Just like our users, the team at memoQ eagerly anticipates every new release.
To tell you the truth, it is hard for us—just as it is for our users—to be totally satisfied with any given memoQ release. With over 700 feature requests received from our users every year, for each new feature that comes out, each of us could list dozens more that we would have loved to implement.
Tens of thousands of translation professionals and over a thousand organizations in more than 120 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe regularly use memoQ. Meeting the needs of such a vast and diverse user group is both an extraordinary privilege and a serious responsibility for our 100-strong team.
memoQ is fortunate to be one of the precious few language technology companies in the world with a significant customer base across the entire language services value chain: from hundreds of enterprises through LSPs large and small to tens of thousands of freelance translators. Unlike most of our competitors, we serve the entire language industry ecosystem. When one segment of the supply chain benefits, everyone benefits. When more enterprises choose memoQ, life becomes easier for LSPs and translators who have memoQ licenses themselves, and when LSPs and translators choose memoQ because it makes them more productive, enterprises also benefit from a stronger supply chain.
In addition, we invest heavily in maintenance and modernization of our technology. We know that when you rely on a translation tool to be productive in a 24/7 economy, you want it to be reliable, robust, and perform as expected. memoQ has been around for more than 15 years. We want to make sure our technology is sustainable so you can continue to rely on it for another 15 years—and beyond.
We firmly believe in this approach, but that is not to say it comes without difficult trade-offs. Most memoQ releases are not equally exciting for translators, LSPs, and enterprises alike. The effort needed to keep our technology sustainable sometimes means fewer new features. Some of the most substantial developments we undertake can take years to complete. And despite our best efforts, we sometimes make missteps along the way.
But if you look back on what we have been able to achieve since memoQ 9.3, our last long-term support (LTS) release, whether you are a translator or a localization professional at an enterprise or an LSP, we hope you will agree that memoQ has been able to deliver value to all of its users, one step at a time.
If, like thousands of our users, you choose to upgrade once a year to our LTS release, the highlights below can give you an idea of what is new in memoQ 9.7 versus memoQ 9.3. For a more detailed comparison, check out the “What am I missing?” page on our website.
Streamlined localization project management in memoQ Web PM
Desktop or web? The answer may depend on whether you are a translator, reviewer, localization project manager, engineer, executive, or system administrator; where you live, what type of project you are working on, or what type of memoQ license you have. But two trends are indisputable. Translators still overwhelmingly prefer reliable, powerful, and feature-rich desktop tools, while localization project managers are increasingly open to platform-independent browser-based solutions. That is why we continuously strive to make more and more of memoQ’s powerful translation project management functionality available in the web version. Since 9.3, we have developed, among other features:
- A new assignment workflow in memoQWeb (9.4)
- New file import options in memoQWeb (9.4)
- Advanced assign functions in Web PM (9.5)
- Pre-translation in Web PM (9.6)
memoQ Web PM will continue to see improvements in the coming years. In addition to edging closer to feature parity with the desktop client when it comes to project management functionality, we also aim to release exciting new features web-first, such as business reporting, so you can leverage your corporate data and continue to streamline your processes from wherever you happen to be.
Translation productivity boosters in memoQ WebTrans
Even while we are busy working on the new UI and technological modernization of our browser-based translation environment, memoQ WebTrans, we think it is important to continue improving the experience of users who rely on memoQWeb for translation productivity. If you upgrade from memoQ 9.3 to memoQ 9.7, the following improvements will make it easier to translate documents in the browser:
- Advanced filtering and sorting options in WebTrans (9.6)
- Run QA checks across the entire document in the web (9.6)
- Auto-propagation in WebTrans (9.6)
- Status bar in the web (9.6)
- Smart quotes and extended tag management in the web (9.6)
- Support for Mac-specific keyboard shortcuts in WebTrans (9.6)
Work is already underway on the new UI of WebTrans and a browser-based in-country review tool. While these projects are going to be marathons, not sprints, and we are unlikely to reach the finish line for either this year, our translation technology will continue to become more productive, more user-friendly, and visually snappier in the browser, too.
Usability improvements in the memoQ desktop client
As noted above, survey after survey indicates that translators prefer reliable, powerful, and feature-rich desktop tools over browser-based translation editors. That means the memoQ desktop client is here to stay. In fact, we are ramping up improvements to it this year. If you are a heavy user of memoQ, whether as a translator or project manager, you will want to upgrade to 9.7 to leverage:
- Resource Console improvements with new filters, sorting options, and metadata (9.4)
- The ability to import multiple translation memories (TMs) in batch (9.4)
- Exporting and deleting TMs, term bases (TBs), and LiveDocs corpora in batch (9.4)
- Exporting multiple target-language files in one go with export choose path (9.5)
- Improved TM-driven segmentation in pre-translation (9.5)
- The ability to select language variants for Word spell check in memoQ projects with a general target language (9.5)
- The ability to toggle case in term bases (9.7)
More transparency, with two clear commitments
In 2021, we will continue to open up memoQ’s new idea portal, a more transparent, interactive platform for managing feature requests currently in beta testing. The new portal will allow you to track the status of your feature requests, vote on requests that you like, and submit comments to engage with other users and memoQ’s product management team. The portal will ultimately be open to all memoQ users with a valid SMA.
With the new portal come two new commitments. First, we promise to explore and respond to the top 20% of ideas that receive the most votes from the user community. That does not mean that we will be able to implement them all—but we will implement as many as we possibly can. Second, we will ensure that every new memoQ release contains something of value to our freelance translator user community. We have not been able to do that as consistently as we have wished in the past, and that needs to change. The first request submitted and upvoted on the new portal that we implemented was the ability to toggle case in term bases. There’s more to come.
Integrations and interoperability: the more the merrier
Over the years, memoQ has consistently followed a “best-of-breed” approach. We believe we can add the most value by doing what we do best, striving to offer the best CAT tool and translation management system (TMS) in the market. We are not going to develop MT engines, and we don’t want to become a business management system (BMS). Nor will we compete with our customers by offering translation services, for that matter.
Integrations and interoperability play a key role in this approach. Improvements we and our trusted partners have delivered since memoQ 9.3 include:
- A Protemos integration (9.4)
- A modified Content Connector with more flexible deployment of new integrations (9.4)
- Direct import of Trados Studio TMs into memoQ (9.4)
- A FlowFit integration (9.6)
- A new XLIFF 2 import filter (9.7)
- Git connector improvements (9.7)
Expect more to come in 2021 and beyond, including additional source system connectors and the possibility to use memoQ’s powerful workflow automation templates with third-party packages.
MT goes mainstream: new engines in memoQ
Even though we strongly believe that high-quality translation will always require highly qualified human translators, machine translation is quickly becoming an integral part of translation workflows, especially with the continued development of neural machine translation (NMT) engines. To stay competitive in an evolving technology landscape, memoQ users need to be able to leverage the best MT engines in memoQ. Since 9.3, we have added:
- A brand-new Alexa MT plugin (9.5)
- A slicker UI and richer functionality for the TexTra NMT engine (9.5)
- A state-of-the-art ModernMT plugin (9.6)
- Custom models and glossary in the new Google MT plugin (9.7)
Adding new engines is not where our efforts to support combined human and machine translation workflows end, however. We will be devoting considerable energy to helping our customers streamline MT usage by adding new business reporting and workflow management options in memoQ. After all, neural networks can only do so much. A good, old-fashioned human brain—as well as the data and customization options to support its creative, self-learning pursuits—will continue to be very much needed in our industry.
Enhanced security with Single Sign-On and Multifactor Authentication
Just as it should be, security is very much on the forefront of the minds of memoQ customers—not only for the IT security experts at the hundreds of enterprises and intergovernmental and government agencies using memoQ, but also for localization project managers and translators working on legal, financial, gaming, and other highly confidential content. The security of your memoQ server and memoQ account is of paramount importance to us, which is why we have released several new features to expand the range of authentication methods we support:
- A new single sign-on (SSO) and multifactor authentication solution using the OpenID Connect (OIDC) protocol (9.5)
- SSO and MFA with personal Google and Microsoft credentials (9.6)
- The ability to migrate existing Windows SSO users to memoQ’s new SSO solution (9.7)
In 2021, we will continue to deliver further enhancements to our new SSO and MFA solutions, along with additional measures to safeguard the security of your (we hope) favorite localization environment, translations, and data.
Taking stock and looking ahead
Looking back at what has been a challenging year for all of us, it is hard not to feel thankful. Thankful that you have stuck with us despite the doubtless many personal hardships and commercial challenges you have had to endure. Thankful that our user base has continued to grow. Thankful for all the insights we have received from you, which have helped enormously in making memoQ better. Thankful for all the opportunities ahead to make it even better in the future.
And yet, with another new release, the nagging question remains—have we done enough? You are the ultimate judge of that. But be assured that we continually strive to do more. memoQ 9.7 will not be the release that finally makes you—or us—feel that we have reached our destination. We still “have promises to keep, and miles to go before [we] sleep.” We look forward to continuing the journey, together with you, all of our users, one step at a time.
We’re not stopping here.
For a full list of new features introduced since version 9.3, please visit our website.
Do you have any questions about upgrading to the latest memoQ version?
