Saison Information Systems Turns 50

Kazuhiro Uchida, President, Saison Information Systems Co., Ltd.

Our team started planning Saison Information System’s 50^th anniversary when the world was very different. At the time, we were envisioning a truly celebratory global all-hands gathering where we could mark the occasion together. I never anticipated that we would be celebrating half a century in the middle of a global pandemic.

In light of the fact that we cannot come together as one global team right now, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has contributed to SISCO’s longevity and success – our people, customers, partners, mentors, and everyone who came before us. 2020 has been filled with hardship, loss, and challenges for many of us both personally and professionally. At the same time, we’ve also witnessed resiliency and knack for innovation within the human spirit. I’d like to humbly take a moment here to share the values that have been part of our history and continue to lead SISCO into the future.

We are all technologists

In the past, technology was an operational issue that enabled strategy. Today, we speak of “digital transformation” and if you’re not convinced of it by now, just take a look at how the pandemic has required everyone to be fluent about how to use data and technology. Each day, I push the team to close the gap between us and our customers – think, create, and build for our customers. It has long been said that the world is shifting from ownership to usage, and from the consumption of goods to the consumption of services. This is the guiding force behind the next generation HULFT data management platform that will be unveiled next year. We are building a world class, category leading iPaaS platform that can keep up with enterprise needs around cloud, digital transformation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and more. We’re also equipping an agile global team with specialized domain expertise across all of these areas to better support our customers today and well into the future.

Learn to fail at something

Early in my career, I once accidentally shut down my customer’s entire online system. Another time, I delayed my client’s operations because I failed to plan better in the system development. I’ve missed delivery deadlines and have lost deals worth tens of millions of yen. But every time I made a serious mistake, I forced myself to rewind and learn, however painful that process may have been. Failures, errors, and global disruptions like COVID19 force humans and businesses into a new evolution cycle – let us embrace the need to reinvent ourselves and adapt innovations around how we design, produce, and deliver new solutions. This is the culture I want us all to build together at SISCO: no one can do everything perfectly, so let’s all work together as one team with humility to deliver on the best projects and solutions for our customers. Let us acknowledge our failures with courage so we can grow and learn from one another.

Help others who can’t help you back

My former teacher and mentor passed away this year. I was a mediocre student and he saw through my aimless attitude and even rebuked me upon graduation, “Your eyes are dead. They lack the enthusiastic spark they had when you first started school. Adjust your attitude!” For 43 years after that, we remained in close touch. He extended his time, mentorship, and friendship to me. This generosity of spirit is an important value within SISCO. Helping to improve the human conditions of this world doesn’t always mean you have to have a lot of money to produce a grand gesture. It can be done in small ways, too, and I hope our team members will always seek those opportunities in life and work.

A final note

Had it not been for the pandemic, I would have by now had countless meetings and meals with all of you where we would have sat down before a table of delicious food, placed our hands together to say “itadakimasu” in gratitude for those who prepared the meal. For non-Japanese speakers, this term also means “I humbly receive,” so I am borrowing the spirit of this message here to once again thank our employees and customers — I humbly embrace this opportunity to be a part of SISCO’s next era with new aspirations.

Snapshots of our long history