How Milengo and Lokalise Created a Seamless Software Localization Process for Orbus Software

Software Localization is not a new thing, but how it is done has evolved over the years. Gone are the days when software licenses were a one-off purchase, which required an upgrade package to be purchased and deployed each time a major release dropped. Today around 70% of business software is based on Software as a Service (SaaS) licensing and delivery. This figure is forecasted to rise to 85% by 2025. 

These changes in software delivery mean that a basic requirement of SaaS companies is to deliver updates and bug fixes simultaneously to clients. For companies with clients around the world, this can entail updating multiple localized versions of your software or app. While a seemingly underrated task, hiccups could cause a ripple of delays. 

Thankfully, this is where software localization services come into play. 

Read this blog to find out how Milengo and Lokalise created a seamless budget-friendly localization strategy to help Orbus fuel great customer experiences with the best software translation possible.  

Introduction

Customer-centricity sits at the core of Orbus’ vision: The British enterprise software provider goes to great lengths or provide a seamless user experience for its clients around the globe – including different language versions for the software-as-a-service (SaaS) product.

With Milengo and Lokalise as a one-stop shop for all localization needs, Orbus managed to translate its web app into four languages within the span of a few months. Along the way, they created a highly productive localization setup that “gets translations done” on tine, every time.

There are significant advantages of having localized languages in enterprise markets, so for us, translation remains a priority as we enter different regions.

– Jonathan Dean, Product Director, Orbus

About Orbus 

Orbus Software is a leading enterprise software vendor. Founded in 2004, the company serves large government organizations and blue-chip enterprises across many industry verticals such as IKEA, Dell, AstraZeneca, Fujitsu, and AXA.  

Driven by the increasing level of cloud adoption among global businesses, Orbus saw a record 700% growth for its iServer365 platform in 2021. In order to fuel this rapid international expansion, localization took on an increasingly important role. 

Gaining a competitive edge with software localization

Software localization is the process of adapting software to the linguistic, cultural, and technical requirements of a target market. It doesn’t only involve translations but also includes elements such as localizing currency symbols, date and time formats, and even text direction. 

Localization allows SaaS companies to better reach global audiences and ensures that international users receive the same experience as those in their home country. As a result, this encourages higher user engagement and helps to reduce the support required by allowing end-users to better understand the product.  

For Orbus, providing software in local languages is strongly linked to respecting cultural communities. For example, in countries with more than one official language such as Canada, having comprehensive language support (i.e. English and French) gives Orbus a valuable competitive edge. 

The challenge of localizing software

Orbus was already working with an external translation vendor but saw disappointing results. “The quality was so poor we needed a new solution ASAP”, recalls Vladyslav Remnov, a technical writer at Orbus who also oversees much of the localization work.

They were in dire need of a new translation vendor. So they came to us with a question: How should they deal with the ever-increasing volume of translations that accompanied global expansion? 

With limited internal capacities for localization, the company was looking for a solution that fulfilled the following requirements: 

1. Reliable translation quality – Experienced software localization services with a proven pedigree in SaaS software translation. 
2. Automate & modernize – A state-of-the-art software localization tool with out-of-the-box integrations to manage and publish translations more efficiently. 
3. Fast roll-out – Operating in a highly competitive marketplace, rapid localization based on shifting client demands is business-critical for Orbus. 
4. Scale on demand – Localization is a major growth factor for Orbus. They wanted a long-term partner capable of ramping-up localization efforts when needed. 

The translation solution

In January 2022, Orbus partnered with Lokalise as their localization software of choice. Orbus needed translations of their web app into French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Furthermore, the scope covered documentation with highly specialized terminology such as user, technical, and administrator guides. 

Knowing that Milengo had worked with SaaS market leaders such as Infor and Snowflake, Lokalise recommended us as a language service provider due to our knowledge of enterprise software localization best practices.  

With this expert team assembled, Orbus was finally able to deliver localized products faster and more efficiently.

Client-centric professional translation services

Orbus was pleased by the thorough onboarding from the get-go. “Everything was so well coordinated. It was a great experience overall,” Vlad shared.

From the start, Milengo and Lokalise clearly demonstrated their commitment as long-term localization partners by offering Orbus every inch of support they could wish for such as:

• Hopping on a meeting if problems arise;
• Getting instant training on Lokalise features;
• Consulting with translation professionals to navigate the cultural and technical potholes of software localization.

A turnkey solution for software localization

To meet Orbus’ translation requirements and tight deadlines, Milengo embarked on the following steps to ensure high-quality translations were delivered according to schedule: 

1. Documented a quality assurance framework to guarantee reliable, precise, and consistent software translations  
2. Assembled a team of native industry experts (according to ISO Standards) to ensure all translations made sense culturally and technically

Streamlined translation management with Lokalise

Prior to working with Milengo and Lokalise, Orbus didn’t have a formalized localization workflow. Content was often copied manually from the software repositories or CMS into spreadsheets and Word documents for translation. Files were sent back and forth via email, with access rights often unclear and translations sometimes even getting lost.

Everything changed when Orbus discovered Lokalise. “The existence of such a solution was a revelation“, remembers Vlad, who previously had to invest a lot of time in repetitive manual tasks when managing translations across platforms and languages. “Thanks to the integration with Lokalise, all our translation assets are now conveniently stored in one place.”

Every activity is executed via a single shared workspace: Create a project. Invite translators from Milengo to contribute. Upload the finished translations. Review. Deploy. Repeat. “The degree of automation is very high,” Vlad explains. “It’s even manageable without a large localization team or expertise.”

Easily keep track of updates to source text

The web app localization into four new languages is a major step in Orbus‘ quest to strengthen their global presence. But software products are moving systems – they require constant updating. This comes along with various challenges.

“The quality of global content cannot be assured without everyone looking at the same source,” Vlad explains. Furthermore, translating an entire app all over again with every new release would be cost-prohibitive.

Luckily, Orbus could leverage the version-control feature of Lokalise to keep costs down and pinpoint developers and translators to the required content updates. As a result, they are now able to identify source changes and quickly alter translations from end-to-end.

Our reviewers had to make almost no changes to the translated texts. The content was instantly usable.

Vladyslav Remnov, Technical Writer, Orbus

Results of Milengo’s translation services

Making the best use of resources is a central tenet of Orbus’ enterprise software. Thanks to Milengo and Lokalise, the company was able to accomplish the same efficiency with its localization setup. In fact, translations were sometimes even delivered ahead of time, allowing Orbus to translate their web app into four languages in a few months! 

“Milengo has done a great job and always delivered translations timely. The whole collaboration has been extra smooth.”

Vladyslav Remnov, Technical Writer, Orbus

Furthermore, with the version-control feature of Lokalise, Orbus was able to keep costs down and point developers and translators to the latest content updates. As a result, project members could quickly identify changes and work on translations from end to end. 

Moving forward, Orbus is ready to further ramp up localization efforts by setting up a dedicated in-house team for assigning, reviewing, testing, and publishing translations in an even more structured manner.

A confident global outlook

Making the best use of resources is a central tenet of Orbus‘ enterprise software. Thanks to Milengo and Lokalise, the company has accomplished this same efficiency with their localization setup.

Going forward, Orbus is ready to further ramp up their localization efforts by setting up a dedicated inhouse team for assigning, reviewing, testing, and publishing translations in an even more structured
manner.

With an experienced translation agency like Milengo plus a future-proof localization tool like Lokalise at their disposal, Orbus is ideally placed to achieve low-maintenance localization that creates
value and cost-savings at every stage of the process.

Want to see how you can also streamline and simplify your software localization and documentation translation processes? Schedule a free consultation call with our experts and let’s discuss where your opportunities lie!