Outsourced International Project Management

for Qualcomm Incorporated

BREW software/documentation case study

The BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) platform, created by Qualcomm Internet Services, allows developers to write, deploy and monetize wireless applications for cellular phones, PDA’s and other mobile devices. The BREW solution touches all three corners of the wireless triangle - carriers, manufacturers and developers - as well as the infrastructure among them. The BREW team chose John White to manage the outsourcing of worldwide versions of their Software Development Kit (SDK), including handset emulator, resource editor, development tools, thousands of pages of documentation, and reference applications.

Localization and launch management calls upon 1-for-All Marketing’s outsourcing expertise in:

  • scrutinizing project components before handoff to anticipate and defuse problems
  • creating realistic lab environments similar to those faced by overseas users
  • managing the day-to-day relationship with partners and vendors in the entire supply chain, regardless of their location/time zone
  • conducting handoff and hand-back of deliverables for lowest impact on domestic priorities
  • designing and executing multi-country beta test programs
  • maintaining project assets (translation memory, glossaries, databases) for cost-savings in future releases
  • complying with large-enterprise requirements for configuration management, product numbering and release management
  • mobilizing the support and resources of overseas offices to deliver solid products
BREW Web presence case study

As the buzz has spread, the BREW Web site has become the magnet for and primary information-channel to BREW developers around the world. The BREW team chose 1-for-All Marketing to help grow the site from one to six (English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese) versions of the BREW Web site, and to help drive each overseas office to use its localized site to its greatest advantage. This has led to regional Web-based support forums, Web-driven local press and marketing campaigns, online download of software and documentation, and Web-based surveys of local developer communities.

Web localization and ongoing maintenance calls upon 1-for-All Marketing’s experience in dealing with technical factors:

  • page encodings, character sets and Unicode
  • changing Web site architectures (HTML, XML, JSP, PHP)
  • liaison between Web team and translators
  • multi-byte search functions and indexing
  • version control systems and delta handoffs
  • multilingual Web forms, databases and automated replies

as well as with human factors:

  • glossary review for each additional language
  • buy-in from regional offices
  • sustained functional and linguistic testing
  • robust usability for BREW developers, journalists and partners in their own languages

Eudora Division Case Study

Given the rising popularity and international distribution of competing products (Netscape's Mozilla, Microsoft Internet Explorer e-mail client), the Eudora division decided to launch Eudora Mail Pro in French, German, Italian, Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

To supplement their localization management bandwidth and linguistic expertise, they engaged John White of 1-for-All Marketing to run the five-language effort, which involved internationalization and localization of software, documentation and marketing materials for both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Localizing electronic messaging applications and shrink-wrap software packages such as Eudora affects many areas of the product, including:

  • Modifications to code
  • Adherence to Internet messaging standards
  • Conformity to expectations of existing worldwide customers
  • Culture-neutral icons and graphical objects
  • Architectural changes
  • Observance of corporate legal standards
  • Worldwide beta-testing
  • Globalized versions of NIH (Not Invented Here) components
  • Use of localization tools
  • Building ad-hoc product launch teams

  "A lot of the early potential for Qualcomm's BREW came in Asia and Latin America, so delivering localized software and documentation into those markets without affecting domestic priorities was business-critical. We engaged 1-for-All--based on how well John White had managed the localization of Eudora for us--to handle preparation, translator relations, integration and testing of our global versions, with minimal impact on our internal staff. I'm glad we brought them in from the very start, to get our international products moving in the right direction, and to keep them moving that way. I can always count on John to effectively manage the on-time delivery of quality localized product."

- Senior Director of Program Management

 

 

 

"Qualcomm's BREW solution took off fast in Asia and 1-for-All helped us catch that wave quickly with Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions of our web site and technical content. John White became our go-to guy on matters international, guiding our web developers through the maze of internationalization, encoding issues and directing QA of the sites. 1-for-All has helped us build a strong global online presence which is critical in our line of business."

- Senior Marketing Manager

 

 

 

"Thanks as always for your hard effort to the localization."

-Product Manager, Qualcomm Japan


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