The SaaS Source: December 2023

Assessing the State of Japanese Cybersecurity

An analysis by Assured, a security assessment platform, has revealed trends about security measures of overseas and Japanese cloud services, which were published in a December 20 story on MyNavi (in Japanese). The findings show that while 59.2 percent of overseas cloud service companies have implemented Service Organization Control Type 2—a cybersecurity compliance framework that has been created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants—only 8.6 percent of their Japanese counterparts have done so. However, 60.2 percent of Japanese companies have implemented ISMS, or the Information Security Management System, compared to 50.7 percent of overseas companies. Finally, when it comes to account authentication, 67.1 percent of Japanese companies have implemented IP address restrictions, which is more than the 40.4 percent of overseas companies which have.

Synapse Innovation and CData Partner to Launch New iPaaS Product

A December 7 press release published on PR Times revealed that CData Software Japan and Synapse Innovation Co., Ltd. have entered into a business partnership and released an embedded iPaaS (integration platform as a service) product (in Japanese). The product connects with Synapse Innovation’s core databases and other SaaS offerings that are on the company’s UM SaaS Cloud platform. This collaboration will allow the partnership to access CData’s extensive network of end-users, which number more than 10,000, and meet the needs of Synapse Innovation’s UM SaaS Cloud customers, who are in the manufacturing industry and want to integrate the platform with external systems. The platform will also facilitate the integration of more than 270 types of SaaS/database connectors of OEMs for CData’s products.

Alion’s SWise Looks to Expand to Taiwan

SWise, an office simulation product created by Alion, is aiming to enter the Taiwanese market, a December 11 story in The Bridge reported (in Japanese). The product, which launched in Japan in September 2022, already counts about 220 companies as customers, and is being utilized by thousands of end-users. It allows users to work simultaneously in a virtual building headquarters, which is ideal for employees who are working in different countries, which is bolstered by the product’s ability to provide real-time translation in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Alion CEO Bruce Qiu, who is from Taiwan, explained that the product benefited from the increase in remote working in Japan that arose during the pandemic. He added that Taiwan had been slower to adopt remote work practices when compared to Japan, but at the recent Meet Taipei trade show in November 2023, the company received useful feedback from attendees that they will use as a basis for expanding in the local market.

Daido Steel Adopts QuesTek’s Materials Design and Engineering Software Platform

Daido Steel, a world leader in specialty steel, particularly for the automotive industry, has announced in a December 11 press release published on Pharmiweb that it will implement the Integrated Computational Materials Design (ICMD) platform offered by QuesTek. The platform is offered domestically by QuesTek Japan, a joint venture between Itochu Techno-Solutions Corporation and QuesTek International LLC, and is used to design, develop, and deploy novel materials. Daido Steel—which is involved in creating fuel-efficient engines and facilitating Japan’s transition to electric vehicles—plans to use ICMD to streamline its materials R&D process, making it greener and more efficient, and to allow its engineers to develop lighter, more fuel-efficient materials that can reduce the environmental impact of rare earth elements.