In-house team: Advantages

Intimate knowledge of the product: The internal team is closely aware of the product, as they are usually associated with it from the design stage. Domain experts are also part of this team and have in-depth knowledge of industry-specific terminology.

The in-house team understands very well the different use cases of the product in the real world. They can easily come up with terms that the users will relate to when using the product.

They are in-sync with the product development cycles. Hence, they are able to directly access the latest product information. This makes things go faster at the technical content production stage. Also, their documentation style and practices are already consistent with the company’s. Hence, there is consistency in the voice and terminology of the technical literature.

Easier collaboration with other internal teams: The in-house terminology team can easily collaborate with the authors and editors of the technical content, and even the product development team, if need be. This leads to less time lost in back-and-forths between these teams and faster turnaround of help guides.

Ownership: The internal team has a distinct sense of ownership. They are answerable to their colleagues and higher-ups in the company and hence, they tend to take a stronger interest in maintaining quality.

In-house team: Disadvantages

Lack of perspective: The internal team is too close to the product. They may lose perspective on how the product is seen from an external user’s point of view. They may use very involved language or very company-specific terminology that laypersons may not understand.

May not be available: The internal terminology team may have other core tasks to take care of, too. They may have limited time to manage terminology, as this is one of the many things they are tasked with. It results in delays in updating the database which, in turn, can lead to errors down the production line.

Lack of linguistic skills: The internal team may have the domain expertise of the product, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they have the linguistic or translation skills required. This may lead to terminology choices that don’t translate well or aren’t understandable in other languages.

May resist change: The in-house team may become attached to the practices or tools they have been using and resist any change in the process or software. It may even become difficult to introduce new terminology or writing conventions.

Translation agencies: Advantages

Professional expertise. Translators with specialization in technical content also have the linguistic expertise in the source and target languages. This ensures that the right technical terms are used in the target languages.

These agencies often employ terminologists who are trained to create and maintain specialized terminology for a particular field. Technical experts are also available to review the translations for accuracy and consistency.

Dedicated to terminology management. Unlike internal staff who have to manage a hundred other things as well, the translation agency can dedicate its resources to terminology management – that’s their job. This guarantees top-quality and consistent management of terminology.

Tight turnarounds can be managed. Translation agencies typically work with tight deadlines. They can handle large, complex projects because of their wide network of translators and terminologists. This helps in scaling up projects easily for global product launches.

Confidentiality. Specialized translation companies work with clients that have strict requirements of privacy and confidentiality. The translation companies are capable of implementing security measures to protect sensitive data.

Use of professional tools. Translation agencies use translation memory and terminology management tools to make sure that the phrases and terms are used in the same way throughout the client’s documentation. These tools bring in cost savings and boost productivity as they can quickly identify similar phrases and terms and show them up as suggestions.

Translation agencies: Disadvantages

Dependence on third parties. Terminology databases play a critical role in the technical content of a company. If the translation company is not dependable or efficient, then it can create problems with turnaround as well as quality control.

Change management. Changes to terminology or documentation may be more difficult to convey and execute when working with external providers.

It is clear from this post that each company has to review all of the above pros and cons of the two choices and make their decision based on their particular context and requirements. It may even be that the best of both options needs to be combined for an appropriate hybrid model. A partnership between the internal as well as the external teams often results in optimum quality, quicker turnaround, professional terminology maintenance, and significant cost savings.