We have very exciting things going on at Welocalize this year, but this would not be possible without the incredible hard work everyone put in during 2011. 2011 marked the greatest single-year expansion in the company’s history. The pace of change, the dedication of our partners and staff in working long hours to keep up and the support of our clients in trusting us to take-on increasing volume and complexity – were all at the greatest levels I have ever seen.
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To put it into perspective:
- Revenue Record: $24 million added (39% growth)
- Hiring Record: over 100 new staff added
- Merger Record: three, with Park being our largest ever
- Word Count Record: 400 million
- Language Record: 115
Our revenue climbed by 39% to $83 million, and it is amazing when you consider it was one word at a time. We moved an enormous amount of words around the world at a dizzying pace with a supply chain of over 10,000 people.
I am also happy to report that we made significant progress towards my vision of being the On-Demand translation leader. This means delivering services at a competitive price and with minimal inconvenience to clients with large and complex ongoing day-to-day demands. On-Demand translation is the shift towards continuous translation as opposed to episodic projects. It is characterized by tight integration with IT systems, “right now” deadlines, and a high level of automation.
All of these developments have positioned us for an outstanding 2012, and we began the year with an exciting announcement: our merger with Park IP.
Park IP is the leading patent and legal translation firm in the USA. Our plan is to continue to expand the breadth of translation services we can offer and this addition of Legal translation services fits perfectly.
In addition, this merger now takes us over $100 million in revenue! This is a major milestone for our staff, clients and partners, and I want to thank all of you for your support.
Now I want to describe what we have planned for 2012. All of us on the leadership team are more enthusiastic than we have ever been about the company’s prospects to deliver a superior continuous localization (On-Demand) service built upon a strong foundation of Operational Excellence. There is a positive buzz in the company and around our industry about the great things going on at Welocalize. We are evolving rapidly and leading a transformation in our industry around continuous localization.
Given the rapid changes in the world related to On-Demand content being available on any device, anywhere in the world and in any language – an enormous opportunity exists for Welocalize to be recognized as the continuous localization (On-Demand) leader in our industry. We have built a company that is able to increase velocity, increase quality and drive out waste like no other in our industry. Our rally cry for 2012 is to DRIVE OUT WASTE!
A strong culture and meaningful values create an enduring company. This is also at the heart of our growth plans. We are big believers in Patrick Lencioni’s work and program to build a “healthy company”. We are even referenced in his new book, “The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business!” Investing in our culture and satisfaction of our people remains a top focus for 2012.
Thank you again for all of the support. I am very proud of what we have all accomplished together.
Smith
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