SDL, the leading provider of Global Information Management (GIM) solutions and Language Weaver, a leader in automated language translation, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver Language Weaver’s statistically based automated translation software as part of SDL’s part of SDL’s KbTS solution and a tight integrstion into SDL’s Global Information Management platform.

Language Weaver automated translation solutions cover over 70 language combinations and have been deployed for the enterprise and large web properties to deliver compelling translations of digital content and ensure effective communication to customers across multiple languages.

SDL customers such as Best Western, CNH, IFS, Renault and RIM have proven that automated translation is an effective addition to an enterprise GIM solution for applications such as online support, technical documentation and e-commerce. Translation volumes through SDL Automated Translation Solutions grew by 20% in 2008. Integrations with terminology, translation memory, translation management and translation editing are key to successful deployments, and SDL will leverage this experience to integrate Language Weaver’s broader language support into SDL’s GIM solutions.

The companies announced that the agreement encompasses a number of different applications of automated translation, including:

• Translation of content that is otherwise too expensive or time consuming to translate, such as online support content that enables organizations to re-direct their customers from expensive call centers to more cost-effective self-service on the web

• Integrating automated translation as a capability in the translation process for high-quality technical documentation, taking up to 40% of the cost and 50% of the time out of the process without sacrificing quality

• Providing ubiquitous access to automated translation, through integration into the industry-standard desktop translation technology, SDL Trados, and integration into the world’s most popular translation website www.freetranslation.com

SDL Translation Management System and www.freetranslation.com will be the first solutions integrated with Language Weaver under this strategic partnership. Integration with SDL Trados and the addition of new language support within SDL Knowledge-based Translation System are planned for the third quarter of 2009.

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“We want to offer our customers the widest possible choice of translation solutions, all integrated into a single managed environment,” said Mark Lancaster, chairman and CEO of SDL. “We consider the Language Weaver Technology to be advanced and stable, having done a number of tests to validate the technology. The partnership will allow our customers to maximize the leverage of previous translations held in translation memory and achieve the best possible quality for automated translation. This offers enterprises new opportunities to drive cost out of global content translation processes, which is particularly important in these tough economic times.”

“Partnering with SDL is a key step for us”, said Mark Tapling, CEO of Language Weaver.  “Understanding how to integrate automated translation into the translation process is complex and often misunderstood. There are all kinds of complexity that need to be considered such as formatting, terminology, integration with translation memory and integration with the human aspects of translation. SDL has a number of proven solutions and leads the field in getting commercial solutions in place for automated translation. So this is great partnership..The integration into SDL GIM solutions will make it easier for customers to leverage existing translation resources and enable us to tackle the growing amount of digital content that will never be translated without automated solutions.“

Click here for more information on the new partnership between SDL and Language Weaver