Article for translators: Why the Irish Eyes are Still Smiling...

Why the Irish Eyes are Still Smiling...

By John Freivalds,
Managing Director,
JFA Marketing

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John Freivalds photo The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated. This was the famous quote of the then aging and now deceased American writer Mark Twain. But Jeff Brink, Chief Operating Officer of Merrill Brink International, thought it would be an apt metaphor for the neglect that Ireland has been getting in the localization field. “All eyes seemed to have turned to India and China, but Ireland is as strong as ever,” notes Jeff. But he also admits, “It’s role has changed.”

Merrill Brink (www.MerrillBrink.com), whose center of operations is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the result of an acquisition in 2005 of PH Brink International, which was founded in 1987 by Merrill Corporation, a diversified global communications company. Brink first set up operations in Ireland in 1998 in the remote Western Galway. However, even that location has been discovered by now, as Cisco opened a global research center there in 2006.

Too often, we forget that Ireland is officially a bilingual country, with English and Gaelic as the two official languages. Fluent Gaelic speakers are still found in Western Ireland, but everyone in Ireland knows slainte (pronounced slange or “to your health”) heard every time a Guinness is raised. Thus, it’s not surprising that it developed into a world center of localization.

This was brought out by the Minister of Science, Technology, and Commerce (An Roinm Fiontar, Trádála agus Fostáiochta, in Gaelic). He could have been talking about all the localization investments in his country when he said this at the PH Brink International opening, “The availability of workforce, which is predominantly young, with strong technological, business, and language skills makes Ireland an ideal location.”

Years later, Jeff Brink added “No one talks about Ireland as the cheapest place to get things done, but it has become the command and control as well as the technological center for much of the world’s localization.” This is why many labor-intensive tasks have migrated to lower cost countries.

METRICS WORTH MENTIONING

It’s worth mentioning what has happened in Ireland in the last couple of decades. Other countries are now trying to replicate Ireland’s experience, but without the same success.

Since Ireland joined the European Union, over 1050 hi-tech firms have set up operations in Ireland, including Microsoft, which has its Worldwide Products Group headquartered here.
In 2000, Ireland became the world’s leading exporter of software. Roughly 80 percent of the world’s largest software firms have Ireland locations.
According to the management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, Ireland is the number one “international oriented” country in a recent survey. Switzerland was number two, and the US was number 11. Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran brought up the rear. The editor of ISA.net noted “The Irish have culturally escaped from a parochial sense of nationalism and become a proud member of the international community.”
Ireland’s goal is to graduate 1,000 PhD’s per year by 2013, double the present number.
Ireland has ready access to the European Union’s 455 million consumers. (The US has 300 million.)
In less than a generation Ireland has gone from the sick man of Europe to the second richest on a per capita basis after Luxembourg.
Ireland basically missed the industrial revolution. It went from an agricultural society straight to hi-tech.
The software industry employs 15,000 people and last year had sales of US $2.4 billion.
Ireland was first to develop a certification program for localization professionals, including two of the most significant initiatives in localization, according to the Localization Research Center, which originated in Ireland. These are “XML localization interchange file format” and “web services standard,” both created to automate the localization process.

LOCALIZATION IN IRELAND

In probably the most unscientific survey imaginable, the Localization Research Center (LRC), established in Dublin during 1995, recently published the results of a 53-person survey that asked this question: Do you think Ireland is an important hub for the localization industry?


The results:
54.7% = yes
30.2% = no
15% = didn’t know

An Irish publication titled Software Focus noted that localization “is a low profile function that rarely attracts attention, unless it’s done badly.” The editor stated further, “Consolidation and price pressure have taken a toll on the localization industry, which is now dominated by a few large service providers.”

Dublin has retained its role as a localization center. But its position in the industry is changing. As the delivery of localization services moves to other locales, the city has been evolving into a focal point for the development and implementation of technologies and standards.

I got the chance to dig into developments in Ireland on a bitterly cold day (-15 degrees Fahrenheit) in Minneapolis with Jeff Brink. At the time of the acquisition of PH Brink International, 40 percent of Brink’s sales came from Ireland. Merrill Brink now ranks 17th in Commonsense Advisory’s listing of the 20 largest firms in the localization field. “We aim to climb much higher than that,” stated Jeff. With its base in Minneapolis, Merrill Brink has begun to tap into the many international offices of Merrill Corporation.

On that day, Jeff Brink and I exchanged favorite anecdotes about Irish optimism. Jeff‘s story was when he played golf with Charlie Mulligan on a windy, rainy day in Galway, often referred to as Ireland’s Wild West. While Jeff commented on the conditions, all Charlie Mulligan offered was that “the rain would soften the cough.”

The anecdote I shared occurred a couple of years before the Irish hi-tech boom, when the firm I was working for wanted to acquire an Irish conglomerate. Two of my hosts were determined that I see everything and have a good time. They took me on a drive to the hill behind Dublin, where people frequently dig for peat moss. It was a foggy day, and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. They pulled over at a turnout. We got out of the car and one of them motioned me over. In the midst of the fog, he took out a postcard depicting Dublin on a sunny day, and he said “This is what Dublin would look like on a sunny day.”

This perennial optimism is important, as Merrill Brink, in addition to performing localization for a number of clients for almost nine years in Ireland, has embarked on a new service—supply chain logistics.

Like many new initiatives in the localization field, this grew out of an existing client’s needs. Merrill Brink was handling a variety of localization tasks for a global medical device manufacturer, and Merrill Brink saw that there was not a smooth flow of information and processes between the localization it did, and the printing, and then distribution of the printed materials. Thus, Merrill Brink saw the need for someone to “consolidate” the whole localization-printing-logistics process. By having this localization supply chain work consolidated, the medical device manufacturers saved time and money, and Merrill Brink ended up with a new service initiative. Charlie Mulligan, Merrill Brink’s Director of Strategic Development, summed it up by saying “We Irish keep spawning new things to do.”

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