What is Localization?

Localization means that in the process of internationalization, in order to improve market competitiveness and reduce costs, the production and sales of products are organized according to the needs of specific countries / regions or language markets to make them consistent with the organization of specific regional markets. The process of change. In the software industry, for the sake of simplicity, people in the industry often write localization as "L10N", where "10" means 10 letters between the first letter "L" and the last letter "N".

Localization

Localization Enterprise Localization

In the era of economic globalization, large enterprises initially produced products in their home countries and sold them in their own countries. With the increase of production scale and the reputation of products, products began to circulate on the international market. In order to further expand the international market share, an organization form in which local industrial workers complete the transfer of some raw material procurement and processing processes to product demand locations is called enterprise localization. The advanced form of enterprise localization is to integrate into the local society and work with local enterprises to promote the progress and development of the destination society.

HP's understanding of localization includes the localization of markets, products, and personnel, as well as the concept of the so-called corporate citizenship of HP. HP's performance in recent years is closely linked to the company's localized operating ideas. Due to the rapid response capabilities of localization to HP's market, HP can quickly meet domestic large commercial and financial customers User needs. hp company began purchasing parts in China many years ago to supply hp production in factories around the world, with annual purchases exceeding 100 million US dollars. In addition, hp has started to carry out in-depth cooperation with our domestic partners. Established a research center with the National Science and Technology Commission, and researched, developed, and produced analytical instrument products in a joint venture with a domestic manufacturer in Shanghai. In Qingdao, we developed a new generation of medical devices. In terms of software, hp actively participates in and supports the development and application of domestic software vendors, and we cooperate fully on peripherals to ensure compatibility and efficiency in the use of users.

Enterprise localization not only promotes products and product processing processes, but also introduces corresponding production technology and organizational management forms to destinations. Advanced production procedures, technological processes and management methods are fully reflected here. Enterprise localization includes: market localization, production and technology localization, talent localization and other gradually upgraded levels and forms.

Localization market localization

The core of market localization is market share. The strategy to increase market share is to strengthen localization characteristics in terms of corporate culture, management mode, and sales channels. It not only requires a strong first-class technical team, but also needs localized operating forces close to users.

Localization of the market means that the target market is regarded as a long-term continuous development market, not just a marginal market. Gradually increase market investment, establish spare parts and spare parts warehouses, increase engineering and technical personnel training, or cooperate with relevant local agencies to provide timely repair and maintenance services.

Local production and technology localization

Production and technology localization refers to: on hardware, including localization of parts and components and localization of machine production, on software, it integrates international advanced technology with the cultural and economic background of the destination.

In terms of localization of production, because the product life cycle does not match the production line construction cycle, choosing a destination manufacturer that meets the requirements on the production cycle and product quality, establishing an oem cooperation is the first step.

In terms of technology localization, we have begun to do a lot of technical publicity work, so that users can gradually accept the company's existence while accepting new technologies, and have established a huge team of market demand analysis, application development, and system design. A complete distribution and service system. Do a good job in nurturing and supporting the market, regardless of the momentary gains and losses, "support the horse, get a ride", give away products or jointly set up institutions or OEM production. Established a technical support center at the destination, or moved the regional headquarters or research institute of some products to the destination. Maintain close multi-faceted and multi-level cooperative relationships with local research institutions and institutions, as well as manufacturers, and lead the development of technology in destinations or international markets.

For example, Microsoft Corporation actively supports and encourages domestic software vendors to develop application software on Microsoft products, and launches a series of plans to promote the development of domestic software vendors, including financial, technical and training support. Internationally renowned manufacturers, especially software manufacturers, should strengthen cooperation with domestic software manufacturers, which can promote the development of our domestic software industry, and at the same time, shorten the run-in period for international software manufacturers' products when they enter the Chinese market.

Localization of talent

Localization of talents means that not only the majority of industrial workers are locals, but also management personnel, technical backbones, and technical backbones must also have local people as much as possible. This is an important aspect of enterprise localization, which determines the development prospects of international companies and products in the destination market.

In terms of talent localization, the cost and talent capacity must be considered comprehensively. Localized talents should be high-level talents, and senior management talents will not be downgraded by considering only wage costs. At the same time, in terms of product characteristics, management models, corporate culture, etc., without violating the principles, fully respect the habits and practices of local people.

On the other hand, localization of talents is to speed up the core talents' understanding, learning, adaptation and integration of the local human society and corporate culture. This aspect must be given sufficient attention.

For example, there are four measures for Microsoft's talent localization work: First, the localization of middle and senior officials training. The second is to shorten the time difference between the Chinese and English versions of the software. In addition to the operating system, application software, database, voice development tools, and network products, the introduction of Chinese-made home multimedia software. The third is to further improve the localized service system. At present, Microsoft has 5 powerful general agents, 8 Microsoft universities, 100 Microsoft authorized centers, and 700 special dealers in China. The fourth is to combine corporate culture with local culture. Now that China Capital has a global vision, some of Microsoft's practices are worthy of our reference.

Website localization

Website localization refers to the processing of websites to meet the special requirements of language and functions of users in specific markets. May involve text translation, user interface layout adjustment, local feature development, production of online documentation and printed manuals, and software quality assurance activities to ensure that localized versions work properly.

With the rapid development of e-commerce, localizing the website means more convenient and effective communication and communication with potential customers in different countries. Website localization requires not only superb translation skills, but also proficiency in HTML, scripting languages, image localization, and functional testing; it also requires mastering multilingual and dialect solutions to build a bridge of information communication for the understanding of target customers. True localization takes into account the language, culture, customs, and characteristics of the target regional market. After the website is localized, the website will run on the local system platform. People can easily and quickly read the localized website in familiar languages, and naturally improve the efficiency of information transmission.

Localization software localization

Software localization refers to adapting the functions, user interface (UI), online help, and documentation of software products to the specific cultural habits and cultural preferences of the target market. Software localization service scope: software resource translation typesetting, user interface localization, user interface redesign and adjustment, online help system localization, function enhancement and adjustment, function test and translation test, translation automation and product localization management, program text Localization, medical software localization, mechatronics software localization, configuration software localization, game localization, mobile phone software localization, business software localization, engineering software localization, etc.

Game localization

Game localization, also known as game translation, is the translation of games of different nationalities into the languages of other countries.

Of course, it is not only a simple translation of the game into the corresponding language, but also requires that the translated game conform to the usage habits of people in the corresponding country, and also pay attention to the slang usage of local people.