Don DePalma

Don DePalma has been involved in shaping the globalization strategies of some of the world's largest firms and the market strategies of some of the most influential language service and technology providers.

As the founder of CSA Research in 1999, Don has been instrumental in establishing the company as the preeminent market research firm in localization and globalization. He initiated CSA Research’s coverage of localization maturity and governance, enterprise language processing, business-driven globalization, machine translation, return on investment for localization, multicultural domestic marketing, global digital transformation, and global content service providers. He also introduced a foundational ROI model for localization with CSA Research’s frequently cited series “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy” for B2C and B2B markets.

Don has decades of experience in the areas of enterprise technologies, language services, and market research. Prior to founding CSA Research, he co-founded Interbase Software, served as vice president of corporate strategy at Idiom Technologies, and was one of the first analysts at Forrester Research, where he consulted to senior management at Global 2000 companies.

While at Forrester, Don launched or grew the firm's coverage of various enterprise technology sectors, including content management, application development for strategic internet systems, database management, digital marketing technologies and customer relationship management, ethnic marketing, knowledge management, and business globalization.

A writer and lecturer, Don has been frequently quoted on the topics of online marketing, content management, multicultural marketing, localization, return on investment, and website globalization. His book, Business Without Borders, has been widely used in university and business training courses.

Don holds a doctorate in linguistics from Brown University, with specializations in generative grammar, computational linguistics, and the historical phonology of Slavic languages. He also studied at Moscow State University and Moscow Linguistic University in Russia, Charles University in the Czech Republic, and ILISA in Costa Rica. He studied a range of Indo-European languages and has visited dozens of countries.

A middle-aged man with gray hair, beard, glasses, wearing a gray blazer and light blue collared shirt, smiling at the camera against a dark gray background.