As translators, there are several things we like about our job, but mostly we like its mobility and flexibility.
We’ve all had that conversation with a friend where he says: “I don’t know how you can work at home, I would just fall asleep or watch TV!” And then you laugh and explain how you made 300€ sitting at the beach bar drinking mojitos and how hard the last 2000 words were because of the mojitos (don’t try it, or make sure to revise it well on the following day).
Yes, we can work anywhere that has internet connection. And, if you are like me, you have a portable router with a SIM card for when the view compensates for the lack of WiFi.
This mobility, however, comes at a price: hardware. Unlike desktops, laptops aren’t as upgradable. Replacing parts like RAM memories, for example, isn’t as easy as it would be on a desktop. Therefore, you have to upgrade it more often.
What if, for example, a client catches you by surprise and sends you a quote request while you’re at a friend’s?
What if your desktop fries and you’re left with your old computer? Will your new, resource hungry CAT work on it?
The “guys from the internet” found a way around all these problems: cloud computing.
Cloud computing is basically the same concept as team viewer: you access a computer that’s somewhere else. We’ve been using this at our translation company for some time now and it has several benefits:
- Mobility: you can access your work computer everywhere, even from mobile devices, depending on the services that the provider offers;
- Hardware costs: the little program (which is often called ‘client’) you use to connect to the computer is very small and you can access your work computer from any old outdated machine. So, there’s no need to upgrade it so often;
- Low risk: ever worried that your hard drive would stop working and you would lose all your translation projects? Don’t. Everything is stored on that virtual desktop and it’ll stay there.
- Updates: you can update your virtual computer at the click of a button. No more taking your heavy hardware to the store or buying several parts to assemble. Just click and you’ll have an updated hardware with all your translation files on it.
There are several providers of these services that you can choose from such as Google, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and others. This service is obviously not cheap. Only you can be sure if it’s profitable for your translation business. Do the maths, see how much you spend yearly on hardware and software and how much you’re willing to spend on the above-mentioned benefits.
This service is obviously not cheap. Only you can be sure if it’s profitable for your translation business. Do the maths, see how much you spend yearly on hardware and software and how much you’re willing to spend on the above-mentioned benefits.
We’re working on a helpdesk for translators and how to set this up will certainly be an area to explore. If you think a helpdesk is something you would be interested in, click here.
If you have any other suggestions for the helpdesk lets us know via Facebook chat. 🙂
By the way, this is the first post I wrote entirely on my phone.