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Localization by the numbers. Combining BI and technology to optimize international customer reach. Pedro Gomez Microsoft. Agenda. Introduction to MSDN and TechNet What is our international challenge opportunity? How are we addressing it? Key learnings. What are MSDN and TechNet?.
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Localization by the numbers Combining BI and technology to optimize international customer reach Pedro Gomez Microsoft
Agenda • Introduction to MSDN and TechNet • What is our international challenge opportunity? • How are we addressing it? • Key learnings
What are MSDN and TechNet? • Destinations for Microsoft’s technical users • TechNet - IT Pros • MSDN - Developers and testers • Complex sites with over 15 million assets • Centers - Blogs • Library - Wiki • Forums • Localized into 24 languages, serving 64 locales • My team and this presentation focus on Office
The role of language in MSDN/TN • User provenance reflects the world • US 35% • Other English-speaking countries 15% • Rest of the world 50% • Localized content accounts for 15% of traffic • Some content is exclusive to English • Technical audiences tolerate more English • Some ever perceive it as more current and canonical • Localization covers a subset of the world • The apples-to-apples comparison is more 50-50% • With significant regional and content type variation
No budget to localize everything Nor would it be the fiscally responsible thing to do! • A handful of pages drives traffic • Users come to the site via search
Precision spend localization dollars • BI helps identify critical content Quantitative Qualitative Page views Product managers Search Content writers Ratings In-country stakeholders • MT gives us breadth* * MT is just another TM in normal production • Some content types and language combos have a mixed record • We Upgrade MT to HT based on traffic
TM + HT + MT process and metrics • 5% of normal cost • Turnaround 75% faster • Time on page, bounce rate, and page views in line with similar content • No negative reactions
What else are we working on? • Bilingual MT experience • MT from languages other than English • Tighter integration with other stakeholders • Authors • Community
Key takeaways • Understand how your users consume your content and services • Focus your localization dollars where they count • Apply MT liberally • Quality beats quantity • Patience wins the day: you will have to iterate • It’s not about tools alone