Zoho centralizes localization of website content for non-English markets with RWS, achieves higher quality and 64% cost savings

RWS initially focused on translating Zoho’s website content into 23 languages and improving brand messaging and uniformity.

After evaluating Zoho’s localization setup, RWS recommended centralizing the company’s localization functions in order to streamline processes and ensure quality across all content.

Zoho began automating and streamlining their website localization supply chain using RWS’s turnkey solutions—translation management system (TMS), Mantra API and Drupal connectors. Translation Memory also played a crucial role, enabling Zoho to reuse previous translations, which lowered costs, saved time and improved consistency.

To minimize human touchpoints and reduce manual workload, Zoho and RWS developed on-premises connectors. Mantra’s connectors allowed for the direct processing of web content from Zoho’s Drupal content management system to RWS’ TMS and back, eliminating the engineering team’s manual efforts. RWS conducted systematic tests on these connectors, carefully addressing and resolving any issues to ensure optimal functionality. Throughout this process, RWS and Zoho implemented multiple connector versions and patches. These tools, including the Zoho Desk connector, Drupal connectors, and WordPress connectors, have helped Zoho streamline and automate website localization operations considerably.

Zoho’s stakeholders appreciated RWS’s collaborative and communicative approach during the rollout of the new strategy. Regular cadence calls with Zoho’s technical team and multiple test jobs reassured everyone that the work was progressing as planned and remained on track.

Zoho was also satisfied with RWS’s strong communication and coordination with in-country reviewers. Whenever issues emerged, RWS’s local language offices worked closely with Zoho’s reviewers to resolve them. Together, they focused on critical quality factors like terminology, branding, tone and style, boosting translation accuracy.

Over time, with help from RWS, Zoho added new improvements to its localization strategy. For example, Zoho began using machine translation post-editing (MTPE) for their product and user manual content. Shifting to this approach improved Zoho webpages’ time to market because more content could be translated faster and at a lower cost.

As word about RWS spread within Zoho, other divisions inquired about localization, and now RWS translates 80-90% of Zoho’s content, including legal, help desk, website and technical documentation content.

Zoho’s centralized website localization process has delivered significant strategic advantages.

Central to this process are technologies like Mantra, API connectors and Translation Memory, which have enabled Zoho to translate over 12 million words, achieving a 64% reduction in localization costs. They have also reduced operational costs and manual touchpoints, allowing their team to concentrate on tasks that require a human touch.

“It is a great experience to work with RWS and I was thoroughly impressed with the ease of their tools. The tool was user-friendly and intuitive, making it simple to complete tasks efficiently and effectively,” says Arivuchelvan Panneerselvam, Member Leadership Staff, Zoho’s Creative Team.

Moreover, the time taken for translation of websites has now shortened from 10 days to just three to four days.

This partnership has continued to strengthen over time, with RWS now handling an expanded scope of translations across more languages and content types, demonstrating Zoho’s trust in RWS’s capabilities.

“We also had a wonderful experience with the RWS support team,” says Arivuchelvan Panneerselvam. “They are knowledgeable, patient, and willing to go the extra mile, which made the entire process seamless while enabling Zoho to get the most out of our budget.”

• 23 languages

• 12 million words translated in one year

• 3-4 days average turnaround time

• 64% savings from Translation Memory

• 70% translation reuse

• 80-90% of content translated by RWS

• 16K files processed annually on average