Having moved into the localization industry fairly recently in my career, I have become aware, very quickly, of the haphazard nature of project management standards and methodologies sometimes found with suppliers, customers and agencies alike.

This is most evident when working with larger, more mature organizations, whose project managers are well versed in the skills and techniques required to deliver complex long-term projects, of which localization is just one element.

As most of the industry seems to have derived from an academic background and language, rather than project management professionals, the industry is ripe to introduce a common, well-recognized standard – and raise its game, at last, to match our customers’ requirements.

This would give us much better credibility in our initial discussions with customers and would make sure that the localization element of large projects is considered, properly planned in and agreed up front, rather than a rushed afterthought.

As the old adage states, fail to plan and you will plan to fail.  As it is, something like 80% of IT projects within certain industries eventually fail.  This is because people tend to think that by completing a project plan, success is assured.

What’s really needed, is the correct gathering of requirements and the ongoing management of risks and issues. Doing this correctly will help increase your (our) chances of success.

There are various standards used in other industries that have been tried and tested, which could easily be adapted for use in our industry.  And no, folks, Microsoft Project is a not a methodology, but a tool with which to aid your planning.

Maybe it is time to adopt – or adapt for our own use – something similar to MSP, e2e or Prince2.

So, what will it be then – more, or less of the same?