Multi languages development can be a quite challenging for a lot of system products. So far, I have not seen any applications with full languages support. If you are designing for Asia, this can be quite a catch for the diversity. For product evaluation, users should not be charged if they request for local languages support. Instead, it is how your product can easily configure for different languages. This is how my dream multi languages configuration will look like.
Set and Get Language Locale
Language locale is a required parameter in today global application. The system product must have options to get and set language locale. There is also instance where your application have been configured for a preset language locale. The locale property must be enabled for all product objects used in the UI. It is common to see LOV (List Of Values) dropdown neglected for this parameter.
Languages Resource Bundle and Translation Service
Two other important factors in your software evaluation is the capability to configure resource bundle and translation service. We should not be held ransom to product vendor to pay for translated local languages. Thus, the software product must allow you to add and maintain any resource bundles for multi languages support. You should also be allowed to add translation API to support if the text is not found for the particular locale.
The applications of today must provide multi languages development or configuration. You must evaluate software product for multi languages capabilities. These common factors includes ability to set and get user locale, maintenance of your own language resource bundle and addition of translation api. Thus, do look out for these features if you are looking for a software to cover offices globally.
Danny Kwok 