Founder Message

A Look Back Over the Past 60 Years

I began working in the software industry in April, 1960. For the 12 years leading up to the founding of JASTEC Co., Ltd. in 1971, I was troubled by the differences in how I and the top industry managers and insiders at the time thought about software engineering, the evaluation of software engineers, and how IT companies should be managed.

1971

JASTEC Co., Ltd. Was Established

I established four corporate philosophies based on my experiences.

  1. 1.An IT company is part of a knowledge-intensive industry
  2. 2.Employees are to participate as shareholders based on a meritocracy
  3. 3.We must strive to establish the market
  4. 4.We must contribute to society

Considering an IT company to be in a knowledge-intensive industry means working to establish a healthy market by providing customers with innovative systems amid competition among companies based on cost and quality, as the outstanding manufacturing industry in Japan has done.

Circa 1975

IT Company Catalogs

Most IT company pamphlets during this time introduced the headquarters building, the hardware of businesses using the software, such as bullet trains and airplanes using seat reservation systems, etc.
In contrast, JASTEC has studied how PR should be done as an IT company advocating for a knowledge-intensive industry and announced the following in our catalogs.

  • Common understanding between IT companies and clients (trends and environment, state of management and developers)
  • Analyzing the positives and negatives for each combination of IT companies (good and bad) and clients (good and bad)
  • First edition of a quantitative management model to provide a basis for productivity and quality

Circa 1985

Meritocracy

A merit evaluation system based on productivity and quality for the various tasks in an IT company was established

  • An open merit evaluation (open disclosure of standards, two-way group evaluations)
    Implemented quarterly, with knowledge and proficiency evaluated on a scale of 1 to 4, and innovative creations out of 5 points.
  • Salary system linked to merit evaluations
    The results of merit evaluations were reflected in salaries, regardless of gender or educational background
    Introduction of flextime work system
    Eight salary grades
  • Grades 1 to 4: General Employees; Grades 5 to 8: Managers and Specialists
  • Evaluation and compensation of directors

Circa 2000 to circa 2019

Japan Information Technology Services Industry Association (JISA)

April 1997 to May 2015 Appointed to the Board of Directors

  • I declared quantitative management to be my life’s work with every election to the Board of Directors.
  • I raised the need for quantitative management at the JISA Market Committee together with NTT DATA Corporation, which endorsed such management, but the practice has not spread to other JISA members since then.
  • 2015 At the request of the Japan Users Association of Information Systems (JUAS), the Market Committee was to compile evaluation criteria for IT companies based on materials developed by predecessors. However, the Market Committee opposed the idea and halted the project.
  • 2015 Retired from the Board of Directors at age 79

2005 to 2017

Overseas Expansion

Acquisition of LTU (France)

  • Product: Image processing and retrieval (similarity) package
  • Trading countries: USA, Canada, European countries, Singapore, Ukraine, etc.
  • Applications: criminal investigations; uncovering fraudulent corporate logos; obtaining wine characteristics (information) from wine labels; photographing famous artists’ graffiti for use in store promotions; etc.
  • Accumulated know-how: acquiring an overseas IT venture, forming a company and networking related to technology introduction

Withdrew in 2017 with the advent of AI

2010

The Company’s Medium- to Long-Term Budget (Business Plan)

Established 14 priority items for continued improvement and reform
Quantitative management, process definition, division of employee duties, customer meetings, team skills, acquisitions, and 8 other items

Our Status in 2020 and Outlook for the Near Future

I will discuss the various issues facing the industry that I am currently aware of.

Percentage of Completion Method

  • Accounting for sales and profit on projects in progress in the fiscal year prior to the application of the percentage of completion method
  • Fixing bugs that may be included in monthly sales
  • Using the monthly cost against the estimated total cost of the whole process as the completion rate, when the cost proportional to a unit quantity of software product is unknown, will only cause problems in the market. Therefore, we plan to tackle this issue as a first priority
IT Systems for Japan (Interagency/Digital Agency) and Local Authorities

This has been ongoing for the past 10 or more years and will be tackled again in the future. However, success is not guaranteed, as neither the technology to define each user’s requirements nor the software engineering technology to guarantee development productivity and quality have been established.

The 2025 Problem for Major Companies

Major corporations that lead due to their originality often introduce packages from overseas after experiencing many software development failures from major domestic IT firms. However, these mass-market, general-purpose packages do not meet the unique requirements of these major users. Consequently, they find themselves in the mire of repeatedly adding functions, delaying delivery or increasing costs, and even stopping development in some cases. IT companies that can respond to these situations seem hard to find.

Challenges of the Manufacturing Industry

While it is a wonderful to have made it this far, global competition has begun, especially among car, semiconductor, 6G, and other manufacturers. Initiatives for multifunctional platforms for level 4 cars, super-multifunctional semiconductors, and high-capacity, high-speed communications among 6G manufacturers have begun.
Under these circumstances, even if Japanese IT companies support the manufacturing industry with time and materials contracts (or even with turnkey contracts), I am concerned that the Japanese manufacturing industry will be unable to compete. To avoid this, JASTEC will humbly strive with the belief that IT companies must continue taking on challenges and accumulate software engineering technology that is foundational for productivity and quality.

Final Words January 4, 2022

JASTEC considers the IT industry as knowledge intensive, and we will work together with IT companies that share this position, as well as with clients, employees, the students who will join us, society, and the nation, to contribute to the world.

JASTEC Co., Ltd.
Shigeru Kamiyama