Hello Welocalize Community,
 

I have exciting news! I am happy to announce our merger with a company called Park IP Translations.

Combined, we are now over $100 million in sales with 12 offices and nearly 600 people worldwide!

This is an extraordinary milestone for all of us, and I want to recognize the support of our clients, staff and partners in this great accomplishment.

For your information, here is a question and answer summary:
 

Q: What does Park do?

A: Park is one of the top providers of translation services in the legal field including patent translations, litigation support, mergers & acquisitions and contracts. 

Q: Will Park keep their name and existing team?

A: Yes, the existing Park management and staff will remain in place.  They will operate as a Welocalize subsidiary, and they will continue with the Park name.

Q: What size is Park?

A: They have 35 employees and approximately $25 million in sales.

Q: What do we have planned?

A: We plan to use our merger as a way to offer our respective clients a larger variety of translation/localization services and technology. 

Q: Are there any changes at Welocalize related to the merger?

A: No, there are no Welocalize changes associated with the merger other than now being able to offer legal translation services to our clients and the addition of the Park offices and staff in New York City and Beijing.

 
Thank you again for your support!

Smith

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It’s hard to believe three years has gone by since we launched GlobalSight as an open source product.   Time flies when you are having fun, and we have had a lot of great experiences with GlobalSight.  The open source nature of the product has helped us to improve efficiency across our supply chain through open collaboration and interoperability – even with competitor’s products such as SDL Passolo.  The open source nature of GlobalSight has also lead to it becoming “one of the most deployed TMSes in the market”, per a recent Common Sense Advisory blog post.  I have included the blog post below.

I want to congratulate our GlobalSight development team and say thank you to the GlobalSight community (over 5,300 strong!)  We remain committed to advancing the GlobalSight feature set and expanding our community through open collaboration and interoperability.

Smith

CSA Blog Post

GlobalSight was one of the first translation management systems (TMSes), debuting in 1998 (see "The Attack of the TMS Patents," Dec11). It was acquired by an Irish language service provider (LSP), Transware, in 2005, following a byzantine refinancing scheme by the two companies' backers. Shortly after Welocalize purchased Transware in 2008, GlobalSight was made open source. Fast-forward to May 2011, when GlobalSight.com had nearly 5,300 subscribers to the site and a total of 18,000 downloads.

That level of user interest putatively makes GlobalSight one of the most deployed TMSes in the market. However, from day one we've been watching for active participation in the open-source effort by developers other than Welocalize (number 18 on our list of top 50 global suppliers). Welocalize dedicated resources to renovating and updating GlobalSight, initially by replacing commercial components such as Oracle with open-source equivalents like MySQL (now owned by Oracle). Development on GlobalSight by other commercial entities and academics would prove that the open-source model was succeeding.

In September, GlobalSight 8.2 was announced with support for SDL Passolo, allowing users of that visual localization engineering tool to import language project (LPU) files into GlobalSight as source files. Previously, users localizing software such as dynamic link libraries (DLLs) had to work outside the mainstream of documentation and externalized code that could be processed through a TMS. With this integration, DLL content is presented in the same context as HTML and Word files, so localizers can get the benefit of shared translation memories and terminology databases as do translators. Welocalize's Derek Coffey told us that a future release, 8.4, in the second quarter of 2012 will be able to import DLLs directly into GlobalSight, further simplifying the process.

More immediately, the planned January release of version 8.3 will introduce the smart box, a client-side service that will allow for easier connection to remote software such as content management systems (CMS). For example, it will expedite file transfers between GlobalSight and the clients CMS and add single-screen project creation.

Support for Passolo will hopefully grease the skids for more such integrations by competitors and third-party providers, thus affirming GlobalSights open-source credentials. Elsewhere, Welocalize continues to invest in interoperability, segueing from its work with LISA on standards to GALA (see "Language Industry Standards as a Driver for Growth," Sep11). As our most recent report on the TMS universe shows, there is no single tool on the market that covers every single feature and function area (see "How to Select a Translation Management System," Nov11). However, with these updates, GlobalSight stands to boost its score in the area of interoperability. Will competing TMSes follow suit? We'll stand by to find out.

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Welocalize has been actively supporting interoperability initiatives across the industry such as Interoperability Now and Open TM2.  We have also been working on practical implementations of interoperability between products, and we are happy to announce interoperability between Passolo and GlobalSight.  The products have been connected through their APIs.  GlobalSight uses the Passolo API to import Language Project (LPU) files into GlobalSight as source files for translation and move them through a translation workflow. This allows the user to take advantage of existing TMs, Machine Translation and other GlobalSight features when working with content supplied by Passolo. GlobalSight updates the LPU through Passolo's API when the translation process completes.

The productivity of our industry's tools is greatly improved through interoperability, and we are excited to make this step forward.

Smith

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Welocalize has been investing heavily in growth, and I am happy to report that our consistent growth has been recognized once again.  For the 7^th year in a row, we have won the Inc 500|5000 award for America’s fastest growing private companies.

It is rare for a company to win this award for so many years in a row, and it is a great achievement for all of our staff to enable this incredible growth for so long.  I know it has been hard work, and I want to sincerely thank our staff, clients and partners.  Many companies grow, but only a small few grow consistently while building a strong company that stands the test of time.

Here is the list of non-government language service providers recognized by Inc magazine:

Rank         Company                                    Growth    Revenue         

1283	G3 Translate	225%	$2.8 million
1474	Global Language Solutions	190%	$9.9 million
1517	SignTalk	183%	$4.1 million
1886	Language Services Associates	137%	$26.8 million
2230	CyraCom International	111%	$37.4 million
2328	Welocalize	104%	$59.6 million
3117	CETRA Language Solutions	64%	$3.8 million
3202	Universal Language Service	61%	$5 million
3216	TransPerfect	61%	$251.2 million
3338	ProTranslating	55%	$11.1 million
3548	U.S. Translation	48%	$2.2 million
3771	Para-Plus Translations	39%	$2.3 million
3935	Geneva Worldwide	34%	$7.5 million
4003	Dynamic Language Center	32%	$6.8 million
4412	Fluent Language Solutions	21%	$5.9 million

Regards,
Smith

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The US Debt Ceiling crisis has created no shortage of drama over the last several months.  Whether in government or in business, one simply has to pay out less than what is taken in order to stay financially solvent.  Fortunately, Welocalize has not had this problem.  Our revenue in the first half of 2011 increased 44% over 2010, and our earnings continued to grow and remain healthy.  But like any other business or government, we have had to make tough choices.  There is never enough time or money to accomplish everything on the wish list.  The decision making challenge is in prioritization, and the goal should be an enduring structure with not only a stable ceiling but also a sound roof to keep out leaks.  This is the kind of business we are building here at Welocalize.

High growth creates great opportunities, but growth also creates structural challenges.  As an example, Ireland has endured through the perils of both.  After reaching an historical high of 5.47 percent GDP growth in March of 2007, Ireland fell to a record low of -4.47 percent in December of 2008. The cause of the decline, as we all know, was a systemic failure in the financial system, and not only in Ireland.  Debt knew no ceiling throughout the world; the growth was not built upon a scalable foundation and the roof caved in.

Learning from this example and others over the past 14 years, it has been my priority to make sure that Welocalize continues to grow upon a scalable and reliable foundation.  We have made significant investments to ensure this.  We have added over 100 staff in the past 12 months giving us a current total of 500 worldwide, and we will invest nearly $4 million this year in our technology products and infrastructure.  At the core of our growth will remain our 4-Pillars: Customer Service, Quality, Innovation and Teamwork.  We regularly ask our clients to measure us in our 4-Pillars, and we also use them to measure ourselves. 

Entering the second half of the year, I feel very fortunate and optimistic.  Economic challenges still persist around the world, but all signs are pointing to 2011 being a great year for Welocalize.  I want to thank our clients, staff and vendors.  Our industry is changing, and I plan on Welocalize being a leader in that change.  As President Herbert Hoover once said, “About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends.” 

Smith

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The recent ranking by Common Sense Advisory (CSA) of the Top-50 Language Service Providers listed an incomplete total for Welocalize's 2010 revenue.  Although it was no fault of their own, CSA has been wonderfully supportive in helping us to correct the revenue total and agreed to issue a correction notice.  Our total 2010 revenue was US$59.61 million giving us a corrected ranking of #15 in the world in their report.  Here is the link to the correction notice on the CSA website, and I have also included it below.

Correction Notice: Welocalize

In May 2011, Common Sense Advisory published a ranking of the Top 50 language service providers (LSPs) in the world (see "The Language Services Market: 2011," May11). This report contained information about provider growth rates and revenue for both language services and technology.

Description of Corrections
After the report was published, Common Sense Advisory was made aware that the 2010 revenue listed for Welocalize corresponded only to language services revenue, and did not in fact include technology and associated services revenue.

Had the company’s technology and associated services revenue been included, Welocalize would have been listed as #15 in the Top 50 instead of #18, with total revenue from language services plus technology of US$59.61 million for 2010, a significant jump above the services revenue of US$44.71. Table 2, in which the Top 50 companies appear, is located on Page 20 of the report.

Given the company’s prior year’s revenue of US$50.30, the company grew at a rate of 18.50%. This growth rate was more than double the average market growth rate of 7.41% as measured from a sample of 912 language service providers worldwide. This growth rate also would have qualified Welocalize for inclusion on Table 3, which language service providers that outperformed the underlying market growth rate.

In addition, while Welocalize did not appear on our first ranking published in 2005, which was based on 2004 revenue, the company did appear in subsequent rankings starting in 2006, and has appeared every year since its first appearance. Therefore, the company qualified to be mentioned on Page 21, under the bullet titled, "Perennial Performers."

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The Multi-Screen Opportunity

What is the biggest driver of growth in our industry right now?  I believe it is what I refer to as the “multi-screen” opportunity.  Let me explain.  In the past, accessing many forms of content was cumbersome and slow.  Finding what you wanted in a printed manual took a long time.  Renting or buying a video required a trip to the store.  Accessing various forms of content required specialized devices, and connecting these devices was either challenging or nor possible.  These factors contributed to limits in growth and subsequently growth in the translation industry to support multilingual versions of that content and its underlying applications.

But this has all changed, and the change is accelerating.  The TV, the music player, the phone, the game console, these devices are all converging in exciting ways all over the world in nearly every language.  Content is now doubling on the internet every 18 months, and millions of new users are becoming connected every day.  Thus, the way they are accessing information is changing.

I can’t remember the last time when I referenced a hard copy version of content to answer a question.  Like many people, I just Google it.  And I Google it from any screen: my desktop, laptop, phone or TV – and even more so now, my iPad.  The convenience is great, and it is not just content; I am using more and more applications on a variety of screens.  What I am looking for in both content and applications is simple: a great user-experience supporting anything I want, on any device, on-demand, at any time of day and at any place in the world.  And I am not alone.  Look at video as an example.  I recently read that  25% of video is already viewed on mobile devices and internet-enabled televisions, and that number is growing rapidly.

This change as it relates to our industry is centered on two main themes: in a cluttered world with myriad choices, quality content is king, and people will pay for a better user experience on their devices.  Higher quality content and a stronger economic underpinning mean one thing to our industry – more words to translate!  The challenge is how?

Given the momentum in convergence across the information technology spectrum, our industry risks being left behind.  Our technologies must also begin to converge.  Our user experience must become simpler and on-demand.  The quality and speed of our services must progress through collaborative innovation.

There are a variety of innovation efforts being lead by our associations such as GALA and TAUS.  I recommend getting involved.  Change is afoot.  Greater adoption of standards and interoperability benefit all of us in the industry.  If we don’t innovate together, we risk missing an enormous opportunity for our industry as a whole.

Smith

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