<div id="readability-page-1"><div>João Graça is the Co-Founder &amp; CTO of Unbabel.  
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Localization is a term coined in the mid-1990s to describe the process of adapting computer programs to different languages and regions and to technical specifications that vary from place to place.  
While localization and its cousin, internationalization, were helpful concepts and practices in the early days of the internet, the time has come for a new paradigm. 
 
Don’t get me wrong: Globalizing our approach to business has never been more important. It’s never been easier to reach new markets, and competition has never been more fierce — so the desire to reach those markets and offer products and services in any language or cultural context is a rational one.  
 
We just need a better way to get there. 
Why LangOps should be the new paradigm. 
 
The new paradigm we need is language operations — also known as LangOps. While localization focuses tightly on how to translate and regionalize computer programs and websites, language operations is all about how we can efficiently operationalize this practice.  
LangOps must comprise cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams. These teams should be dedicated not just to translating software and communications, but at a broader level, they must help global businesses communicate with stakeholders no matter what language they speak.  
Technologically speaking, LangOps should be enabled by cutting-edge, adaptable software that is accessible to users with varying technical expertise. This is the only way to operationalize language efficiently and at scale. 
The rise of [Blank]-Ops. 
If you work in or adjacent to the tech industry, you’re no doubt well aware of the rise of operations-for-everything. From marketing ops to sales ops to revenue ops to, perhaps most famously, DevOps, there’s a cross-disciplinary recognition that all roles must leverage technology to drive collaboration and efficiency across departments.  
Moreover, teams who focus on “ops” alongside their core functions typically hone in on using data and analytics to make smarter decisions for the business.  
Language should be no different, and we are starting to see recognition of this. I am by no means the first person to use the term LangOps, but it’s still a nascent practice. Localization remains a common buzzword in board meetings and C-Suites, but for enterprises, LangOps must serve as the strategy backbone.  
Technology as the backbone of LangOps. 
The good news is that technology has finally reached a key turning point when it comes to language. With AI crossing over the “peak of inflated expectations” and into widespread usage in daily business activities, technology can now power economies of scale with language. In many ways, AI has been commoditized, and that’s a good thing. Now it’s up to people to take advantage. 
Another way of looking at this is to compare IT today vs. the pre-cloud days. Before cloud computing and cloud infrastructure became ubiquitous, IT tasks were a lot more challenging. Everything was very manual and labor-intensive, requiring high degrees of expertise across the entire technology stack. It’s no coincidence that technology companies exploded once cloud computing made launching a startup much simpler. 
That’s the transformation that technology is now poised to bring to language via LangOps. Technology (especially artificial intelligence and machine learning) will make executing a LangOps strategy far easier and more doable. 
Reorganizing for LangOps. 
Traditional localization departments have reported to product or marketing, depending on what they are localizing and how. Customer service was rarely part of the localization department, which meant there was not a strong focus on language for customers. This needs to change. 
LangOps should belong to the C-Suite, giving executives the authority and ability to operationalize it from the top down, so that it runs across the entire company. After all, there is no job that can be done effectively without language. 
Why companies should focus on LangOps for customer service. 
The “ops-ification” of departments means working cross-functionally, by its very nature. That said, this is a future state for most organizations. So where to start now? 
All companies should localize their websites and apps to reach as many customers and prospects as possible. If customers can’t find you in their native language, it will be very hard to service them. After achieving this, there’s no function that can see more improvement and efficiency gains from LangOps than customer service. I like to think of customer service as the “gateway” to LangOps. 
2020 as a wake-up call for customer service. 
In many ways, 2020 was a wake-up call for organizations that did not have a plan in place to handle volatility in customer service demands across regions and languages.  
Whether it was hospitality and travel companies scrambling to handle mass cancellations and rebookings or factories forced to move operations elsewhere on a dime to avoid areas with high infection rates, the pandemic brought the importance of LangOps into stark relief. 
Customer service teams in particular can no longer afford to take a siloed approach to language. Doing so leads to massive inefficiencies, and it doesn’t deliver the kind of experience customers and other end-users deserve. On the other hand, by implementing a successful LangOps strategy, customer service teams can respond rapidly and appropriately to customer inquiries, no matter what language the customer speaks.  
The future of LangOps: stacking your teams. 
As a technical leader, I often ponder how best to structure both research-and-production-focused teams. There are useful lessons here for organizations that recognize the promise of LangOps and are ready to make it a reality.  
For one, make sure teams are truly cross-functional. Your customer service leaders must be able to communicate readily and regularly with product and engineering teams. Whether you are DIYing or leveraging outside tools to craft LangOps, the combination of technical know-how and customer savvy is powerful.  
It may make sense to reorganize some teams and departments in order to make this type of cross-functional collaboration possible. In doing so, you will reap the benefits of a more customer-focused product team and a more technology-focused customer team.  
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The new paradigm we need is language operations — also known as LangOps. While localization focuses tightly on how to translate and regionalize computer programs and websites, language operations is all about how we can efficiently operationalize this practice.

理事會帖子: 本地化的演變: 為什麼 LangOps 是下一個前沿