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Why is Japan behind in implementing Cloud Computing?
World-standard cloud computing engineers
hold the key to revitalize Japanese economy [Summary]
<Chapter 1: Impact of Cloud Computing>
Cloud Computing is the internet-based computing service in which internet users only have to pay the usage fee for the amount of application and software that they use. In other words, the era is shifting over from gpossession of internet resourcesh to gutilization of internet resourcesh such that users can utilize each service when necessary in the amount required. This situation leads to formation of a users-based sound market as service development companies naturally start to undertake their development from the usersf standpoint.
During the era of cloud computing, there is no need for a company to possess a massive system unlike the previous years. Therefore, the market size of services such as development, sales, installation and maintenance of system and software will shrink dramatically. Under this situation, the first task for Japanese companies is to gbreak away from the conventional styleh. At the moment, services developed in Japan are not used in the world. However, in order to step out from this situation, it is really important to cultivate human resources with global thinking and foster service development. The second task is to gestablish international-standard information securityh. Under cloud computing, all data are to be stored in datacenter through internet. This means that information of state level could become the target of cyber terrorism. Although there is a legislation to restrict export of state critical data in the US, there is no such action taken in Japan. We have to understand the fact that Japan is lagging far behind from what is considered to be common sense in international society.
Moreover, regarding individuals, there will be no demand if one is not advanced and specialized Information and Communication Technology (ICT) engineer. For instance, until now, there were thousands of engineers with massive system and features required in order to operate 200,000 servers 24/7. However, now that the cloud computing era has started, operation tools can alternate most of maintenance and management operation work and there are only 35 engineers needed for actual operation. From this fact, it is easily understandable that only engineers with considerably advanced knowledge and skills are sought after as gcloud computing engineersh. Another prerequisite for gcloud computing engineersh is to possess information security knowledge. The fact that the world is unified under cloud computing, protecting clientsf massive and critical data is the top priority task for cloud computing service vendor. In response to this, acquisition of independent international-standard security license is highly encouraged and it has been set as prerequisite to be recruited in the US government agencyfs technical department. In Japan, there is no such action yet to be taken; however, this is an unavoidable issue if aiming for globalization of engineers.
Having mentioned above, it is definite that Japanese common sense of information security action and cultivation of cloud computing engineers is totally different from the one of international society. For example, it is said that the security condition is perfect if the gcompanyh has acquired security accreditation in Japan whereas it is emphasized that the gindividualh has to acquire international-standard security license in the US. In order to get rid of this gap, the first important thing is to thoroughly educate the essential mental attitude and action against information leakage and crime with misused personal and corporate information. On that basis, it is necessary to cultivate gcloud computing engineersh with morality, international-standard security license, and English proficiency. I strongly feel certain that Japan can become world no.1 secured and safe information security nation, when gcloud computing engineersh undertake operation of international-standard datacenter and service development.
<Chapter 2: Corporate Management during the Cloud Computing Era>
Whether a company can survive the cloud computing era completely depends on how sensitive the company can be against the change in concepts of value and how many preparative actions that the company has in order to accommodate with the change. If we categorize companies in terms of the cloud computing service utilization, they can be classified into ghorizontally-integrated companyh, in which the cloud computing service can be used, and gvertically-integrated companyh, in which such service cannot be used. Due to the fact that gthe legacy systemh, the extremely costly and complicated system, is possessed and used in vertically-integrated companies, even the system manager cannot operate and advance to an appropriate system. On the other hand, as horizontally-integrated companies do not possess nor establish system, they can easily adjust to the stream of the new era once the specialized engineers are gathered and internet environment is set. As a result, they can differentiate themselves from other competitive global companies.
From the facts mentioned above, it can be stated that there are three indispensable prerequisites for companies to survive the cloud computing era.
- Break away from the legacy system
In order to break away from the legacy system it is necessary to choose the more appropriate personnel in charge by taking inventory of human resources involved in corporate information systems. It is impossible to accomplish gthe second initiation of a companyh unless the knife of reform is inserted into business model, corporate management, organization, and human resources.
- Establishment of specialty
In order to compete within the free competition market during the cloud computing era, it is mandatory to have communication skills and specialized knowledge so that direct negotiation with international engineers and system managers is possible. Along with the impartial and objective evaluation system, aspiring and hardworking human resource can be cultivated and capitalized. Consequently, specialty can be established to give an advantage over other global competitors.
- Cultivation of human resources that can survive the next era
Individuals that can survive the next era are the ones who are willing to acquire advanced specialty by self-development. It is vital for a company to facilitate the cultivation of individuals who can compete within the global society and establish the system to capitalize such individuals to the most. With this, individuals that are second to none can be fostered and the company gains the power to compete against global companies.
In regards to corporate management, it is important for CEO to appreciate the change of the world trend as a chance of innovation and immediately make the corporate decision accordingly. In order to do so, I believe that it is especially imperative for companies to reaffirm the management principles, establish the needed rules and systems through ghuman resource inventoryh, and foster cloud computing engineers.
<Chapter 3: Rules and Systems to Survive the Cloud Computing Era>
In order for companies to survive the cloud computing era, it is vital to always question about how to capitalize the bearers of the next stage of corporate management. For this, let us assume a company as a car to understand the following fundamental three features forming corporate management.
- Is the steering wheel attached?
gSteering wheelh in case of a company can be interpreted as the companyfs initiation principles and the road map which determines the directionality of the company. It is best that the employees can make the dream of their life come true through their work. What the companies have to do is to make sure that the guidelines of action have been established and the enforcement policy has been promoted on a regular basis.
- Can it speed up when hitting the gas?
Hitting the gash in case of a company can be interpreted as the rules and the structures of personnel system. It can also enhance the employeesf motivation and fulfill their potential beyond expectation. It is necessary for a company to establish and diversify the new rules and the structures in accordance with the circumstance in order to reach its final destination. At this point, it is significant to convince all the employees by explaining the purpose thoroughly and proceed to the next stage. I believe that if the superb rules and the structures of the point are hammered out they will definitely be effective at the end.
- Does the brake function?
gBrakeh is the mechanism which works to reduce the speed. In case of a company, this can be interpreted as the fact that there is a necessity of evaluating the rules and the structures after a certain period of time even though they seem to have functioned in an orderly manner. In order to survive in the cloud computing era, the important thing for companies to remember is to continue verifying whether the established rules and the structures have become a mere facade and whether they have not missed the purpose.
Upon understanding the three fundamental features mentioned above, the next step is to think how to capitalize human resources as gthe treasured onesh.
In order to survive the rapidly changing era of cloud computing, the outdated stereotype such that gfreshmen without experience cannot achieve unprecedented resulth needs to be eliminated. In here, it is most important to believe the freshmenfs potential and support them to bring out the great performance. In order to do so, it is vital for companies to support and cultivate gthe treasured onesh by taking in the various types of innovative rules and the structures. Because such fresh treasured ones are the momentum for the companies. This along with the maximum usage of seniorfs power is the only way of capitalizing human resource to the upmost.
<Chapter 4: 25 Pieces for Cultivation and Training of gthe Treasured Onesh>
How can gthe steering wheelh, gthe gas pedalh and gthe brakeh be incorporated into the rules and the structures of corporate management in order to survive the cloud computing era? Here, let us introduce our 25 pieces of rules and structures that we have established from 20 years ago especially for human resource cultivation.
- Pieces as the steering wheel
- Piece no.1: Companyfs initiation principle
Companyfs initiation principle is the companyfs mission which illustrates gthe purpose of the business and the aim of the companyh and ghow the company contributes to the development of society and mankindh. It is also the origin whereby all the employees start over again to rethink and understand the circumstances and the next policy whenever they encounter problems.
- Piece no.2: Action principle
Action principle is the principle which works to accomplish the companyfs initiation principle. In corporate management, whether the company has set the standard of everyday action is an immense issue and it is very important that all the employees are aware and can naturally make an action accordingly.
- Pieces as the gas pedal
- Piece no.3: L x e2
gL x e2h is the JTPfs original system formed by the initial letters of the following four words; gLicenseh, gBilingualh, gEngineerh, and gExperienceh. It demonstrates the ideal model of world-class human resource and company. This system was introduced as we expected the advent of the knowledge-required era to occur and that was why we placed a great weight on acquisition of license rather than experience or performance. By doing this, the corporate culture of self-development has taken root in our company and it has resulted in the accomplishment such that all employees apart from freshmen have acquired license. Moreover, the visualized salary and bonus system such that the payment change in accordance with its self-development level and the encouragement of self-development towards the executives and the directors led to a successful establishment of this JTPfs motivational system.
- Piece no.4: Muscat power
Muscat power is the total personal score of glicense scoreh, gTOEIC scoreh, and gevaluated score of functional skill levelh that compose Lxe2. This is the system whereby the levels of personal and corporate development are visualized by illustrating everyonefs performance of each year. There is also a life cycle for human resource and company as same as a product. In order to delay the end of the life cycle, it is important to visualize each employeefs development and consequently, the implementation of the improvement strategy leads to maximum utilization of human resource.
- Piece no.5: Score skill system
Score skill system is the evaluation system in which each personnel development is visually recognized by scoring each work level in accordance with required functional skill level. Job M definition document containing these job levels also shows the job loadstar, the license loadstar, and the TOEIC loadstar that are required in each work level. This allows freshmen and other employees to easily imagine their career path to other departments and it also facilitates self-development to proceed to the next stage.
- Piece no.6: Free Agent (FA) system
Free agent system is the system in which employees can create their own career path by regularly evaluating and enhancing themselves in order to come up to the prerequisite of the new department or job. This system also works not only to urge the freshmen but also the long-term senior employees. As all the prerequisites of departments have been described in the job definition document, employees can have a go at a high evaluation by motivating themselves and taking the opportunity of challenging totally new specialized knowledge.
- Piece no.7: Supervisor assessment system
Supervisor assessment system is the system in which subordinates evaluate their supervisors biannually. This system works to aim for an organization of like-minded by improving top-down communication. As this is the absolute value evaluation system, the comparison of other supervisors can be carried out easily and this has become a good opportunity for supervisors to look back on their achievement.
- Piece no.8: All employees one year-term system
All employees one year-term system is the system which works to maintain a fresh and vibrant organization by setting everyonefs term as one year including executives officers, managers, and supervisors. The next year is started afresh with a clean slate by selecting appropriate candidates and all the business operation will be committed to them. This system is based on the belief such that ga companyfs mission is to find out and utilize the best eligible to the fullh.
- Piece no.9: Revitalization and skill development program of human resources
Revitalization and skill development program of human resources is the program in which obsolete employees are revitalized by leaving their current post every decade. During this program, gthe acquisition of the newest technical licenseh and gthe challenge for the right professionh are encouraged towards every departmentfs managers and directors as there is a trend such that directors and managers tend not to enlighten themselves once they achieved .their post. In fact, through this program, the field-support engineer of 10 year experience has succeeded to transform himself to an instructor who requires the newest knowledge. This illustrates the fact that a company can endure in the sudden environmental change if it knows the know-how on human resources transformation.
- Piece no.10: Article posting system
Article posting system is the opportunity in which all employees think about themselves and the company of the next decade based on the theme of gJTPfs ideal form to be in the next 10 yearsh. This is also the system to make all employeesf knowledge and action take part into corporate management and it is also the message sending tool from senior employees to the future freshmen. This system not only facilitates the all-employees-participation-type corporate management but also illustrates the employeesf future perspective of the company.
- Piece no.11: Employee satisfaction survey
Employee satisfaction survey is the system which evaluates the employee satisfaction from the questionnaires filled by each employee with their names on within one week after every payday. The survey contains the questions such as directionality of the company and reliability of their supervisors. Therefore, it has become to work as the tool to point out the hidden issues and also to evaluate the leadership capability of department managers from the rate of survey submission.
- Piece no.12: Career mileage system
Career mileage system works to facilitate quality improvement of human resources by providing an opportunity of career progression towards irregular employees. This is the system in which the length of work hours, the number and the difficulty of cases operated are converted into mileage, and irregular employees get a chance to receive desired educational program depending on their saved mileage. By providing an opportunity of self-development, qualitative transformation from simple task workers to employees with specialized knowledge can be achieved successfully.
- Pieces as the brake
- Piece no.13: International standard quality management system ISO9001
International standard quality management system ISO9001 is the specification for customer satisfaction improvement as well as quality guarantee. We have acquired this specification for seven various business departments, being the specification for education department the first company in Japan to obtain. The PDCA cycle in which business operation process is improved in accordance with customerfs needs and guaranteeing its quality has become work guidelines for each employee.
- Piece no.14: Manpower school
Manpower school has been positioned as an organization directly connected to the CEO. The main purposes of manpower school are 1) to acquire the routine of self-development for realization of companyfs initiation principle; and 2) to encourage acquisition of corporate etiquette as an independent person. The aim is purely to enhance the potential of being independent and it is totally their own self-development that facilitates their independence.
- Piece no.15: Graduate recruitment system
Graduate recruitment system is the system which facilitates recruitment and independence of omnivores regardless of their educational background, gender, nor nationality. In order to succeed in the knowledge-intensive society, it is important for every CEO to recognize the fact that gindividuals who spares no effort to acquire specialized knowledge required for the next erah are the real essential ones.
- Piece no.16: Introduction course before entering JTP
This introduction course is the system which encourages and provides an opportunity for the recruits to acquire the newest knowledge. This is the preparatory period in order to prevent mismatch by providing an equal opportunity to experience the atmosphere of the company and judge their directionality of ICT professionals.
- Piece no.17: Recruit introduction course in Fuji
We conduct recruit introduction course in Fuji, and the individuals who managed to graduate this course are only allowed to be JTPfs member officially. Most companies tend to delegate their recruit introduction course to outsiders. They have to acknowledge the fact that this is the relinquishment of freshmen training. We believe that recruit introduction course should be conducted by corporate management side as this is the greatest opportunity to determine whether there is a possibility of entrusting the future corporate development with the freshmen.
- Piece no.18: Recruits follow-up course
Recruits follow-up course is conducted after half of the first year to review the contents learnt during recruit introduction course held in Fuji. We point out the fact that there is already a considerable difference existing between each freshmen depending on how much effort that each of them has put for their self-development. In other words, this is the corporate inventory undertaken based on the principle that gindividuals who cannot put effort into self-development can drop outh.
- Other pieces as the gear
- Piece no.19: JTPfs general assembly
JTPfs general assembly is held every April to announce new business plans of the year of all departments. The only individuals who have passed the companyfs principle can participate in the assembly. The business plans and the goals of each department become the origin of each departmentfs evaluation.
- Piece no.20: Monthly announcement
Monthly announcement is one of the communication tools from the corporate management side to employees. Within the announcement, the corporate managementfs perception of the era and the countermeasure methods are introduced. For example, in the CEO monthly announcement, the CEO sends email to all employees on the 1st of each month. This has become the innovative tool in order to accelerate the company as employee can understand the CEOfs ideas and unify as one to survive in the ever changing environment.
- Piece no.21: gChops and changesh should be expected
gChops and changesh is not considered as a positive way. However, within this book, this means that it is important to always think ahead in order to achieve the companyfs principle upon corporate management. The unchanging origin forms the consistent belief. The ideal companyfs image can be established by always thinking about the best method of corporate management and adjust flexibly in accordance with the surrounding needs.
- Piece no.22: Monthly newsletter
Monthly newsletter is the tool to transmit the companyfs newest information and the events or success stories of other departments. JTPfs monthly newsletter has been published since 2005, and this has provided a staff motivation effect as their success of license acquisition and their comments are published.
- Piece no.23: Staff information board
Staff information board is the JTPfs original announcement board in which the members who have acquired ICT licenses and TOEIC score over 600 are being displayed with their pictures. This announcement board has been displayed in the meeting room, and this has become an appealing tool of JTP membersf quality and the companyfs technological orientation. For employees, this announcement board has been the visualization of their self-development.
- Piece no.24: Social contribution program
Social contribution program is used to provide desire of being as a JTPfs member through social contribution activity. In other words, this is the system whereby the company enlightens itself. As part of the social contribution program, we have planned and carried out the international conference. We believe that it is important to promote business with the concept of social contribution through the companyfs initiation principle.
- Piece no.25: Recruitment system of freshmen directly reporting to the CEO
Recruitment system of freshmen directly reporting to the CEO is the system whereby the corporate managers select the freshmen and directly extend their corporate management theory. This is the indication of the corporate managersf solid concepts of corporate transformation in order to survive in the cloud computing era. For example, the five women with TOEIC score over 900 in their 1st and 2nd years were selected in 2009 to transform the conventional system into the world-standard system. It is important to believe in the potential of freshmen with the concept such that gthe entire responsibility is shouldered by the corporate managersg as the utilization of such freshmen leads to corporate development.
So far, our various corporate management rules and systems have been introduced. The most important task for companies to consider is to evaluate whether the current employees are the ones who can survive in the cloud computing era. Whether the employees become gthe treasured onesh or gone of the individuals who only exist in the company meaninglesslyh depends on whether the corporate managers have the belief such that gthe corporate mission is to utilize the human resource to upmosth. The relevant rules and the system establishment is the corporate management itself.
<Chapter 5: Everyone is Reborn Three Times in Their Lives>
The concept such that geveryone is reborn three times in their livesh means that geveryone has at least three chances to make a great leap forwardh. Let us introduce the three stages in sequence.
- Stage 1: When managing to establish the own system and achieving the result
This is the stage whereby the freshmen manage to establish their own system and receive the result or when they handle a business operation and manage to complete it. For example, a freshman of 2009 who was selected as a recruit team member received a challenge to establish the system to recruit individuals with TOEIC score over 600 as an indication of putting emphasis on English communication skills. She introduced an English discussion test in order to justify the level of English communication skills. As a result, 67 freshmen of 2010 with average TOEIC score of 741 were welcomed as JTP members. At this point, she was recognized as a driver of the company and entered the step to understand the companyfs feature thoroughly. In the cloud computing era, it is highly required to utilize such treasured ones in order to prevent sit on a gold mine.
- Stage 2: When challenging the new business expansion with confidence
This is the stage when an individual handle several works simultaneously and implement his or her ambitious plan for business expansion into action. For instance, the selected five women mentioned before were sent to receive the technical training in the US. Their goal was to acquire the newest security license through the technical training in the US. As the technical training for the license was not held in Japan, they became the first ones to bring into Japan. With this experience, they managed to construct a course for the security license acquisition called gsuper cruiseh within half a year, and at the end of the first year, 110 JTP members achieved to acquire the security license. Moreover, this achievement was linked to the commercialization of the security knowledge and morality assessment test as the new business to increase awareness towards information security. Like this, it can be said that the important features of corporate management are to provide plenty of chances to young generation and to establish the system to enhance their potential. However, it should not be forgotten that the individuals can easily turn over to an effortless way if no impartial and objective evaluation system exists.
- Stage 3: When developing the own ability which can adjust to the new era
There is a trend such that experienced workers tend to choose an easy effortless way after 10 to 15 years. This is the stage whereby the veteran employees are pulled away to challenge the new world of gknowledge-intensiveh. In our case, four department managers who had been involved in field-solution area which was rather glabor-intensiveh managed to re-form their consciousness through revitalization and skill development program of human resources and transformed themselves into instructors of education departments. This illustrates the fact that they achieved to be reborn as gthe second freshmenh and this is the proof of adaptability to the change of the new era.
As it has been mentioned till now, the important tasks for companies to survive in the era of international competition are 1) to facilitate ghuman resource cultivationh in order to take a step ahead within gthe world-standard knowledge-intensive businessh and 2) to establish the relevant rules and systems. We are strongly certain that the transformation of glabor-intensive industryh to gknowledge-intensive industryh and the implementation of the 21st century human resource cultivation systems create the last chance for Japan to be back as the worldfs top business runner.
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Japan Third Party Co.,Ltd
