Automated translations with Customer Language Adaptation tool at SAP Business ByDesign

With Release 1902, Customer Language Adaptation tool (LAT) will enable customers and partners to translate selected Work Centers to their preferred language. This shall allow users in a local subsidiary to operate SAP Business ByDesign in the local language, replace text with specific business terminology or translated micro-vertical extensions developed with Cloud Applications Studio

Currently, our integration with SAP Translation Hub Service reduces translation turnaround time for faster go–to-market. SAP Translation Hub is an SAP Cloud Platform service that opens the door to the wealth of SAP’s translation experience across multiple products and languages. It opens SAP ByD to additional languages (up to 40 languages, including traditional Chinese, Thai or Romanian to name a few!) and leverage SAP Machine Translation capabilities in addition to our SAP HANA database of multilingual text from SAP Applications. Check details in World Map of Country Version presentation by SAP and Partners. If you need further support to review the translation proposals from SAP Translation Hub you can contact the SAP Language Service Partners (see general description of their services and a list of those partners).

You may agree with me, this new localization service and innovation, enhance SAP ByD abilities to support users in many of your subsidiaries’ roll out, where local language is different than the language offered by us. Language goes now, hand in hand with our Localization Toolkit approach ( check blog), and bring the technical ability to operate on local language to a new dimension. From a go-to- market approach, among others, it clearly solves the first customer dilemma about using only the language offered in ByD (currently 12 languages), it allows the new Work Center created with Cloud Application Studio (e.g. micro-vertical add-ons) to use specific industry terminology or simply, reduce cost of new language translation.

In this section, you get basic information about this tool. If you want to check the full webinar and demo run on 22^nd of January check into PartnerEdge,  (s-user required)  and get additional details from Product Owners, Kamil (LAT Product Owner) and Bea (Product Management SAP Translation Hub).

Features released with 1902 (HFC2) ( documentation available at help.sap.com)

You can use the tool to:

• Translate SAP Business ByDesign new work centers and work center views using Cloud Applications Studio into languages where no dedicated language is being delivered by SAP.
• Adapt distinct texts so that they fit into the customers domain and terminology.
• Adapt field labels, column headers, code texts, report texts and message texts.
• Process and review text translation proposals delivered by SAP Translation Hub.

Important tool observations:

• It does not replace SAP ByD cross tenant SAP language packs (it is tenant specific)
• It does not cover Adobe Forms, Help documents or Secondary Help content
• Again, it covers UI text, text codes (value help); UI messages and report text, work centers ( e.g. sales orders, supplier invoice…) and any work center developed with Cloud Application Studio)
• SAP Translation Hub Service usage might become subject for further licensing in future release but our considerations will start by end of this year, after we understand the real value to our customers and partners.

As part of the Language Adaptation tool roadmap for 2019 (SAP ByD roadmap) we envision during the next releases to deliver further functionality. For instance, we are conscious to:

• include usability improvements from this first release based on customer feedback,
• intend to have a 100% text coverage (currently 90%) including framework texts,
• deliver a translation quality visualization,
• aim for a cross tenant translation logistics (e.g. from Test tenant to a Productive tenant)
• create a Web Service connectivity.
• distribute text pool translations between tenants using export/import functions

If you want to watch a demonstration about our Language Adaptation tool don’t miss this video to get additional details.

We are looking to your feedback. For that reason, we have opened a new section into our SAP JAM Localization Group specifically for the Language Adaptation tool and its integration with the SAP Translation Hub Service.In addition, we have created for you a “How To Use” document which aims to ease your understanding about installing and running it.

If you are our customer or active partner at SAP ByD and don’t have access, let me know to send the invite.

Don’t miss to follow another interesting subjects as disclosed in the Localization Roadmap and Outlook for 2019