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Poll: What is the most important aspect of working with a vendor management program? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| These CAT-like virtual attempts to replace human interaction, only complicate and hinder our work. | Feb 14, 2017 |
We are TOTALLY against these CAT-like virtual replacement for human interaction .
They make the work of translators unhuman and inhumane.
Under pretext of "simplifying", they make our work more complocated .
Nothing can replace the human interaction you can enjoy through e-mails or telephone or Skype or WhatsApp OR LINE calls,
when it comes to understanding each other between translators and agencies, or more generally, outsourcers.
Already the CAT have spoil... See more We are TOTALLY against these CAT-like virtual replacement for human interaction .
They make the work of translators unhuman and inhumane.
Under pretext of "simplifying", they make our work more complocated .
Nothing can replace the human interaction you can enjoy through e-mails or telephone or Skype or WhatsApp OR LINE calls,
when it comes to understanding each other between translators and agencies, or more generally, outsourcers.
Already the CAT have spoiled the joy of translating making things more complicated, and giving agencies a means to press us for discounts with this ungrounded pretext of "fuzzy matches" and the like (but we've been resisting so far).
And already CAT are a means of excluding us translators who don't have a particular CAT tool, especially that TRADOS.... (which we have the impression that ProZ is oddly letting or even helping advertise way too much and become a sort of oligopolist or monopolist, while we hear that other CAT tools, such as Déjà Vue, are better);
a MEANS of EXCLUDING from many jobs us translators who are not keen on this artificially complicating stuff, and have been educated to consider translation AN ART, one of the beautiful human arts.
So that is why we voted "Not Applicable" in the poll.
We beg ProZ as a whole to refrain from promoting this dangerous trend of CAT-izing our life that -- in our opinion-- these "vendor managing programs" are a part of.
We agree with the following post by Ricki Farn (sorry, we don't know how to put this quotation in a separate "quotation text box": would the ProZ staff kindly do that for us):
Ricki Farn wrote:
A "vendor management program" (software) is a way of making simple tasks more complicated and/or more frustrating.
1. Instead of a project manager sending you a file and asking if you can translate it for Thursday, they send you a link to an internet platform where you can find this file (if you remember the sequence of steps, and if the file is actually there and not mysteriously corrupted). You will then often have to download the actual work from a different portal, or even work on it in another online portal that's about as user friendly as a rock tied to your ankle.
2. Instead of someone asking you to translate something for a set price, they make you "bid" for it against other translators.
3. You get a lot of messages generated in error for projects or even clients you haven't been working for for years, because their software portal pissed you off too much.
Each of the "aspects" in the poll question is important, it's just a question of how much complication can be added to each one.
[Edited at 2017-02-14 09:02 GMT]
[Edited at 2017-02-14 15:50 GMT]
[Edited at 2017-02-14 15:51 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| I get the very same impression | Feb 14, 2017 |
Fumiko & Alberto Zaccagnini wrote:
Already the CAT have spoiled the joy of translating making things more complicated, and giving agencies a means to press us for discounts with this ungrounded pretext of "fuzzy matches" and the like (but we've been resisting so far).
[b]And already CAT are a means of excluding us translators who don't have a particular CAT tool, especially that TRADOS.... (which we have the impression that ProZ is oddly letting or even helping advertise way too much and become a sort of oligopolist or monopolist , while we hear that other CAT tools, such as Déjà Vue, are better);
a MEANS of EXCLUDING from many jobs us translators who are not keen on this artificially complicating stuff, and have been educated to consider translation AN ART, one of the beautiful human arts.
So that is why we voted "Not Applicable" in the poll.
We beg ProZ as a whole to refrain from promoting this dangerous trend of CAT-izing our life that -- in our opinion-- these "vendor managing programs" are a part of.[/quote]
If I drove a taxicab, I'd suspect potential clients who specifically demanded a Ford, a Chevy, a Chrysler, or any other brand. Hey, it's MY car! I paid for it. You are paying only for the ride.
I bought WordFast for no particular reason, and use it when I consider convenient.
A client assigned me a long series of jobs, required me to use MemoQ, but THEY provided me with a portable license for the duration of it.
Another one required me to use Passolo, which I don't know whether it's free or not, but they provided me with everything necessary to use it.
As a driver, I can drive any car brand. I can drive mine, which will be of a specific brand. If the client provides me with a different one, I'll have no objection to driving it.
Likewise, as a translator, I have my CAT tool, be it good or bad, I own its license. If the client wants me to use a different one, let them provide it at no cost!
I don't post jobs on Proz, so I wouldn't know. However my impression is that job posters face the "must have Trados" checked as a default option. Most likely, when they try to uncheck it, the system asks them at least twice, "Do you REALLY want to waive 'must have Trados' as an essential requisite for all applicants?"
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Michele Fauble 
United States
Local time: 12:31
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
+ ...
| Shooting themselves in the foot | Feb 14, 2017 |
Ricki Farn wrote:
A "vendor management program" (software) is a way of making simple tasks more complicated and/or more frustrating.
1. Instead of a project manager sending you a file and asking if you can translate it for Thursday, they send you a link to an internet platform where you can find this file (if you remember the sequence of steps, and if the file is actually there and not mysteriously corrupted). You will then often have to download the actual work from a different portal, or even work on it in another online portal that's about as user friendly as a rock tied to your ankle.
2. Instead of someone asking you to translate something for a set price, they make you "bid" for it against other translators.
3. You get a lot of messages generated in error for projects or even clients you haven't been working for for years, because their software portal pissed you off too much.
A good way for outsourcers to ensure that they will not be working with translators whose services are in such demand that they do not need to bother with this nonsense.
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Michele Fauble wrote:
A good way for outsourcers to ensure that they will not be working with translators whose services are in such demand that they do not need to bother with this nonsense.
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John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 15:31
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| Downloading the file so I can work on it my own way | Feb 14, 2017 |
I don't mind vendor management programs where they are just used as a communications medium. What I require, however, is the ability to download the working file so I can work on it on my own computer with my own software (MemoQ or Studio, in my case).
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Melanie Meyer
United States
Local time: 15:31
Member (2010)
English to German
+ ...
| Thank you Ricki, you expressed my exact feelings | Feb 14, 2017 |
Ricki Farn wrote:
A "vendor management program" (software) is a way of making simple tasks more complicated and/or more frustrating.
1. Instead of a project manager sending you a file and asking if you can translate it for Thursday, they send you a link to an internet platform where you can find this file (if you remember the sequence of steps, and if the file is actually there and not mysteriously corrupted). You will then often have to download the actual work from a different portal, or even work on it in another online portal that's about as user friendly as a rock tied to your ankle.
2. Instead of someone asking you to translate something for a set price, they make you "bid" for it against other translators.
3. You get a lot of messages generated in error for projects or even clients you haven't been working for for years, because their software portal pissed you off too much.
Each of the "aspects" in the poll question is important, it's just a question of how much complication can be added to each one.
[Edited at 2017-02-14 09:02 GMT]
Same here, Ricki! I try to avoid these portals like the plague, but unfortunately some clients insist on using them and I play along, as long as the client is worth it. Generally though, they slow me down tremendously and are a major pain in the neck.
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Rebecca Garber
Local time: 15:31
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
| They let me track hard to place projects for my own amusement value. | Feb 14, 2017 |
I do projects for one large multi-national agency that uses this type of system. They also have PMs who contact me directly, which are the projects I actually accept.
The management system *should* have some type of filter for selecting who to spam for jobs, like, say, a little thing like rates or areas of expertise. However, some of those using the system cast a wide net. Once I have determined that the project with hours of formatting from a pdf file pays 50% of my going rate, I just wat... See more I do projects for one large multi-national agency that uses this type of system. They also have PMs who contact me directly, which are the projects I actually accept.
The management system *should* have some type of filter for selecting who to spam for jobs, like, say, a little thing like rates or areas of expertise. However, some of those using the system cast a wide net. Once I have determined that the project with hours of formatting from a pdf file pays 50% of my going rate, I just watch it bounce from office to office as it gets handed off around the planet. For some reason, the PM who finally contacts me is always surprised that I have tracked this. Also, they occassionally appear surprised that I am unwilling to work for peanuts. ▲ Collapse
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Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 16:31
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Not for translators | Feb 14, 2017 |
The software is not meant for translators, so wrong place to post the pool. Anyway, there is nothing the VMS does that you need a VMS to do. It's the type of illusion that leads people to burn some more money and make smarter people richer instead of learning how to do it and how to use some basic Excel formulas and the sofware you already have in your PC.
[Edited at 2017-02-14 23:31 GMT]
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