RUBRIC'S HAPPY CUSTOMERS

Customer Satisfaction Survey Proves That Rubric Provides A Better Localization Experience

During August and September of 2004, Rubric surveyed more than 25% of our past and present customers, asking probing questions about their experiences with Rubric sales, project management, translations, and Rubric's commitment to their business needs.

What our customers told us is that Rubric does indeed provide a better localization experience. In almost every aspect of localization, Rubric customers rank us highly:

Technology expertise
Project management
Translations
Sales and account management
Critical relationship factors

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"[We] were very pleased with [Rubric] and recommended them to several partners who needed translation of Web-based surveys, requiring more localization."

Technology expertise

Rubric helps technology companies prepare their products for global markets, and makes extensive use of technology to serve our customers.

Of those customers expressing an opinion, 99% were satisfied or very satisfied with Rubric's ability to handle technology and deliver well-localized products and applications. The specific questions we asked include:

	Generally Satisfied	Generally Dissatisfied
Rubric's ability to scope the project work	100%	0%
Rubric's ability to isolate problems in the product (hard coded strings, buffer/boundary issues, etc.)	100%	0%
Rubric's pseudo-translations, problem identification and review	95%	5%
Rubric's online bug tracking and resolution systems	100%	0%
Rubric's mentoring and coaching of your developers concerning localization issues	97%	3%

Customer Comments

" . . . everything's been great."

"Assistance and guidance have been very good."

"Rubric can very well scope the project work."

"Hewlett-Packard uses our own defect tracking tools, Rubric has been very supportive in the transition to our defect tracking tools."

Project management

Outsourcing any work, including localization, requires developing a close working relationship with the service provider. Rubric makes project management one of their highest priorities.

96% of customers who expressed an opinion were satisfied or very satisfied with Rubric's project management discipline.

	Generally Satisfied	Generally Dissatisfied
Effectiveness of your Rubric project manager	96%	4%
Responsiveness of your Rubric project manager	98%	2%
Usefulness of Rubric's extranet (StreamNET) on this project	95%	5%
Usefulness of Rubric's bug tracking system (BugzNET) on this project	100%	0%
Usefulness of Rubric's translation memory (TM) tools	96%	4%
Interaction with Rubric subject experts (engineers, web designers, etc.)	100%	0%
Timeliness (speed) of the project in meeting your deadlines	93%	7%
How "effortless" was the project on you and your company (i.e., was working with Rubric generally easy)	87%	13%
Consistency of Rubric's processes, practices, and guidance	98%	2%

Customer Comments

"The project was immensely 'effortless' due to Rubric."

"Project manager is very responsive."

"Excellent Project Management service, one of the best things Rubric has."

"Rubric was extremely easy to work with."

"The [Rubric] project manager is always very communicative and responsive."

Translations

The quality of translations, in words, images, and cultural sensitivity, are prime requirements for any localization project. Rubric uses only in-country translators, and those with technical expertise, to perform translations.

92% of customers expressing an opinion were satisfied or greatly satisfied with Rubric's translation services.

	Generally Satisfied	Generally Dissatisfied
How satisfied were you with the speed of Rubric's translations	94%	6%
How satisfied were you with the quality of the translations	90%	10%
How satisfied were you with the amount/lack of reworking of translated materials	91%	9%

Customer Comments

" . . . very responsive to my tight deadlines."

"The speed of translation was exceptional."

"I'm very satisfied with Rubric's [translation] service."

Sales and account management

Of customers expressing an opinion, 96% were satisfied or very satisfied with Rubric's account management and sales processes. In fact, customers provided many glowing comments about their particular Rubric account manager.

We asked some specific questions about Rubric's account management services, and customers told us the following:

	Generally Satisfied	Generally Dissatisfied
Rubric account executive's availability to answer your questions	98%	2%
Rubric account executive's understanding of your project and business needs	98%	2%
Rubric account executive's knowledge about language services	98%	2%
Rubric account executive's responsiveness	98%	2%
The detail Rubric provided in response to your RFP/RFQ	98%	2%
The price proposed for Rubric services	86%	14%

Customer Comments

"The personal attention I get from Rubric makes me feel like their only customer."

"Nice and friendly personnel, always willing to understand your needs."

"My experiences dealing with Rubric so far have been exemplary. I've never felt lost or 'out of the loop.' My hat's off to you!"

"I was happy to meet with your management team. I found them to be very straightforward, personable, and understanding of HP's needs."

"I appreciate Rubric's effort to match their services according to our needs - especially in the current business situation."

"Our account representative has been responsive and helpful and has instilled in us a sense of welcome relief in Rubric's ability to service our translation needs."

"Excellent service."

Critical relationship factors

Language service providers should be rated on how well they help customers achieve business objectives. To complete our satisfaction survey, we asked questions about our customers' relationship with Rubric as a partner in business.

92% of customers expressing an opinion agreed or strongly agreed with positive statements about their relationship with Rubric, the value of Rubric services, and their willingness to recommend Rubric to other technology firms.

	Generally Satisfied	Generally Dissatisfied
I would recommend Rubric to other departments/divisions in my company	94%	6%
Rubric provided a "better localization experience"	95%	5%
Rubric's services helped in entering or growing within foreign markets	90%	10%
Rubric's services made my products or content more usable and understandable in foreign markets	93%	7%
Rubric's services lowered customer support expenses in foreign markets	86%	14%

Customer Comments

"I think that Rubric has done an outstanding job in dealing with us. We tend to have impossible schedules... and Rubric tolerates that very well. Thank you."

"Dealing with Rubric was very easy and the project went relatively smoothly."

"I appreciate Rubric's ability to learn from our feedback!! I like working with Rubric."

"Rubric has done a good job."

"[We] were very pleased with [Rubric] and recommended them to several partners who needed translation of Web-based surveys, requiring more localization."

Survey information:

Survey conducted by Silicon Strategies Marketing between August 15 and September 3, 2004.
Invitations sent to all Rubric customers, current and past.
Survey conducted online.
Survey design was peer reviewed.
All numbers rounded to nearest whole number.