Is Your Translation Business Model Obsolete

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014
By Sudheen M, Crystal Hues Limited

In my earlier article (http://www.crystalhueslimited.blogspot.ae/2013/12/are-we-staring-at-end-of-days-for-lsps.html) I had delved on the two reasons that may be the leading causes for the sudden dip in the business of Language Service Providers, especially those offering translation, editing and proof reading services. The two reasons included online integrators which provided the platform for client-translator interaction and technological innovations that helped reuse and automate translation.

An article written by Michael Fitzpatrick in NYT News Service and reproduced in Times of India on January 5, 2014 specifically highlighted the technological advancement in translation and speech recognition. He pointed out the steeply climbing corporate investments in technology, surmising that there is a noticeable shift from “manpower to silicon power” in areas like translation.

Interpretation services with integration of technology, are now available at the click of button with largely automated backend operations and delivering it through telephone, Internet and other means. Naturally, this removed the premium prices demanded by the scarce resources since large pool of resources are now made available killing the monopoly of resources in a specific geographic location.

Though this article sounds a bit ominous, it highlights the urgent need to reinvent the traditional business model of vast majority of the LSPs, which is based on just managing the project and the resources.

I thank all those who contacted me with their feedback and anxieties. In my next blog, I will be sharing our experiences in an effort to look at possible way forward.