SDL, the leading provider of Global Information Management (GIM) solutions, announced today the launch of SDL TRADOS Certification 2007.

Building on the success of the 2006 program, the new certification program provides the opportunity for corporations, translation agencies and freelance translators to demonstrate their expertise in the newly released SDL Trados 2007 product.

“The new 2007 certification program moves us one step further in joining up the translation supply chain, incorporating three levels designed to open up the field to more customers and test fluency in the use of the SDL Package file format,” said Keith Laska, VP of SDL TRADOS technologies.  “We have listened carefully to user feedback and believe that the enhancements we’ve made will further strengthen the successful program’s position as the industry’s leading technology certification program”.

New features of the 2007 certification program include:

• Multi-level certification allowing users to demonstrate their achievement against the three core levels – supported by the Getting Started, Intermediate and Advanced training programs.

• Support for SDL Trados 2007, the new SDL package and SDL MultiTerm 2007 providing a new level of quality and consistency for projects moving through the translation supply chain.
  

The SDL TRADOS Certification program is the leading technology certification program for translation professionals worldwide.  Launched in May 2006, the program has received endorsement and support from corporations, industry communities, translation agencies, freelancers and universities across the world. Over 6,000 users are actively involved in the current certification program including:

• Over 100 Enterprise corporations such as Siemens A&D, Open Text, Nikken Corporation, Microsoft, and the United Nations (International Training Center of the ILO).  “The SDL TRADOS Certification program is an integral addition to Open Text’s localization initiatives because it helps to ensure quality translation across the board,” said Lynne Lalonde, Director, R&D Localization, Open Text, a global leader in enterprise content management software. 

• Over 200 translation agencies such as Swiss based CLS Communications and US-based Welocalize: "At Welocalize, we see SDL TRADOS Certification and Training as an important tool in ensuring that the key users are fully knowledgeable on the latest technology features.  This program will help assure that project managers and translators are making full use of the time saving QA features available in the software, delivering a return on our investment and direct benefits for our customers." Andre Pellet, VP, Welocalize.

• ProZ.com, the web’s leading online translation community, has integrated the SDL TRADOS Certification credential into over 200,000 online translator profiles.

• Universities such as one of Europe’s oldest universities: the University of Bologna. Professor Bertaccini of SSLMIT part of the University of Bologna says: “The school’s aim is to educate translators and interpreters to a high level of competence. As part of this objective it is important to build our students knowledge on the leading CAT tools, which they will encounter in the workplace. To achieve this we have integrated the SDL TRADOS Certification program into the main course curriculum.”

“The new SDL TRADOS Certification 2007 has been enhanced to ensure recognition of the new features within SDL Trados 2007” continued Keith Laska. “For example, it includes the powerful SDL Package which is a significant new capability designed to increase levels of quality and consistency in translation projects.  Also, by introducing three levels of certification, professional translators can choose the level of certification that most suits their requirements. SDL TRADOS Certification has become the relied-upon benchmark credential for translation professionals to demonstrate the level of differentiation they have been asking for”.

Notes to editors:

• Users certified under the SDL TRADOS 2006 program receive a free-of charge upgrade exam and self-running tutorials focusing on the new features of SDL Trados 2007

• For more information on the SDL TRADOS certification program please visit www.sdl.com/certified