Topic · 14 articles
Digital transformation, paper and legacy systems in Japan
Digital transformation in Japan usually fails before any software arrives. The analog process is never mapped, the vendor contract hands over control, or staff get a new login without the training to use it.
These articles cover the work that makes DX succeed: digitizing paper workflows, moving off fax without losing customers who still use it, buying systems without vendor lock-in, owning your domains and accounts, and giving staff the skills to replace legacy processes. They also look at continuity, from key-person risk to what disaster teaches about records.
The first step is always the same: understand how the work happens today, including the parts that live on paper and in people's memories.
All articles in this topic
14- Reskilling staff in Japan: subsidies, planning and payoff How Japanese SMEs can reskill staff: tie training to a real task, use the MHLW reskilling subsidy while it runs, and give people room to change the work.
- Digital asset ownership: a continuity checklist for Japan SMEs Domains, DNS, email, logins and recovery details are business assets. How Japanese companies lose control of them, and a checklist to make them recoverable.
- The hidden cost of good enough systems in Japanese SMEs Spreadsheets, shared folders and one person's memory look cheap until hiring, succession, a sale or AI exposes them. How to find and fix key-person risk.
- Why DX projects in Japan fail before the software arrives Most failed DX projects in Japanese companies go wrong before a tool is chosen, because workflow, data, ownership and vendor terms were never mapped.
- Why good Japanese businesses are hard to find, trust and buy from Japan does not lack innovation. It lacks interfaces: websites, booking, data and processes that let customers find, trust and act. How to fix yours.
- What the 2011 tsunami taught me about business continuity I was in Miyako, Iwate in March 2011. What that taught me about business continuity for systems in Japan, and how a small business can prepare.
- How to move a Japanese business off fax: a practical guide A step-by-step guide to replacing fax in a Japanese business: internet fax, e-invoicing, electronic bookkeeping rules, e-contracts and customers who still fax.
- Japan's labor shortage is also a work-design problem Japan will not hire its way out of the labor shortage. Small businesses can protect themselves by removing duplicate work, fixing clerical processes and making each role easier to learn.
- How to buy business software in Japan without vendor lock-in Why technology purchases in Japanese companies stall after procurement, how SIer dependence forms, and the contract and ownership steps that keep you in charge.
- What a startup accelerator's own systems tell founders in Japan An accelerator's applications, mentor booking, events and alumni directory show how it runs. What founders can check and what programs in Japan should build.
- Digital literacy training for Japanese businesses: where to start Digital literacy at work means understanding what your tools do. How Japanese SMEs can find the real skill gaps and train staff and managers to close them.
- Japan Post lost its truck license: lessons on safety records Japan Post lost its truck license after skipped driver alcohol checks at most post offices. What happened, and how any business can keep safety records honest.
- How to digitize paper workflows in a Japanese business Paper, hanko and fax processes hold knowledge a new app can miss. How to map one analog workflow, keep what matters and digitize it so staff actually use it.
- Digital skills in Japan: training staff to replace legacy systems Replacing a legacy system in Japan fails when staff get a new login but no new skills. How to plan training, authority and time around a migration.