated, The end goal is to provide a great customer experience. Lower costs and increased efficiency are achievable. More than a quarter of () expect to lower costs, and 25% anticipate lower staffing levels and related staffing costs. Nineteen percent of foresee increased revenue as a result of implementing a global content operating model (see Figure 7). The goal is to be able to really meet customers needs and expectations and then still really be locally relevant. Director, digital marketing, technology The promises of global content operating models spur adoption. Enterprises are gradually shifting to a global content operating model. Nearly half (48%) of companies plan to move to a global content operating model within the next two years, and an additional 21% have a longer timeframe or don t have a set timeframe (see Figure 8). FIGURE 8 Nineteen Percent Of Enterprises Have A Global Content Operating Model; 48% Are Moving Toward This Within 24 Months Which of the following best describes your company s implementation plans for a global content operating model? We are already using this model 19% We plan to implement this model within six months 9% We plan to implement this model in seven to 12 months 19% We plan to implement this model in 13 to 24 months 20% We plan to implement this model in more than two years 7% We are interested in implementing this model, but have no planned timeframe for implementation We are not interested in implementing this model because we re using a different model We are not interested in implementing any formal operating model Don t know 5% 3% 5% 14% A global content operating model is one in which a centralized team handles baseline operations for all websites such as technology selection, vendor management, security, website administration, and language translation. Local teams would still have the ability to administer local experiences and pages, tailor and approve local content, and create microsites and language pages. Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US (percentages may not total 100 because of rounding)
7 Key Recommendations Digital content leaders have been facing globalization and localization challenges for more than a decade. Progressive organizations have seen these challenges and have established a global content operating model to combat the dysfunction that has mired down their operations and to gain competitive advantage. Today, global operating models commonly follow six key tenets: Standardize and centralize your web and content tools. To remove technical barriers to success, it s important to begin consolidating your toolkit for web experiences and content operations, including the web content management system and language translation tools. This will also compel the right discussion about where budgets, staff, and process responsibility lies as localization professionals work to up-level their role and responsibility in the organization. Ensure a global content strategy before localizing. Successful digital content owners tell us that before they start translating, they take a step back to establish the strategy. Determine your international fallback language often English with as few idioms as possible and then create language classes as they relate to the business value of the region or audience. Plan flexible content-ops governance. Successful brand strategists tell us they accept the fact that they don t know everything about local preferences. With this admission, these leaders bake flexibility into their global content operations, which provides local marketers and agencies with the appropriate controls to add value and local relevance. Embrace a portfolio of localization solutions. Translation can be expensive. At global scale, these costs can metastasize. Smart digital leaders tell us they focus top-tier human translation efforts on high-value or sensitive content, whereas lower-value content or less strategic regions receive machine translation support. Nuanced content of mixed value or sensitivity commonly receives a mix or machine translation first, with human linguist quality controls. All of these models combine to form a healthy mix of cost- and time-effective localization, especially as machine translation gains intelligence and capability, taking on more labor-intensive activity. Standardize the integration to streamline localization processes. The best laid plans of many organizations go awry due to project-level implementation shortcuts. The most successful global organizations instead up-level these projects to a product-centric focus that drives repeatability and reuse. Translation memory and translation management systems allow for a flexible middleware layer to act as the buffer between legacy content repositories and a myriad of language services. Iterate toward simplicity, but recognize you may never get there. Most organizations are in a perpetual state of cost-cutting by streamlining the number of language service providers they work with. Unfortunately, translation initiatives sprout like mushrooms in the dark. Mature organizations proactively source relationships with translation specialists and establish flexible technologies, so the business is protected by guardrails but enabled with tools that can jumpstart their initiatives.
8 Appendix A: Methodology In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey of 151 organizations in the US to evaluate enterprise translation and global content management strategies. In addition, Forrester conducted six qualitative interviews, half across SDL customers, to examine these issues in-depth. Survey participants included management-level decision-makers in IT, business, marketing, and operations. The study began in July 2016 and was completed in August 2016. Appendix B: Demographics/Data FIGURE 9 Job Position And Role Which of the following best describes your current position/department? What is your role as the organization works to create a consistent digital experience across all its branded digital experiences globally? Position Department Role In Creating Digital Experience Manager Director Vice president C-level executive Leader Stakeholder Influencer Marketing 17% 42% 34% 36% IT 64% Operations 11% 31% 19% Sales Other 5% 3% 11% Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US (percentages may not total 100 because of rounding)
9 FIGURE 10 Company Size And Revenue Using your best estimate, how many employees work for your firm/organization worldwide? Using your best estimate, what is your organization s annual revenue (USD)? Number of employees Annual revenue 20,000 or more employees 48% 5,000 to 19,999 employees 34% Under 1,000 employees 2% 1,000 to 4,999 employees 16% > $5B 52% $1B to $5B 48% Base: 151 managers responsible for global digital experiences in US