The need for translation services continues to grow as businesses, and not only businesses operating across international borders, cater for consumers of different nationalities, both internationally and domestically.

As trade globalisation steadily increases so too does the need for translation services, for instance legal document translation, software and application translation, and video subtitling.

Companies with adequate resources often develop in-house translation departments, though due to resources required, this is expected to remain an option for large businesses, for instance MNCs, exclusively.

SMEs, generally find the cost of developing and maintaining an in-house translation department is out of their financial reach and this trend is one of several responsible for increasing the demand for online translation services.

Taking into account relevant factors, it’s generally in the best interests of businesses, including international businesses, to outsource their translation processes to a service provider, one that provides specialist translation services, for instance the translation of technical manuals.

In the case of MNCs conducting international business in particular regions that have need for translation services in a particular language, it may prove more advantageous for them to keep translation processes in-house as they have the means to do so; however, smaller businesses, in nearly all cases, find outsourcing their translation processes is the best option available to them.

Why Keeping Translation Processes In-House Doesn’t Work
Whilst SMEs are generally unable to keep translation processes in-house due to the cost of developing and maintaining a translation department, many larger businesses are also finding that developing and maintaining a department dedicated to translation processes doesn’t work favourably either; here are three reasons why.

1. Work volumes fluctuate
Work volumes have a tendency to fluctuate and this poses a serious problem for businesses that have established translation departments. When work volumes increase they often find their translation department is unable to manage the workload due to lacking enough employees, though when work volumes recede, employees hired for translation roles have a tendency to become superfluous and drain fiscal resources.

2. Resource specialisation
A prominent issue pertaining to the development of a dedicated translation department concerns the specialisation of resources. Translation processes often entail much more than translation alone and it often proves difficult for businesses to source and hire qualified employees who are able to manage translation processes in addition to specific business processes as the two are often inextricably intertwined.

For instance, if a business was expanding into a new international market and needed its software applications translated into a foreign language, the translator needs to have an in-depth understanding of the software because there would be more changes required than linguistic changes alone.

This would also be the case with legal translation processes as the translator needs to have a legal background in order to translate documents from one language into another whilst maintaining accuracy at all times; after all, there’s no room for error where legal documents are concerned and one seemingly insignificant error can have major consequences.

3. Management issues
Businesses often lack the management structure required to accommodate a dedicated translation department, and additionally, many management-level employees are culturally ill-equipped to manage such a department in the first place.

These reasons help to explain why many large businesses are now outsourcing their translation processes to providers of translation agency UK and other international business hubs, despite possessing the financial resources that would empower them to develop and maintain a dedicated translation department.

In an era characterised by accelerated trade globalisation there exists a very real need for translation services and in international business hubs, these services are easily arranged.