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Business rationale: Why internationalise software?
Software developers have in the past been limited by technology’s inability to cope with language translation and cultural conventions. Developers now have an opportunity to sell their products and services to the entire world.

The proliferation of computers and related devices in regions previously without such technology has spawned new, possibly lucrative territories. Internet e-commerce clearly represents profit possibility without geographic boundary, opening the door for commercial software, hardware with embedded software components and enterprise or web-based applications to be rapidly researched, purchased and put into use. Consumer goods, including everything from the refrigerator to the groceries that go in it, the clothes we wear and the cars we drive, are available via the Internet, which means they potentially are available to anyone anywhere in the world.

However, we cannot forget that human interaction with the computer ultimately determines the success or failure of any software product, electronic business to business exchange or e-commerce web site. Your product may very well be the greatest thing ever invented and marketed, but if the people who want to use it can’t understand why or how they could use it, you have no hope for success. That’s the bottom line on why internationalisation is critical and why if you don’t take steps to deliver products that are easy to use -- where they are used -- someone will come along and make it so, pushing you out.

Businesses are recognising the fact that product internationalisation is a requirement for maximum revenue growth. Specifically, the process of globalizing your product (which includes both internationalisation and localisation) will benefit you by:






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