12 Dec /17

2017: A look back

EVS Translations looks back on a very interesting year, at the same time looks forward.

2017: A look back - EVS Translations looks back on a very interesting year, at the same time looks forward.
2017: A look back – EVS Translations looks back on a very interesting year, at the same time looks forward.

At the beginning of the year there were a lot of questions: What do the stars say for the translation industry? Will machine translation make its breakthrough? Will there be changes in work conditions for the translator? How will the structure of the industry change? A lookback for and with EVS Translations.

In-house vs. Freelance: Deploying freelance translators is attractive – there are no fixed costs and orders are generally given only on a single-order basis. Disadvantages include the lack of planning security and the lack of inconsistency in terms of terminology and quality. What is new that many large clients are having to give up long-term relationships with freelances in order to streamline their supplier basis. For EVS Translations the in-house concept if the only way to create optimum conditions for customers, translators and the company – with more than 70 in-house translators and proof-readers producing high-quality speciality translations every day.

Private Equity vs. owner-managed company: It is not unusual for larger companies to take over small and medium-sized companies. This is also happening in the translation industry. In Germany at least 4 of the Top 10 translation companies are owned by private equity and the trend is also world wide – of the Top 100, approximately 30 are now owned by private equity. Managed by its owner, EVS Translations does not have to convince any shareholders, nor does it have to make profits in the short and medium term. The customer is the focus. Personal contacts and specialised project teams advice and find target-oriented customised language solutions.

More than just translations: Increasingly the customer is looking for one-stop language solutions. This is something which EVS Translations has been offering for some time – with its Translation Technology solutions, with its IT department. The future is offering Translations as a Service – including formatting, website work, layout (e.g. InDesign), transcription, video and many other services. It makes the language pie bigger.

Machine vs. human translations: Neural machine translations have already entered the German market. These machines learn, and improve with the work they do. The launch of Amazon Translate at the end of November 2017 shows that time and costs for translations are declining rapidly. It is also clear that the result is not as good as a “real” translation. But the question is what the client needs – is the machine translation fit for purpose? In 2017, EVS Translations did not note any upturn in requirements for machine translations. However, we are tracking the trend closely.

Last but of course not least: data protection: Yes even SMEs can keep up with the standards the market leaders are showing. Cooperation with a regional computer centre which is ISO 27001 certified in addition to confidentiality agreements, insider lists and the applicability of the German Data Protection Act (across all EVS Translations offices) protect the data of course customers with a high level of security. If these standards are not met, then it is quite possible that the company is no longer competitive.

In Summer 2017, the market research institute Common Sense Advisory in its “The Language Services Market 2017” reported estimated the growth rate this year at close to 7%  – as opposed to 5.52% last year. To 2021 the industry is to grow to almost USD 50 billion. It seems that the stars are looking good for language service providers. Stay tuned to see what is happening in 2018 on the highly competitive translation market.

Thus EVS Translations would like to wish everyone relaxing holidays and a successful start into the new year. In 2018 we will again be ready, willing and able to take on translation projects and look forward to interesting orders.

Your EVS Translations-Team