This week we continue our interview series on the Intrawelt Blog with the second installment of Intraview. Offering an insight into the technology side of translation, we put IT Engineer, Pasquale, under the spotlight!
Harriet: Today we’re with Pasquale, IT engineer at Intrawelt since 2010. Hi Pasquale, we’ll start with a key question: can you briefly explain what your role at Intrawelt entails?
Pasquale: I manage Intrawelt’s IT systems, take care of back-ups, and provide technical assistance to colleagues at head office and to those in our sales offices. I also run eGeTrad and manage its development.
H: Could you explain what eGeTrad is to our readers?
P: eGeTrad is Intrawelt’s operating system! It allows us to manage translation projects, from when the client is offered a quote right up to the invoicing stage. It’s also the online platform on which all our freelance translators are registered and to which they can upload their details. This way the Project Managers can choose the translator with the right skills for each project. There’s also an area for our clients, which gives them the freedom to check the progress of their translations and manage the flow of the related files.
H: You’re always in high demand by everyone and you have various responsibilities, how do you prioritise the different jobs?
P: First of all I determine whether there are any emergencies or problems that stop colleagues from working; in which case, the main priority is allowing them to get back to work. Normally, I try to split my time equally between proactively resolving problems (checking if there have been any intrusions and running safety analyses, monitoring backups and the various servers), and developing new eGeTrad features. In fact, I currently have a long list of requests that I need to respond to; they’re also organised based on priority and urgency.
H: Based on the jobs you’ve mentioned, do you have a favourite? If so, why?
P: I enjoy working with the most innovative technology out there, this is why I love configuring new servers so much, as well as installing new products or trying new tools. Fortunately for me, at Intrawelt, there are constant opportunities of this sort; we always use the best existing technology in order to remain as competitive as possible in a market as competitive as language services.
H: True, innovation is crucial in order for us to succeed. In the past few years, which has been the biggest change you’ve seen in terms of technology within the translation industry?
P: Machine translation could be considered the biggest invention since the introduction of translation memories, but its use is still limited to some sectors or specific cases. For all other sectors, the traditional translation methods still provide a higher quality.
H: Lets talk about technology products, software, hardware and so on; which is your favourite product?
P: Those that work well, dont break and don’t require a lot of time to be mastered by the user tend to be the best! This is why, at Intrawelt, we try to have surplus of resources for each element that could break, or to have a readily available substitute; this way we can guarantee the continuity of the service.
H: What is the most fun job you have been assigned at Intrawelt?
P: Every now and then the PMs ask me for help with a complex file, in which perhaps only a small part of the content needs to be translated. In these cases I find it quite fun to adapt the settings so that the small part is correctly identified by the CAT tools we use, so that clients are only charged for the words we actually translate. This involves clear advantages in terms of the time required to do a translation but also a considerable saving for clients.
H: According to certain stereotypes, people such as yourself, who work with technology, are “obsessed” with it; are you passionate about anything else?
P: Obviously technology is one of my passions, and it has been since I was a kid. But apart from things involving technology I also have other interests. One of these is making homemade bread and pizza. I also love photography and going on trips on my motorbike.
