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Before looking to identify a translation services provider, it is important to clearly scope out your own requirements.

Among the things you should consider include the type of work you require the agency to do. For example, is the work limited to translation or does it require localization as well? Localization is often mistakenly understood to be the same as translation, but it is a more specialized activity that not every translation agency may be equipped to do. Sometimes, along with translation, you may also need interpretation services—both remote as well as on-site.

Listed below are some of the key attributes you must pay close attention to when hiring a service provider.

Language pairs: The most important consideration, of course, is the “language pairs” handled by the translation company. Do they have expertise in translation from and into the languages you would like to use the service for? It is not just important to know the language pair, but also the level of proficiency and experience in handling that language pair.

Domain expertise: Likewise, it is important to consider the experience of the agency in the domain for which translation is required. For instance, it is extremely valuable to work with an agency that has worked in the legal or financial sector for translation of legal or financial documents, respectively; or a translator with experience in translating plant engineering documents or software manuals would be ideal for those kinds of works.

Translator resource pool: Invariably, translation agencies use freelance translators, though it is their responsibility to identify and assign projects to suitable translators. The size of the freelance and in-house translator resource pool can help in determining the probability of the agency being able to fulfill your requirements. Also, understand the professional qualifications and experience of the translators.

Translation costs: The most common model in the translation business is on a rate per source word. Typically agencies quote a rate on the basis of the number of words in the source document, with the per-word rates varying on the language pairs, the domain and the complexity of the translation work, the format in which the source document is provided and the format in which the output is required. Therefore, while getting quotes from multiple translation vendors, it is very important to ensure that you make an apples-to-apples comparison, and not go purely on the basis of the cost quoted.

Project management process: This is extremely important if you are looking for a reasonably large and/or complex project. Good translation agencies have a well defined process to handle the project from the beginning to the end. These companies are usually meticulous and organized and ensure they have everything in order before they start working on the project. While this may seem like slowing down your work, it is time well spent particularly when the job is big and critical. Understand their translation quality control process—it is standard practice amongst good agencies to have another equally competent translator proof-read the work of the original translator before the work is delivered.

Clients, references and testimonials: As with buying any service, ask for details of their other clients for whom they have done work similar to the one you are looking to get done. If possible, get references and speak to the contacts provided. Many translation agencies actively participate in online forums/ community portals where they can compete for translation projects. Check out the reviews and ratings they have received. While these ratings shouldn’t form the entire basis of selection, it can give a reasonable indication of what to expect.

Range of services offered: It will be very beneficial to know the capabilities of the translation service provider so that you can depend on a one-stop provider for a range of services. For example, if the provider can cater to design and typesetting (desk top publishing) work as well, it can make sure that you can have all your marketing collateral translated, designed and printed by one provider. It saves time and money to do so.

Use of translation software and tools: While it is imperative that translations are carried out by expert professionals when work is outsourced to an agency, ensure that the agency uses some of the latest translation software such as SDL Trados that have translation memories. Use of software speeds things up; while the translation memory prevents the need for duplicate translation. With the reduced level of human effort, the translation project can be executed much faster.

In the next piece of this series, we will look at some vital aspects that you must take care of while working with a translation services provider to ensure you are getting the kind of service you expect.