What are common concerns about using a TMS?

As with every new tool, there is a risk your business will resist to the change.

Once the management decides upon buying a TMS, different participants of the translation process may raise their objections. Here is what you may often hear from them and how you may reply:

Table 1. Common concerns of potential TMS users

They say:	You reply:
It is very expensive so it is not worth it. We already spend a lot on translation.	We have calculated it: we will save more on leveraging on centralized TMs than spend on the TMS. We will no longer pay twice for translation of the same content and will benefit from discounts on similar texts. We will have a bigger control over the pricing policy than it used to be so far.
It is difficult to use. We would need ongoing technical support.	Yes, that's true: new systems require time to learn. However, most TMS providers offer free initial training courses, catch-up webinars, support documentation and/or access to a Key Account Manager. You will also be able to get help from a dedicated Localization Specialist. We will also draft user manuals and guidelines for our internal stakeholders.
The translation process will take longer than now and time to market is crucial.	TMSs make the translation faster by leveraging on translation memories and content reuse. They also have special features to automate a variety of tasks so forget about unnecessary steps in the process.
Our reviewers will not be willing to use it. They are used to working on standard documents.	Explain that you will make the whole process user-friendly. Everyone will be able to work according to their preferences. Most TMSs allow for exporting file previews that can be worked on in a traditional way. But it is also possible to use the Editor saving on time and making the whole process quicker.
It will complicate our workflows. We do not want to change what is already functioning well.	People are generally reluctant to change but it doesn't mean it has to be for the worse. Try to show each of them the benefits of using a TMS from their perspective. Focus mostly on cost- and time-savings and a bigger control over the whole process.
Our current translation vendors will not want to use it. Each of them have their own TMS and CAT tools.	Most TMSs enable exporting packages to be processed in any CAT tool (interoperability). LSPs or freelancers can still use their preferred resources - or can translate in the TMS Editor as well (thus saving on their license costs).
I feel it more secure when all translation memories are saved on my computer. I don't trust cloud services.	The TMS provider will sign an NDA agreement with us and it ensures continuous back-up of our data on several secure servers. Anyway, you can always lose access to your hard drives due to a computer failure as well and then no one will be able to retrieve this content.
I fear this change will have a negative impact on the translation quality. An IT tool cannot be better than human.	All TMSs contain built-in QA and LQA features which automate quality assurance and allow you to spot mistakes sometimes not easily noticed by proofreaders.