PYS, which stands for "Project Management System", has been used in translation companies for a long time and is a value that we, as Mirora, attach great importance to. So when and how does the story of writing a project management system program for translation companies begin, what stages does it go through and what point does it reach or is it expected to reach?
In 1997, when we founded Mirora Translation, we had Excel files where we started to save our data. I think all translation companies started their work in the industry by creating similar Excel files. It was actually quite simple to manage the files where we recorded the information of clients and translation service providers; the hard part was the endless columns and rows of Excel files where we wrote other details of projects. We kept generating huge, huge Excel files.
We are tired of writing the same project details over and over again in the approval message we send to the client, in the work assignment messages we send separately to the translator, proofreader, page designer and the suppliers of all the other processes, in the control forms, in the financing and accounting documents, etc. We got fed up when, while working on Excel files, we unintentionally but compulsorily sneezed and moved all the table cells around, or destroyed the file several times by mistake, accident or human weaknesses disguised as accidents, and had to go back and rewrite the details of hundreds of projects over and over again. We realized that this is not going to last!
Software Development for Translation Project Management
We started to write interfaces and databases using Access software, both to ensure secure and easy data entry and to save time by entering data only once into the system and using it in all records, correspondence and reports. Most of us came from fields such as social sciences, philology, philosophy and archaeology; I think it was a great chance for us to find friends among us who could write the interfaces of the program required for managing translation projects, or create database designs and work wonders in report formats. We still remember our former colleagues, especially dear Şadan Öz and Yusuf Sevgen, with love and appreciation.
Starting in 2002, we started to correspond with our customers and suppliers using detailed standardized forms, which made a significant difference. We were able to manage more projects in a more organized manner as our work became easier and project management turned from a burden into an enjoyable task, and we increased our value in the eyes of our customers and suppliers by several notches.
However, one day, our somewhat primitive but principled project management system was not enough for us. We were after more detailed reports, faster system updates and, of course, certification of our quality standards. We decided to create a WEB-based software and share it with our sector stakeholders, and we set out to have a software company produce a WEB version of this Access-based system.
Many years have passed since the targets of our planning and the deadline of our contract, but unfortunately this translation project management system software has not been completed. Delay lawsuits, etc., we realized that Turkey is a country where not only political lawsuits but also commercial lawsuits are never finished. We said "long story" in our title, but let's not prolong this unpleasant chapter any longer and continue with our story.
About ten years after our establishment, we launched our WEB-based project management system with a full-time software specialist. Did we relax? Never! The speed of the IT world's rotation around itself and around the sun is increasing every moment. We continued to develop version by version, that is, version by version, if we say it in our beautiful Turkish, in the project management system development process part, while saying that we should have this, let's add this, let's not skimp on this. We can also say that we crawled version by version.
Mirora Translation Transitioned to its own Project Management System
In the second half of the 2000s, however, we were already aware of the existence of project management system software. In Europe, new PMS software had already started to appear on the market at reasonable prices. Translation companies, which were experiencing the same problems as us, were probably developing and selling elaborate PMS software in a short period of time with the advantages of much larger capital and human resources than the software they had developed for themselves. We were watching these developments out of the corner of our eyes, but we wanted to use our own PYS software that we had written and that was suitable for our needs.
Every translation agency had its own project management system(r), just as every man has his own way of eating yogurt. They all had unique production, planning, archiving, backup habits, quality control points, communication with translators, financial and legal relations, and even invoicing and accounting methods(r). Therefore, even if it is a little bit imperfect and a little bit clunky, a self-built QMS is the best. Let's think again; is it really so?
In 2008, when we became a member of the Association of Translation Enterprises as a company, it was not surprising for us to see that many translation operators we met were going through very similar processes. It was not surprising but of course sad to see that we were struggling to produce more or less the same PMS software in different colors and patterns.
I wish we had gotten to know each other earlier, I wish we had shared our knowledge and work with our sector stakeholders earlier. Like many of our proverbs, the adage that says "it is better to cut your losses" is open to question. Why do we consider it a virtue to come back from a loss when we can plan well, think long and hard before starting work, or come back from a loss?
Fortunately, we now have a project management system that works very well, but you be you; think a hundred times, research a thousand times, do it once before you try to develop a software yourself!
The moral of this long process story can be summarized as follows;
- Using PMS software is good. It saves you a lot of time and money.
- You do not necessarily have to develop the PMS software yourself. Again, based on the motto that time is money, the annual fee you will pay for a well-thought-out and easy-to-implement PMMS software can be much cheaper than what you will produce and use!
- Not every PMS will suit you, but with a little effort you can fit into it. Who knows, this may be for the better.
- Good PYS won't make you fly without wings but it can give you a pair of Hermes sandals!
Mete Özel
Mirora Co-Founder, Deputy General Manager
Note: This article was published in Dragosphere magazine in April 2013; we thought it might be useful to republish it on our blog pages with a few minor changes, as we think it is still up to date.
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