Straker Translations has guaranteed substantial, multimillion-dollar revenues for a further three years after securing an extension to its partnership with computer giant IBM.

Straker Translations (ASX:STG) has locked in a further three years for its strategic translation services agreement with IBM, a move that guarantees continued multimillion revenues and allows for growth.

Pointing to the significant contribution the IBM partnership makes to Straker’s bottom line, the technology-led, next generation language and localisation services provider said it booked $14.8m in revenue in the 2022 financial year.

Straker and IBM kicked off their partnership in January 2021, with the original agreement due to end in January 2023.

“From a largely standing start we have quickly scaled to meet the month-on-month exponential increase in IBM translations,” Straker Translations CEO and co-founder Grant Straker said.

“We also moved from manual processing to automatic processing of translations. As of today, nearly 90% are processed automatically thanks to our success in the rapid development of a bespoke programming interface that links IBM’s systems with ours.”

The IBM team said prior to its partnership with Straker, the company dealt with 110 language service providers around the world, and most were handled manually.

“With Straker we have significantly streamlined the number of suppliers and automated much of the process and this has resulted in significant productivity and efficiency gains,” the team said.

“Straker has also pulled out all stops to deliver on what have been challenging service

commitments. We thank the team for its efforts and are looking forward to building on the successes of the past two years.”

Contract specifics

Under the renewed contract, Straker will support all parts for IBM’s business, including the cloud.

The extended partnership will cover translations around the clock for any language combination that IBM requests. Straker already translated 73 language combinations during the original two-year agreement.

The company said the new deal would also make use of, and further enhance, the direct links the duo had established between Straker’s proprietary AI-Powered RAY platform and IBM’s technology platforms.

Lastly, Straker will provide translation capabilities in the media segment across any language, with 23 languages already covered in the last two years for IBM Global Media Localisation.

Grant Straker says Straker’s partnership with IBM demonstrates the value the company’s technology-led translation solutions can deliver to global enterprises.

“We provide a single point of contact for all translations globally and a responsive, technology-led solution that delivers significant gains in productivity and administration for our customers.”

He also noted that the partnership had been a significant driver of innovation for both companies.

“IBM, for instance, has been a launch customer of a bespoke application that allows customers to order and monitor translations through the workplace super app Slack,” Grant Straker said.

Extending technology advantage

Straker has been focused on extending its “technology advantage over the competition”, with a focus on driving the seamless integration of the company’s RAY platform with workplace apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Since the onset of the global pandemic and the associated move to remote working, usage of these workflow collaboration tools has grown exponentially.

Slack has surged to 10 million users daily and is used by 65 of the Fortune 100 list of the US’ largest companies. Microsoft Teams is now used by 1 million organisations globally, boasting 270 million monthly users – a customer base twice the size it was a year ago.

Straker has developed an app for Slack that allows clients to order translations and monitor the progress of those translations, designed to further enhance the user experience.

The company is planning to roll out the app more widely in the current quarter and will soon begin development of a similar app for Microsoft Teams that is slated for release early next year.

Straker expects the apps to open up more subscription Software as a Service (SaaS) revenue opportunities.

This article was developed in collaboration with Straker Translations, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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