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By Andres Heuberger

The software users of the world have spoken, and they're not all speaking English. In fact, nearly half of all software revenue now originates from outside the U.S. Given the significant growth potential of foreign markets, it is not inconceivable that the U.S. will one day become a secondary market to the rest of the world.

Software developers have acknowledged as much by simultaneously releasing software in an increasing number of languages. According to Lori Brownell, Director of Windows International at Microsoft, the Windows 2000 operating system was localized into 24 languages and supports the viewing and creation in any combination of approximately 60 languages.

As the number of languages multiply, so do the number of challenges. Perhaps the greatest challenge is finding the technology and methodology to deliver world-class customer support to all foreign markets while, at the same time, paying attention to local regulations, cultural preferences, and support needs.

To meet the demands of this exploding market are a growing number of vendors offering a dizzying array of solutions. Clearly, the future is web-based, but how an organization chooses to get there depends upon many factors.

The Paradigm Shift Is On

Traditionally, developers supported their global customers through extensive distribution channels. In-country organizations, distributors, and value-added resellers provided support, either in-person and through regional support centers.

The Internet has changed all that, and it's little wonder that more and more software companies are jumping on the electronic support bandwagon. The Internet allows software companies to deliver automated customers support via knowledge bases, white papers, and FAQs as well as interactive technical support via email and online technical support forums.

It is easy to see the attraction of multilingual web-based support, says Katrina Teague, Vice President of Business Development, at Lionbridge Technologies: "Electronic support represents a paradigm shift from voice-based support. With significant savings in their home markets coming as a result of increased web-based support, software publishers are looking to extend their Internet support sites to their global customers."

The Internet frees organizations from time constraints and offers significant opportunities to scale. According to Teague, web-based support saves an organization from two to 10x what they spend on phone-based support. In addition, customers benefit from language-, locale-, and platform-specific support. Providing this level of customized support is not easy.

The Challenges

There is no magic solution for globalizing Internet customer-support sites. Supporting a global customer base involves highly complex processes that require the integration of engineering, language technology, workflow processes, human translators and testing services.

International customers typically require assistance in their native language, during local business hours. They also do not use web sites in the same manner as American consumers. Certain colors may offend; certain phrases and terms may be too confusing when translated. There are also many technology obstacles: bandwidth available to software publishers, in-country servers, web site internationalization, enhanced email infrastructure, as well as double-byte and bi-directional language issues.

Companies also face organizational challenges. The web affects a company horizontally, impacting nearly every department. Add multiple languages and this impact grows exponential, as well as the risk of failure. Companies who wish to maintain a global presence must decide who controls what, where, and when. There is also the issue of the costs. Who pays for it and from what department?

As a result, one multilingual web-based support system is not appropriate for all software companies. Whether or not such a solution makes sense for a given company depends on the volume of support documentation, the ability to invest significant resources, and the overall corporate strategy for achieving international growth.

The Choices

Companies who must manage multilingual support can choose from technology-only solutions or a mix of technology and professional support services.

Some vendors offer proprietary technology to manage the flow of multilingual support documents. Others promise a more "hands-on" approach, with dedicated and trained customer support reps located in each market. According to Olin Lagon, Chief Architect with WorldPoint, "customer support should be based on an integrated solution of telephone, email, and Internet."

However, for companies considering multilingual web support solutions, the real difference often lies in the philosophy behind the solution.

Complete Outsourcing

WorldPoint offers an outsourced multilingual customer-support solution. Targeted at Global 1000 companies that already have the required technology infrastructure in place, WorldPoint's Passport platform contains a multilingual customer support module.

WorldPoint does not stop there. "Our goal is to provide each customer with a comprehensive solution, where everything is outsourced to WorldPoint," says Lagon. In the area of support, this includes translation of web-based support content, interactive email support, staffing of regional phone centers, and even hosting of web sites.

This combination of technology and professional services appeals to companies concerned with scalability. WorldPoint isn't shy about proposing new workflow processes, supported by WorldPoint's architecture and service offerings.

Fit Into Existing Workflow (Limited Outsourcing -or- Workflow Integration)

A wholesale change in support technology and processes may not appeal to every software developer. Many software companies have invested significant resources into content-management systems (from vendors such as Vignette, Oracle, or Interwoven) and have an established translation network. Realizing the expense and resource-drain that an enterprise-wide systems change would entail, these companies would prefer a multilingual support solution that fit into their existing workflow.

Idiom's WorldServer architecture offers this kind of solution. WorldServer includes an abstraction layer that allows WorldServer to be tied in with existing corporate systems as well as "business rule linkage," providing complete control over workflow and content dependencies. Don DePalma, Idiom's Vice President of Corporate Strategy sums it up as follows: "WorldServer is a very non-intrusive technology that plugs directly into a company's existing workflow processes and data architecture."

What kinds of companies benefit from this approach? "Globally branded companies that are interested in maintaining their brand assets or wish to take local brands to a global audience," according to DePalma.

Localization Support

Software developers may require more than just translation and multilingual customer support. Lionbridge Technologies provides a set of services for scoping, integrating workflow and translation tools, converting, and maintaining complex, web support sites in multiple languages.

With its roots in the software-localization business, Lionbridge is a natural choice for large technology companies requiring worldwide support. With its recent acquisition of competitor INT'L.com, Lionbridge now has operations in 11 countries.

This kind of reach and technical expertise is what drew IBM's Personal Systems Group to signup for Lionbridge's eSupport services. "Our system is not only complex, but we constantly create and change our technical documentation," says David Hume, Director of Global Operations IBM PSG Customer Support & Services. "Lionbridge has a very in-depth workflow management system (Liontrack) that manages the document process from end to end."

But Can We Afford It?

Good question. With prices averaging $100,000 for an installation of Idiom's WorldServer, software publishers will want to clearly understand the costs involved and the benefits derived.

When analyzing the return on investment (ROI) for a multilingual web-based customer support system, companies will want to look at traditional ROI criteria as well as several unique criteria.

According to Idiom's DePalma, traditional ROI criteria include:

• top-line contribution-increased market share, revenue growth
• branding-country-by-country determination of opportunity to extend, define, and protect the brand
• bottom-line concerns-resources required and cost involved in penetrating additional markets, including costs of web engineers, translation and infrastructure

ROI criteria unique to multilingual web-based support include:

• leveraging of existing documentation and translations (see sidebar, "Beware the silver bullet")
• deflect support calls to lower-cost web-based support options
• by entering additional markets more quickly, software developers may benefit from a first-mover advantage
• forging stronger relationships with key customers
• benefit of outsourcing support versus providing support through internal organization

The World Is Ready, Are You?

For most software publishers, selling to international markets is no longer an option. Fueled by booming overseas economies and relaxed export regulations, exports have been growing steadily over the past decade. As a result, all types of software developers-large and small, across all categories-participate in the export boom.

Today, Internet startups think "global" from day one. Increased competition and the emergence of a global marketplace leave these companies little choice. A recent New York Times article makes the point succinctly: "It is vital for start-up companies to adopt a pan-European strategy because a site's country of origin does not matter to consumers. Aggressive American Internet companies like Yahoo already run some of Europe's most popular Web sites, and the only way to fight back is to do business on a similar scale." (source: The New York Times on the Web, January 27, 2000, http://www.nyt.com/library/tech/00/01/cyber/articles/27startup.html)

According to Lionbridge's Teague, software publishers are "globalizing their multilingual support sites to lower support costs, to improve customer satisfaction and to add 'stickiness' to their sites."

And this is good news for companies and users alike: as software publishers select a multilingual support strategy that fits their sales approach, international users benefit from improved availability, flexibility, and content of software support.

Andres Heuberger is an editor at multilingualwebmaster.com. He frequently writes on issues related to technology, translation, and regulations. Rants and raves can be sent to aheuberger@multilingualwebmaster.com.

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