Localization Best Practice

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The CONTENT LOCALIZATION STRATEGY MODEL: a tool for planning and measuring progress in content localization - for example a Web Globalization program. The model is structured around seven core TOPICS (shown below) that represent the high-level goals of a global content publishing program. Within each topic, two or three ACTION ISSUES specify how publishers can achieve the topic goals, with MATURITY STATEMENTS that measure progress. A set of QUESTIONS guides users in their maturity assessment for each action issuue.

CONSOLIDATED MATURITY STATEMENTS. This is the full list of statements. Navigate from statements to the topics/issues they are associated with (using left/right carats), or navigate to statements from topics/issues (using up/down links).

1. We have determined our company's business objectives for this initiative globally and by market and locale.
2. We have an approved, documented strategic content localization plan to deliver appropriately localized content to our business at acceptable cost.
3. We understand how changes in the wider business environment can affect our localization strategy, and it is flexible enough to accommodate change.
4. Senior management is committed to globalising the e-business and we have their support for our localization initiative.
5. We have aligned the objectives for our localization initiative across the organization and have buy-in from stakeholders globally and within the markets we intend to serve.
6. We have planned for the impact of our localization initiative on our organization and structure, people, and corporate culture.
7. We have planned for the impact of our localization initiative on our processes and technology.
8. We have determined the linguistic and cultural requirements for each locale or region relevant to our localization initiative.
9. We have determined what user services and functionality are appropriate for each locale or region.
10. We have identified technical constraints that apply to each locale or region.
11. We are aware of regulation and legal issues that might affect our content publishing activities in each locale or region.
12. Our content localization plan implements all aspects of our localization-requirements specification.
13. We have have tested and validated our branding and image for each locale and/or language.
14. We have done a competitive assessment to review how competitors serve the locales in which we compete.
15. We have a solid understanding of the competitive factors that drive our content localization plan.
16. We have established objective criteria that we use to evaluate the priority of a locale (markets/regions) in our localization initiative.
17. We have identified and prioritized locales (markets/regions) for this initiative based on our market research.
18. We know what content and functionality exists on our corporate site(s) and the sites of all relevant locales.
19. We have created an inventory that classifies our content assets and their attributes.
20. We have determined what content can be reused for local sites and what content is irrelevant to our localization initiative.
21. We have assessed and documented what content or functionality is missing or deficient on our local sites.
22. We have prioritized how we will resolve gaps or deficiencies, and adapt global content for local sites.
23. We have developed a formal Localization Taxonomy that defines the depth and breadth of content to be published on all our local sites.
24. We have classified all content and functionality that is applicable to our localization initiative according to our Localization Taxonomy.
25. We have defined Localization Business Rules to systematically determine what content and functionality will be translated and/or adapted for publication on local sites.
26. We have implemented a process to tag content with descriptive meta-data according to the categories defined in our Localization Business Rules.
27. We fully understand and have documented our processes for creating, translating, adapting and publishing our content on all our publishing platforms.
28. We have optimized our authoring, translation and publishing workflow.
29. We have documented our content lifecycle, and have a clearly defined update sched
30. We have established procedures for detecting content changes and triggering localization processes, based on our Localization Business Rules.
31. We have reviewed outsourcing options for all aspects of our global content publishing initiative, including content creation, localization, publishing, technical implementation, support and maintenance.
32. We have determined which parts of our global content publishing process will be carried out in-house, and which will be outsourced.
33. We are able to define our global publishing services requirements, including volumes and timing.
34. We have defined our service-vendor selection methods and Service Level Agreements.
35. We have established procedures for vendor liaison and monitoring vendor relationships.
36. We have established a policy on infrastructure, content architecture and technology that takes multilingual and multi-market publishing requirements into account.
37. All our infrastructure technologies and applications have been internationalized.
38. We have tested our Web infrastructure to assure that it can support publishing in multiple languages and markets, in our target geographies.
39. We have processes for testing and validating localized platforms and applications.
40. We have a technical strategy for managing multilingual content (MCM) that allows integration with our Web content publishing systems.
41. We have determined how our global publishing processes will be implemented with our technology.
42. We have deployed an integrated technology solution to optimize our MCM strategy.
43. We have developed a strategy for development and management of our linguistic knowledge and resources, either internally or through our service provider.
44. We have determined how we can use our language resources for translation automation, either internally or through our service provider.
45. We have determined how we can re-use our language resources within all content-based applications.
46. We have clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of our global content publishing team.
47. We have established a qualified global content publishing team, and they are capable of leading our localization initiative.
48. Our global content publishing team represents all relevant parts of the organization, both corporate and local.
49. Our global content publishing team is well integrated into our organization at all appropriate levels.
50. We have identified core competencies for our localization initiative and have a training plan to cover all areas of localization expertise.
51. We have established procedures for documenting and transferring knowledge about our localization strategy and process.
52. We work to continuously identify and incorporate best practice methods and tools in our localization plan.
53. We have established effective communication channels between the global content publishing team, board, steering committees, departments and other content localization stakeholders.
54. Business-unit and/or local-market management endorses and is able to implement our localization plans and standards.
55. We have a resource plan for global content publishing that meets our global content requirements.
56. All global content publishing costs have been identified and documented in our content localization plan.
57. We have established and defined metrics to capture cost, quality and delivery aspects of our global content publishing initiative.
58. We have a method for measuring ROI (Return on Investment) as part of our content localization plan.
59. We have defined qualitative (or financially indirect) benefits of our content localization plan, and have developed ways of evaluating success for these factors.
60. We have a method for feeding our impact metrics back into future business planning, for refinement of our global publishing initiative.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES. We want to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the business objectives that drive our content localization initiative, to ensure support throughout the organization

BUSINESS ALIGNMENT. Align our content localization initiative with our overall business objectives
- BUSINESS ALIGNMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 1. We have determined our company's business objectives for this initiative globally and by market and locale.
  - 2. We have an approved, documented strategic content localization plan to deliver appropriately localized content to our business at acceptable cost.
  - 3. We understand how changes in the wider business environment can affect our localization strategy, and it is flexible enough to accommodate change.
- BUSINESS ALIGNMENT - Questions
  - What are the critical business success factors in your current business plan?
  - How does the content localization initiative relate to these success factors in your business planning?
  - What is the link to the broader business strategy for this initiative?
  - Will the initiative enable or change any critical success factors in your organization?
  - Does your company's business plan assume revenue generated from international markets?
  - Have you linked those targets with the globalization/localization plan?
  - Does the business case for content localization include strategic decisions regarding new customers, markets and revenue streams?
  - Have you defined your target markets and locales?
STAKEHOLDER COMMITMENT. Secure commitment for the content localization initiative from all appropriate levels of the organization
- STAKEHOLDER COMMITMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 4. Senior management is committed to globalising the e-business and we have their support for our localization initiative.
  - 5. We have aligned the objectives for our localization initiative across the organization and have buy-in from stakeholders globally and within the markets we intend to serve.
- STAKEHOLDER COMMITMENT - Questions
  - Has your content localization plan, and the reasoning behind it, been communicated to the Executive Board and stakeholders at all appropriate levels by the localization team members?
  - Do you have "C-level" (CEO, CFO, CIO, CTO, etc.) engagement for the initiative?
  - Is your plan led or endorsed by a senior executive Steering Committee?
  - Do the content localization team and all relevant stakeholders regularly review your localization strategy and tactical plans?
PLAN FOR IMPACT. Plan ahead for the impact this localization initiative will have on our organization as a whole
- PLAN FOR IMPACT - Maturity Statements
  - 6. We have planned for the impact of our localization initiative on our organization and structure, people, and corporate culture.
  - 7. We have planned for the impact of our localization initiative on our processes and technology.
- PLAN FOR IMPACT - Questions
  - Are the people, processes and technology required to deliver your localization plan consistent with the wider policies of the organization - i.e. does the plan fit with the way you do things, or with explicit plans to change the way you do things?
  - Does the business case take into account the design of new products and services? The impact on the organization? On business processes? On information systems?
  - Have you defined success/failure criteria in advance for the whole initiative?
  - Are you using a formal methodology to track the initiative? (e.g. Six Sigma, formal project planning such as Prince 2)
  - Is the initiative part of an overall Product or Service Development Plan?
  - Will you be able to track the initiative to ensure a low cycle time/time to market for delivering that plan?
  - Do you plan to measure ROI (Return on Investment) for the initiative, and if so what method do you or will you use?
  - Does your content localization plan have adequate resources? Is it driven by a proven team, knowledgeable regarding the value of localized content to your business?

MARKETS. We want to achieve a complete understanding of how the needs of our markets drive our content localization plan, and how to prioritize regions, locales and languages

REQUIREMENTS ASSESSMENT. Analyze each target locale and document market needs and constraints
- REQUIREMENTS ASSESSMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 8. We have determined the linguistic and cultural requirements for each locale or region relevant to our localization initiative.
  - 9. We have determined what user services and functionality are appropriate for each locale or region.
  - 10. We have identified technical constraints that apply to each locale or region.
  - 11. We are aware of regulation and legal issues that might affect our content publishing activities in each locale or region.
  - 12. Our content localization plan implements all aspects of our localization-requirements specification.
- REQUIREMENTS ASSESSMENT - Questions
  - Have you determined what locales and regions will be involved in your globalization initiative?
  - Have you specified how they tie in with your overall business objectives?
  - Do you know what languages are used in all your target locales?
  - Have you tested the impact of working in each locale with the product or service teams?
  - Have you looked at functional issues (i.e. what your sites will deliver to each locale)? Legal issues? Cultural issues? Technical issues?
  - Have you researched the requirement to provide language support for your types of content and services?
  - Do you know what technologies are used by your clients to access your global content?
  - Have you validated whether your target locales have sufficient technological maturity to be addressed through an e-content channel?
  - Have you done due-diligence to identify any legal exposure, regulatory constraints, or other risk connected with publishing in your target locales?
BRANDING & COMPETITION. Assess how our content localization plan will affect our competitive positioning
- BRANDING & COMPETITION - Maturity Statements
  - 13. We have have tested and validated our branding and image for each locale and/or language.
  - 14. We have done a competitive assessment to review how competitors serve the locales in which we compete.
  - 15. We have a solid understanding of the competitive factors that drive our content localization plan.
- BRANDING & COMPETITION - Questions
  - Do you have you a coherent and tested branding strategy?
  - Does your branding and/or "culture of engagement" need tailoring for new locales or segments?
  - Have you analysed whether your brand is supported or fragmented by your sites?
  - Have you determined whether branding and brand management is a centralized or de-centralized process?
  - Do you have an agreed and recognized way to manage your brand(s)?
  - Have you systematically reviewed the locale-specific publishing strategies of your most important competitors?
  - Have you assessed the globalization/localization strategies of other companies with similar business models, even though they might not be direct competitors?
  - Have you evaluated how competitor strategies relate to their positioning in specific markets?
  - Have you done competitive analysis of global or regional competitors who have localization challenges similar to yours?
  - Have you considered how local competitors might affect your need to localize?
PRIORITIZATION OF LOCALES & LANGUAGES. Systematically evaluate the significance of different locales and languages to set localization priorities
- PRIORITIZATION - Maturity Statements
  - 16. We have established objective criteria that we use to evaluate the priority of a locale (markets/regions) in our localization initiative.
  - 17. We have identified and prioritized locales (markets/regions) for this initiative based on our market research.
- PRIORITIZATION - Questions
  - Have you developed criteria on which you base your prioritization of markets and locales?
  - Is each locale researched and documented, with evidence to build the business case for its priority in the localization plan?
  - Have you made the investment case for each locale, to determine whether the cost of localization will be recovered, or whether the initiative serves other priority objectives?
  - Have you prioritized languages for translation to enable you to focus your efforts on supporting locales where the need for native language content is high and the relative business priority is high?
  - Have you linked the localization priority with the need to deliver specific services or products in each locale?
  - Have you prioritized locales and localization requirements in groups or tiers rather than individually?

CONTENT. We want to develop a global content publishing strategy that supports our business objectives

CONTENT INVENTORY. Create a thoroughly documented inventory and systematic analysis of our content assets, including text, graphics and user functionality
- CONTENT INVENTORY - Maturity Statements
  - 18. We know what content and functionality exists on our corporate site(s) and the sites of all relevant locales.
  - 19. We have created an inventory that classifies our content assets and their attributes.
  - 20. We have determined what content can be reused for local sites and what content is irrelevant to our localization initiative.
  - 21. We have assessed and documented what content or functionality is missing or deficient on our local sites.
  - 22. We have prioritized how we will resolve gaps or deficiencies, and adapt global content for local sites.
- CONTENT INVENTORY - Questions
  - Have you carried out a content/functionality inventory, and used the inventory to produce a comprehensive list of content groups and types?
  - Have all your content/functionality assets have been categorized into these groups and types?
  - Have you identified and documented what content/functionality is created, how it functions and where it is displayed on each site?
  - Have you developed an asset inventory (e.g. a data table) that classifies your assets, indicates the attributes of the content and functions - documenting where they exist, frequency of update, and other relevant features?
  - Do you know whether content/functionality on existing sites effectively serves corporate and/or local business goals?
  - Have you analysed your assets in terms of internal and external-facing issues - e.g. how they impact your company and how well they serve end-users/customers?
  - Do you know whether local sites effectively "tell the story" that you want them to convey about your company, products/services, brand etc.?
  - Have you identified critical missing information or functionalities that would affect the user or customer experience in all your locales?
  - Is the content on your local sites appropriate and relevant to end-users and/or customers?
  - Do you know whether it's easy for international site visitors to find their local site, and then to find appropriate information within that site, or from links (e.g. to the corporate site)? Does the navigation work appropriately from the local perspective?
  - Have you prioritized the content/functionality needed to resolve gaps or deficiencies, on a locale-by-locale basis?
  - Do you know what content on all your sites is current, and what is out of date?
  - If any of your assets are currently localized, have you identified what is localized, by whom, as part of the content/functionality inventory?
  - Do you know whether content on locale sites is poorly translated?
  - Has the output of your audit has been captured in the content/functionality inventory tables showing quality and gap analysis?
CONTENT PUBLISHING POLICY. Establish a Content Publishing Policy and apply it to all our content/functionality assets
- CONTENT PUBLISHING POLICY - Maturity Statements
  - 23. We have developed a formal Localization Taxonomy that defines the depth and breadth of content to be published on all our local sites.
  - 24. We have classified all content and functionality that is applicable to our localization initiative according to our Localization Taxonomy.
  - 25. We have defined Localization Business Rules to systematically determine what content and functionality will be translated and/or adapted for publication on local sites.
  - 26. We have implemented a process to tag content with descriptive meta-data according to the categories defined in our Localization Business Rules.
- CONTENT PUBLISHING POLICY - Questions
  - Have you established corporate publishing standards, and is there an appropriate level of corporate (or centralized) influence over what content is featured on local sites?
  - Have you developed a Localization Taxonomy - i.e., a method to categorize and classify content assets for the localization process?
  - Have you categorized all content/functionality that is applicable to this initiative according to the principles of a taxonomy model, or some other method of validating what content is needed for each locale?
  - Do you have a process in place to classify content according to the localization taxonomy on an on-going basis?
  - Have you specified the product and/or service information needed for each market, and prioritized content and languages required for each locale?
  - Have you developed Localization Business Rules for localization, to systematically determine what content will be featured on sites?
  - Have you used the Localization Taxonomy and language/business priority data (e.g. which markets are most reliant on translation) as the basis for the Localization Business Rules?

PROCESS. We want to develop an optimized process for global content creation, localization, and delivery, with an effective implementation plan

PROCESS AUDIT. Create a fully audited process for global content creation, localization and publishing
- PROCESS AUDIT - Maturity Statements
  - 27. We fully understand and have documented our processes for creating, translating, adapting and publishing our content on all our publishing platforms.
  - 28. We have optimized our authoring, translation and publishing workflow.
  - 29. We have documented our content lifecycle, and have a clearly defined update sched
  - 30. We have established procedures for detecting content changes and triggering localization processes, based on our Localization Business Rules.
- PROCESS AUDIT - Questions
  - Do you have a content creation strategy that includes guidelines on writing for a global audience, applicable to all source languages?
  - Are your authoring guidelines enforceable (and enforced), and do you provide training in their application?
  - Do you have target-language content guidelines, and a QA and approvals process?
  - Do you have an agreement with partners regarding localized content and adherence to your style guides?
  - Do you have a style guide for branding elements?
  - Have you considered, documented and implemented a process for publishing, with quality assurance of all web content on an on-going basis?
  - Have you established authoring procedures and workflow? Translation procedures and workflow?
  - Have you established how you use different types of content (e.g. technical, marcomms) within the same project, and how processes differ? How you will re-use content?
  - Does your Web content undergo standard quality assurance in an approval process before being published?
  - Have you defined and documented your Content Lifecycle - i.e. do you have a process for tracking the flow of your content worldwide, from time of creation to when it goes live, gets updated and is replaced?
  - Does your content publishing strategy specify schedules for dynamic content creation, aggregation, publication, etc.?
  - Have you put in place a process for timely content updates including change detection and localization triggering?
  - Do you use an integrated localization/translation project management tool to plan, manage and integrate flows within content localization and publication processes?
  - Have you examined trading partner relationships (e.g. where content comes from a partner) and processes to identify those that may undermine the localization strategy?
  - Do you have a process to formally close a project that includes project acceptance criteria, checklist for closing, final reporting, and implementation?
  - Do you have procedures in place for dealing with customer complaints regarding content localization?
SERVICE OUTSOURCING. Establish effective procedures for selecting and working with localization suppliers
- SERVICE OUTSOURCING - Maturity Statements
  - 31. We have reviewed outsourcing options for all aspects of our global content publishing initiative, including content creation, localization, publishing, technical implementation, support and maintenance.
  - 32. We have determined which parts of our global content publishing process will be carried out in-house, and which will be outsourced.
  - 33. We are able to define our global publishing services requirements, including volumes and timing.
  - 34. We have defined our service-vendor selection methods and Service Level Agreements.
  - 35. We have established procedures for vendor liaison and monitoring vendor relationships.
- SERVICE OUTSOURCING - Questions
  - Do you have a documented project process and have you determined what elements, and how much, of your global content publishing work will be outsourced? Is this based on your core competences?
  - Have you undertaken an independent review of your framework for managing third party relationships to identify opportunities for leveraging organizational resources, improving processes, and reducing risk?
  - Do you have a procurement plan for global content publishing services that meets your requirements?
  - Have you determined your priorities in selecting outsource suppliers, and established criteria for selection (e.g. pricing, quality, responsiveness, reputation, experience, etc.)?
  - Do you have experience working with localization vendors, or do you need training or advice about this?
  - Have you drawn up a transition plan to facilitate the introduction of outsourced business processes?
  - Have you established "rules of engagement" with your vendors, and procedures for interacting with them?
  - Have you defined service-levels and key performance indicators for outsourced business processes, and set target metrics with measurement formulas?
  - Can/do you take actions, either in the global content publishing group or within other parts of the company, when defined service level criteria are not satisfied?
  - Have you examined business partner and vendor processes to identify opportunities for synergy between your respective processes?

TECHNOLOGY. We want to assure that our technical infrastructure supports global, multilingual publishing with appropriate platforms and tools

INTERNATIONALIZATION. Assure that our Web site and infrastructure have been audited to guarantee full support for international, multilingual publishing
- INTERNATIONALIZATION - Maturity Statements
  - 36. We have established a policy on infrastructure, content architecture and technology that takes multilingual and multi-market publishing requirements into account.
  - 37. All our infrastructure technologies and applications have been internationalized.
  - 38. We have tested our Web infrastructure to assure that it can support publishing in multiple languages and markets, in our target geographies.
  - 39. We have processes for testing and validating localized platforms and applications.
- INTERNATIONALIZATION - Questions
  - Have you considered localization as early as possible during the design phase for your global Web publishing platform?
  - Do you have a clear understanding of the concept of internationalization, its application and relevance for localization?
  - Do you have documented coding standards for programming that can support global content?
  - Is your Web infrastructure designed to support the inclusion of multilingual interfaces - e.g., text is expandable, data and logic can support multiple languages, etc?
  - Do you track developments in and implement a company policy on the use of Unicode in all text content?
  - Does your Web infrastructure support applications in all languages - e.g. customers submitting searches in their native language?
  - Have you identified new technologies that you must develop or acquire in order to serve customers in new target markets - including hosting, bandwidth, etc?
  - Have you defined and documented a data and business systems architecture for supporting your content localization processes?
  - Have you tested your architecture for its ability to deal with the character sets (including double-byte languages), fonts, text directions, lengths and input devices for your target markets ("pseudo-localization")?
  - Do you have a testing plan for localized software, applications and content?
  - Do your testing procedures cover content integrity, linking, functionality, load testing, etc?
  - Do you test your e-business applications prior to deployment to validate that transactions can be processed consistent with your localization strategy?
  - Have you developed and implemented a test execution process that is integrated into the systems development lifecycle, and defines roles and responsibilities for each step in the process, and integrates documentation standards?
  - Have you reviewed your internal capabilities and resources and determined whether you will do testing in-house, or outsource to a service supplier?
MULTILINGUAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT. Develop and implement a content management strategy that accommodates publishing in multiple languages, with locally adapted content
- MULTILINGUAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 40. We have a technical strategy for managing multilingual content (MCM) that allows integration with our Web content publishing systems.
  - 41. We have determined how our global publishing processes will be implemented with our technology.
  - 42. We have deployed an integrated technology solution to optimize our MCM strategy.
- MULTILINGUAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT - Questions
  - Is your global content stored and managed in a repository and available for aggregation and reuse according to a content management methodology?
  - Does your content management methodology address creation, review and approval, aggregation and management, localization and distribution?
  - Does your content management methodology accommodate your multilingual content requirements?
  - Have you created a document that describes your content management methodology and evaluated content management software?
  - Have you developed product/vendor selection criteria for relevant tools and systems to support multilingual content management?
  - Do you have a procurement plan for multilingual content management technologies that meets your global content publishing requirements?
  - Do you use automated tools to support the web site content management process?
  - Do you have a technology solution that can be easily tailored to your content volumes and typology, locales, media and delivery channels?
  - Have you evaluated technology to programmatically manage the creation and editing of multilingual content?
  - Have you implemented automated version control within your content management processes and tools?
  - Have you evaluated technology to recycle previously localized content?
  - Does your content management methodology support dynamic content localization requirements?
  - Do you maintain a corporate policy on using 'open' standards in all content management and localization technology?
LINGUISTIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. Exploit the implicit and explicit knowledge contained in our content assets by managing our linguistic resources
- LINGUISTIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 43. We have developed a strategy for development and management of our linguistic knowledge and resources, either internally or through our service provider.
  - 44. We have determined how we can use our language resources for translation automation, either internally or through our service provider.
  - 45. We have determined how we can re-use our language resources within all content-based applications.
- LINGUISTIC RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - Questions
  - Are you informed and knowledgeable about relevant linguistic and localization technologies?
  - Do you have an active policy of tracking and (where appropriate) testing linguistic and localization technology solutions?
  - Do you benchmark linguistic and localization technologies either in-house or externally, and act on the results?
  - Do you participate in any linguistic or localization technology user groups, or have other resources for acquiring expertise in this field?
  - Are you aware of emerging linguistic and localization standards (e.g. XLIFF, TMX) and do you participate in industry groups developing these standards (e.g. OASIS, OSCAR)?
  - Have you investigated the role of multilingual terminology management and the uses to which it could be put in your Web publishing environment?
  - Have you considered or deployed centralized multilingual corporate terminology?
  - Are you aware of any terminology standardization initiatives within your industry, and have you evaluated their relevance to your authoring and translation functions?
  - Have you deployed terminology management tools including formalized validation, updating protocols, and use?
  - Do you employ your corporate linguistic resources for content authoring and all localization and translation operations?
  - Have you evaluated the use of a controlled language editor for content authoring/creation?
  - Have you considered developing and deploying a corporate taxonomy - to exploit your corporate linguistic resources for applications such as search & retrieval?
  - Have you considered the potential role of fully automatic translation (machine translation), and whether there it has a role in your global publishing and communication solution?
  - Have you determined whether you will deploy linguistic or localization technology in-house, lease access to such technology (e.g. via ASP), or rely on your service vendor to supply lingua automation?

ORGANIZATION. We want to asssure that our content localization plan that is aligned to our organization, with buy-in from stakeholders globally

STAFFING. Appoint a qualified team to lead content localization initiatives throughout our organization
- STAFFING - Maturity Statements
  - 46. We have clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of our global content publishing team.
  - 47. We have established a qualified global content publishing team, and they are capable of leading our localization initiative.
  - 48. Our global content publishing team represents all relevant parts of the organization, both corporate and local.
  - 49. Our global content publishing team is well integrated into our organization at all appropriate levels.
- STAFFING - Questions
  - Have you evaluated your global content publishing organization, and understood why it as it is, and have you defined plans to incorporate localization?
  - Have you considered how your company's structure and culture - e.g. centralized vs. decentralized - affect the way you organize your globalization and localization initiatives?
  - Is your global content publishing team involved in all your e-content initiatives?
  - Do you plan your content localization initiatives along with the global content publishing team to ensure that your business objectives are met?
  - Are you confident that your staffing plan for deployment will meet your global content publishing requirements?
  - Are responsibilities within the global content publishing team appropriately balanced throughout the organization, and communicated in an open way?
  - Have you examined whether the tasks and responsibilities of the global content publishing team are mature, and do you define improvement plans as required?
  - Are the roles of the team well matched to and integrated with your content localization processes and technologies?
  - Is each department, location, or group of stakeholders involved with the content localization team, and aware of and committed to global content deployment?
  - Are there team leaders or members located in your target markets, or have you taken account of the need for "local" representation in the localization process?
  - Do you have a dedicated technology team with a qualified leader, reporting to and collaborating with the CTO (or equivalent), who are involved in the technical aspects of content localization and multilingual publishing?
  - Do you specify internationalization and/or localization competencies in relevant job descriptions?
  - Do you have a documented process to create and deploy temporary teams, as needed, who are able and empowered to drive change to realize your globalization vision?
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER. Establish a system for knowledge-transfer and continual process improvement for our content localization strategy and methods
- KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER - Maturity Statements
  - 50. We have identified core competencies for our localization initiative and have a training plan to cover all areas of localization expertise.
  - 51. We have established procedures for documenting and transferring knowledge about our localization strategy and process.
  - 52. We work to continuously identify and incorporate best practice methods and tools in our localization plan.
- KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER - Questions
  - Does the team responsible for e-business globalization have previous experience launching and maintaining global content publishing initiatives?
  - Has the team responsible for global content publishing, including localization, been trained on how best to execute those tasks?
  - Do you provide training in the skills necessary for tactical deployment of your global content publishing initiative?
  - Are your content authors trained in the application of authoring guidelines, or writing for global audiences?
  - Is a program is in place to ensure project managers are trained in the localization methodology?
  - Are independent QA reviews scheduled to verify use of your defined processes and standards?
  - Do you have a system in place for knowledge transfer to improve the effectiveness of key processes?
  - Do you use techniques like focus groups with cross-functional teams to transfer skills to new hires, or those taking on new responsibilities in the localization sphere?
  - Do you work to continuously identify and incorporate best practice methods and tools in your localization process, and convey this knowledge to your team?
CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Develop a localization deployment strategy, in collaboration with engaged stakeholders, that causes minimal disruption to the organization
- CHANGE MANAGEMENT - Maturity Statements
  - 53. We have established effective communication channels between the global content publishing team, board, steering committees, departments and other content localization stakeholders.
  - 54. Business-unit and/or local-market management endorses and is able to implement our localization plans and standards.
- CHANGE MANAGEMENT - Questions
  - Does your global content publishing initiative include a "change management" process to enable you to define what will change, assess its impact, revise the plan as needed, and accept/approve the planned changes?
  - Is the global content publishing initiative driven (and seen to be driven) by senior management, and perceived as a corporate, rather than just a departmental or regional initiative?
  - Does the global content publishing team communicate frequently and effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization (including the board, the steering group, Business Units or functional departments, local marketing teams, etc.)?
  - Is your global content publishing team able to empower stakeholders to anticipate, affect and benefit from change?
  - Do all stakeholders know about the changes involved in localising your content, have they been involved in defining methods and procedures and have they agreed to the plan?
  - Do you have a way to communicate objectives and progress to all relevant stakeholders?
  - Have you documented and communicated who is responsible for specific elements of the content localization initiative?
  - Have you established a strong coalition to support people as they implement the content localization vision and business objectives?
  - Does your change process promote "short-term wins" for all stakeholder groups to achieve and maintain momentum for change?
  - Do you use "showcase" pilots to test the impact of change prior to full implementation of a new localization initiative?
  - Are the political issues involved in balancing different sources of authority and responsibility (e.g. between corporate and in-country) recognized, and handled diplomatically?

MEASUREMENT. We want to develop and apply methods to measure the achievement of our content localization goals, and feed the results into future business planning

RESOURCE PLAN. Establish a resource plan for investment in people, technology and services to support content localization
- RESOURCE PLAN - Maturity Statements
  - 55. We have a resource plan for global content publishing that meets our global content requirements.
  - 56. All global content publishing costs have been identified and documented in our content localization plan.
- RESOURCE PLAN - Questions
  - Have you estimated the costs for all relevant functions and services needed to implement your global content publishing plan?
  - Have you evaluated core vs. non-core competencies, and determined the cost of in-house vs. outsourced functions?
  - Have you allocated adequate resources to the various functions including defining business requirements and functional specifications, monitoring transaction processing, and problem identification and resolution?
  - Have you recognized, and can you demonstrate, the overall cost of the project ("TCO") including people, process, technology, architecture and impact on the organization?
  - Do you have procedures to control the scope and costs of localization projects, and are they based on your business needs?
MEASUREMENT APPROACH. Develop a well-defined approach to 360� measurement of impact that includes quantitative and qualitative metrics
- MEASUREMENT APPROACH - Maturity Statements
  - 57. We have established and defined metrics to capture cost, quality and delivery aspects of our global content publishing initiative.
  - 58. We have a method for measuring ROI (Return on Investment) as part of our content localization plan.
  - 59. We have defined qualitative (or financially indirect) benefits of our content localization plan, and have developed ways of evaluating success for these factors.
  - 60. We have a method for feeding our impact metrics back into future business planning, for refinement of our global publishing initiative.
- MEASUREMENT APPROACH - Questions
  - Do you monitor and evaluate the results of your global content publishing initiative, and have the means to measure success?
  - Do you have a means to track and report on the quantitative and/or qualitative factors that represent the return on your localization investment?
  - Have you determined what critical business factors your initiative enables or changes, as part of your method for measuring ROI?
  - Have you created "qualitative metrics" for the successful outcome of the initiative?
  - Do you use any formal management or planning technique to measure qualitative benefit (such as Balanced Scorecard)?
  - Have you made the investment case for localization, and determined how the cost will be recovered?
  - Have you estimated potential cost savings as a result of localising your content?
  - Have you estimated the effects on revenue as a result of localising your content?
  - Have you estimated the effects on market share as a result of localising your content?
  - Have you estimated the impact on time-to-market as a result of localising your content?
  - Have you developed ROI metrics for each project, in all regions and locales?