A brief history of SDL

Innovating since 1992

Since its founding in 1992, SDL has continued to innovate and drive forwards the goal of global information management. Below is a brief timeline of major accomplishments in our history from that founding date, through the public flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 1999 to the present day - 15 years of innovation and continued striving to help global corporations conquer language.

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2007

SDL launches SDL Translation Management System™ 2007
SDL acquires Tridion for £47 million
10 months on from its launch, over 5,000 translators and project managers are certified in the SDL TRADOS Certification program
Mark Lancaster awarded ‘Technology CEO of the Year’, at the UK Technology Innovation and Growth 2007 Awards
SDL launches SDL MultiTerm 2007 terminology management, the new release of the market-proven and mature technology enabling global companies to manage their terminology for global communications
SDL acquires PASS Engineering, developers of PASSOLO, the highly acclaimed visual software localization tool
SDL wins “Most Innovative Company in Europe” at the 2007 Stevie® International Business Awards

2006

Total revenues were £94.7 million, a 21% increase on 2005
Significant new business wins include Dell, BMC, Avaya, Salesforce.com and Intel

2005

SDL completes acquisition of TRADOS for £35 million—providing truly extensive end-to-end technology and service solutions for global information assets
Successful integration of SDL and TRADOS creates a clear market leader in Global Information Management Solutions
SDL KbTS saves customers on average 40% in cost and reduces time-to-market
SDL acquires Lingua Franca and extends footprint in the Middle East
SDL launches the SDL Translation Management System™ and announces 40 new TMS customer installations
SDL PhraseFinder™ quickly and effectively identifies and extracts corporate terminology from existing content
SDL launches SDL AuthorAssistant to dramatically advance the quality and efficiency of global authoring process
SDL has more than 100,000 desktop translation products deployed in the market
Customer wins at Chrysler Group, GlaxoSmithKline, AMD, and Honda
Total revenues were £78.5 million, a 25% increase on 2004

2004

Translation becomes a growing priority for organizations, as they consolidate vendors and centralize spending
SDL launches SDL Knowledge-based Translation System™ (KbTS), combining Translation Memory, a translation engine and a workflow system. Pilot projects show productivity savings of up to 40% over traditional human translations
30,000 units of SDL Translation Memory now live, with market share increasing from 7% in 2003 to 20% in 2004
Investment in Central European office network provides highly skilled, cultural translations for customers such as Kodak and HP
SDL operates international network of 40 offices, comprising local language experts that utilize common SDL process
Profits increase by 29% to £5.3 million
FreeTranslation.com—by now the market leader in instant translation with more than two million visitors each week—and Click2Translate.com together contribute significant high margin localization business during the year

2003

In a challenging market, the company increased profits three-fold, and revenues by 11%
With offices in 25 countries, SDL is now the undisputed world leader in translation solution infrastructures
SDL announces a substantial contract worth several million US dollars with Microsoft for software localization
SDL adds significant localization value to companies such as HP, Bosch and Philips
80% of revenues are derived from repeat customers, with at least 50% resulting from customers that have been clients for more than three years
www.freetranslation.com receives more than two million visitors each week

2002

SDL acquires Alpnet, strengthening the company’s position in geographies and vertical markets—and making SDL one of the largest localization companies in the world
SDL is the only leading service provider to deliver an end-to-end technology and service solution
Launch of SDL Benelux to build on success in Belgium and the Netherlands
SDL announces major new customers, including Bayer, CIBC, Bosch and DAF Trucks
SDL website www.freetranslation.com attracts 1.5 million visitors each week, driving an increased volume of users for Click2Translate.com, the SDL translation portal; this leads to a 50% increase in SDL Agency revenues
Total revenues were £58 million, a 72% increase on 2001

2001

Acquisition of automated translation division of Transparent Language for $9 million laid the foundations for the future ground-breaking SDL technology
SDL acquires Language Partners International (LPI), a distributor of desktop applications for the localization industry
SDL acquires the localization business of Sykes Technologies, Inc.
SDL enterprise technologies comprise SDL WebFlow, SDL WorkFlow and the Enterprise Translation Server
SDL announces integration of SDL WebFlow with Microsoft Content Management Server
SDL launches SDL Localization Suite, providing localization agencies with a seamless solution for the translation and QA process
SDL secures repeat business with many customers which include Adobe, Avaya, HP, Iomega, Kodak, Lexmark, Lotus, Microsoft, Oracle, Sony, Sun and 3Com
Total revenues were £33.6 million, a 13% increase on 2000

2000

SDL launches SDL WebFlow in February, a content management system
SDL acquires International Translation and Publishing (ITP) in Ireland for £14 million
SDL acquires ATR Information AB, based in Sweden
SDL acquires SDL Technology Center Ltd.
SDL acquires Asian Localization Services Ltd.
SDL acquires SDL Global Solutions (Ireland) Ltd., expanding the corporate footprint into Ireland, Spain, Italy and Hungary
SDL launches SDLX 2.0
The company operates from 24 offices and has 746 staff worldwide
Total revenues were £29.7 million, a 129% increase on 1999

1999

SDL floated on the London Stock Exchange in December, raising £7 million, with a market capitalization of £45 million
SDL opens dedicated offices in San Jose, USA and Beijing, China
Total revenues were £13 million, a 28% increase on 1998

1998

SDL launches SDLX—offering the most advanced translation management solution on the market
Total number of staff worldwide: 231, located at 13 offices
Total number of SDL clients in 1998: 35
SDL positioned in the top five of independent global vendors—and the largest specialist European localizing agency
Finance Director Alistair Gordon joins SDL

1997

SDL acquires Polylang
Total revenues were £6.5 million, a 54% increase on 1996

1996

SDL launches first Translation Management solution to help customers take approved content, localize it and make it available for a global audience
SDL opens first network office—SDL France
Total revenues were £4.2 million, a 55% increase on 1995

1995

Total revenues were £2.7 million, a 35% increase on 1994

1994

SDL grows from 15 people to 50 people—a 200% growth in just over 15 months
New clients include Mathsoft, Corel, Micrografx and Autodesk
Technology Director Keith Mills joins SDL
Total revenues were £2.0 million, a 122% increase on 1993

1993

SDL opens headquarters in Maidenhead, UK—with nine employees
Total revenues were £0.9 million

1992

SDL founded by Mark Lancaster—with a vision to help organizations manage the delivery of corporate information in different languages
Jörg Strate joins SDL—the company’s first employee and the first German translator
SDL secures its first project from Legent