Preparing for launch

You have made your choice and still need to comply with a lot of formalities before you can start working with your TMS.

Start this stage only after you have received an approval to buy the selected TMS from your management.
Follow these steps to ensure that your new tool finds its place in your company.
  1. Start the sales process with the TMS provider (either through your purchasing department or on your own):
    1. Ask the TMS provider for all necessary agreements (subscription agreement, Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), Service Level Agreement (SLA), Data Protection Agreement (DPA) if applicable). You can also use your templates if available.
    2. Consult these documents with your legal department. Allocate some time for this part because the negotiation process is usually a lengthy one.
    3. Request an offer to be presented to the management for final approval (containing all the terms and conditions of purchase).
    4. Arrange for a TMS to be installed on-premises or on your instance in the cloud.
  2. Train your team, translation vendors and other internal customers that need to work with it. You need some time to implement it and learn how to use it.
    1. Prepare internal documentation for your new TMS to present its main features and benefits of using it.
    2. Manage the whole onboarding process by delivering training to new users (project managers, reviewers, translators).
    3. Draft relevant documentation (e.g. checklist for translation vendors, guide on how to review documents for in-house reviewers).
    4. Set yourself as the first point of contact for all TMS-related issues (user access rights, technical support).
    5. Carry out an internal marketing campaign for your refreshed translation process with your TMS as the key tool. Advertise it e.g. in the intranet.
    6. Start looking for new partners if not all of your translation vendors wish to continue cooperation with you with the use of the new TMS.
  3. Collect all available TMs and TBs from all your vendors (including vendors that will no longer work for you), and migrate these assets to the TMS.
  4. Create workflows, user accounts with relevant access rights and roles.
  5. Set the go-live date and start working with your new TMS. Initially process only some projects (the easiest ones) and gradually move the whole translation process to it. Once you discover all the TMS’s features, you will no longer imagine work outside it ;). You will process even very complex projects in it.
  6. Define your schedule to report on TMS key metrics such as translation volume (number of TM segments, translated words), language pairs, discounts on TM use, overall external costs. It is a good idea to have an Excel report at hand with all relevant data generated from TMS from time to time. Every management would like to be updated on the metrics (Key Performance Indicators - KPIs) relating to the process.
Once in a while, review your decision:
  • Check if the TMS meets your business needs: are there more advantages than disadvantages from using it? Are all of your company’s requirements met?
  • Continue taking part in webinars to be up-to-date with your TMS upgrades.
  • Check what is available in the market: has anything new appeared or changed in the TMS offer?
  • Ask yourself a question if you are satisfied with cooperation with this TMS provider (e.g. as regards IT support, your customer success manager).
  • Conduct a satisfaction survey among your vendors and/or your internal clients working in this TMS. Analyze its results and present it in a form of an executive report for your management.