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The thing is, for SAP, language and translation are not part of localisation. As a global company born in Germany, they’ve been “doing localisation” for over 40 years, yet they still find it challenging to communicate to their target customers and partners what localisation (done by SAP) is about.

Their customers are mostly multinational businesses that need enterprise software solutions for end-to-end business processes. For SAP, localisation is about enabling customers to follow local business practices and regulations, and interact with local authorities. It means making sure that the customer’s global processes account for regulatory nuances in HR and payroll in North America, follow procurement best practices in the Middle East, and integrate hiring and social media interactions across Asia Pacific. “Localisation services” providers don’t do this.