Lernout & Hauspie: Anatomy of a Disaster

» cuzittt - Lernout & Hauspie: Anatomy of a Disaster

With the demise of L&H, I wonder if there are other businesses involved in the Localization industry who may be over-reaching, and moving into too many different fields.

I specifically wonder if many of the big localization companies are moving away from thier core business structures in an attempt to make money somewhere.

For example, SDL, which started as a TM solution provider, has bought two Translation/Localization companies in the past year (or so) in ITP and Sykes, bought a QA tools company (ToolCraft), and will soon be purchasing a part of Transparent Language, specifically the Transcend MT technologies. Now, L&H obviously had a number of other issues which SDL has not shown, but I'm not sure what SDL's core business is.

Oddly, Transparent Language moves away from multiple technologies, to focus on their initial core business, Language Learning Software. I remember the purchase of Transcend(in 1996), and could not figure out how Machine Translation had anything to do with Language Learning. It seems with the off-loading of this technology, TL came to the same conclusion.

This is not to say that the various mergers and acquisitions that have been going on within the language industry for the past couple of years are all poorly thought out. But, I wonder if SDL is slowly becoming the next L&H.

-Brandon Magee
Localization Analyst
eventra

-- posted by cuzittt

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions

» NALocke - Re: Lernout & Hauspie: Anatomy of a Disaster

In response to message posted by cuzittt:

Hi again,

Have you read the article by Simultrans' CEO, Mark Homnack, in the December LISA Newlsetter. He ponders some of the same questions as you. Steve Sayre, Idiom Technologies, challenges some of Homnack's assertions to which Homnack then responds. It's an interesting exchange.

Also, the SDL acquisition of the Transparent Language division is a done deal according to a press release today. You'll find a link to the full text of the release up above in the "In The News" section. I started thinking along the same lines as you about the time of the Sykes deal.

One things for sure. With the dot-com shakeout and rumblings of recession, there's going to be some changes in the industry. The tech news has been dominated by "body counts."

May you live in interesting times.

Best,

-- posted by NALocke

Permalink Print Discussion Join the latest discussions