| Rob Sexstone of 3di Information Solutions explains that there’s more to language barriers than a matter of translation
NEW MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
The European marketplace continues to extend its borders as more and more countries within the EU trade with each other as well as with other nations throughout the world. New member countries like Bulgaria and Romania are joining the EU, and because high-skill, low-cost economies like China and India are expanding, they are importing, exporting and consuming at an exponential rate. The opening of these new markets, supported by increasing global affluence, is resulting in new opportunities and challenges for companies that sell medical diagnostic and patient-care technology products.
As we know, bringing a product to market, particularly a software-managed medical device, is a complex process in its own right. However, taking that new product into markets with different language and cultural requirements demands an even greater and more complex blend of knowledge and skills. The product software and user interface must be designed in such a way that they can be launched in new territories cost-efficiently and without compromising usability or functional stability.
For a product management team, the planning, quality assurance and version control of a software product in multiple languages can be very time-consuming and brings with it often unforeseen additional overheads. If the approach to this process is not considered and planned from the outset, it can mean failure or very late and expensive product releases.
When planning the launch of a product in a new territory, the product manager will often think of the language barrier as an obstacle that needs to be overcome. Some degree of planning needs to be involved to ensure that translation is scoped as part of the eventual product marketing roll-out. However, often the focus on solving only the translation challenge means that bigger challenges are missed. |
