Penetrating a regional market depends on good localization. A free add-on will give your product an edge in the market. The add-on might even be distributed with a free introductory product as in inroad for accessory sales.

In the world of regulatory control, investing in good localization for a free product is an even harder ROI to calculate. The question becomes, how to justify the budget to localize features when faced with regulatory testing costs?

Take reporting software for medical devices as an example. With budget being spent on the regulatory testing for additional features, it can restrict what is left for quality localization. Testing a rarely used report can consume a budget until it will not allow work on consistent terminology or clear user interface elements confirmed by subject matter experts. If the feature will be rarely used, is it cost effective to include it when it will leave the customer without a clearly navigable interface?

Again, this problem is compounded with add-on software to a core product. It is difficult to justify localizing a successful "extra" if there is not a clear dollar value assigned to the ROI. This takes us to a core value of internationalizing the product: identifying regional needs. If a region is less interested in the feature being part of the product and more interested in quality localization, it is:

1) less money
2) better spent
3) higher ROI
4) more regions

Does anyone have experience making these decisions in choosing features for regional release?