Globalization Management System

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A globalization management system (GMS) is a type of software for automating many parts of the human language translation process and maximizing translator efficiency. The ideal of a globalization management system is to automate all repeatable and non-essential work that can be done by software/systems and leaving only the creative work of translation and review to be done by human beings. A globalization management system generally includes at least two types of technology: process management technology to automate the flow of work, and linguistic technology to aid the translator.

In a typical GMS, process management technology is used to monitor source language content for changes and route the content to various translators and reviewers. These translators and reviewers may be located across the globe and typically access the GMS via the Internet.

Linguistic technology generally includes at least translation memory and terminology database; some systems also integrate machine translation technology. ^[1] Translation memory is a database of all previously translated sentences. While a translator performs translation, he or she is automatically prompted with similar sentences from the memory that were previously translated. A terminology database is a glossary that contains specific words and phrases and their context-appropriate translations. A machine translation system is a program that uses natural language processing technology to automatically translate a text from one language to another.

Globalization management systems are most commonly used today for synchronizing multilingual web sites and translating large volumes of technical documentation.