Digital Heroes: Guide to IT World

Seeing the project from a completely different perspective after receiving the “finished product” from London “Wait… is it really okay for things to be this quiet!?” Even though I was right in the middle of a system development project, the scene in front of me was surprisingly calm. Until now, I had experienced many projects where I was on the “system-building” side. We gathered requirements, designed the system, developed it, and tested it. When a project reached its peak, there could be more than 100 developers involved. Questions came from everywhere, issues piled up, meetings increased, documents multiplied, and before I knew it, even my desk had become chaos. “There were days when I couldn’t tell whether I was building a system or just organizing my desk.” That kind of day was not unusual. But this time, the landscape was completely different in a system implementation project bringing a system from London to Japan. ▼開発会社選びに悩んでいる方はこちら   Stepping Into a Project Where I’m Not D...

Following a London-Built System and Discovering Its “Map” “Wow! I never knew a system architecture diagram could be this fascinating!” I still remember the moment I thought that. At the time, I was involved in a project to introduce a system developed in London into Japan. My main task was translating a large volume of documentation provided by the other side from English into Japanese. Of course, it was not simply a translation task. I had to understand the system while translating the documents. As I continued reading the English documentation, I felt as though I was gradually stepping inside a cutting-edge system. Translating Documents While Discovering the World of Finance What was interesting was that there was much more than just system documentation. The project included a huge amount of business-related documentation as well. As a result, I began studying not only the system, but also the financial business behind it. I also studied the Japanese financial business s...

Connecting a London-Built System to the Reality of Japan “Wow! The deeper I went underground, the more interesting the work became!” With that strange but exciting feeling, I found myself heading down to the basement of the client’s building almost every day. At the time, I was working on a project to introduce a system developed in London into Japan, serving as the system lead on the Japanese side. The application itself had already been completed. In other words, this was not a project where we were building a system from scratch. But bringing an existing system into Japan was a completely different story. There Was Still So Much to Do, Even Though the System Was “Finished” On the Japanese side, a large infrastructure team had been assembled. In addition, there was a lot of development work required in Japan, including changes to interfaces with surrounding systems. My role in the project was somewhat different. I needed to understand the system itself and then explain it t...

If all you have to do is implement a system, then just read the specifications and you're done! …Really? I had just returned from a business trip to London. The purpose of the trip was to introduce a system used in the UK into Japan. At first, I thought: “If it’s a UK system, all we need to do is read the specifications.” Understand the system requirements. Check the functions. Then implement them in Japan. Simple enough. But as soon as I actually started reading the requirements, I ran into a wall. “This simply won’t work as it is in Japan…” A System Reflects the Business of Its Country The reason was simple. The business rules underlying the system itself were different between Japan and the UK. The securities industry, in particular, has a complex, multi-layered structure of rules. First, regulatory authorities and exchanges establish the rules. Large banks and securities firms then translate those rules into their own business processes. Smaller securities firms follow and supp...

Whoa! The pile of English documents on my desk looked like skyscrapers in a financial district. It was my eighth year as a working professional. I had been raising my hand for years, saying, “I want to join a global project.” I had a little confidence in my English. Still, my TOEIC score was only around 750. Looking back, I was far from fluent. But I wanted to work on international projects. I wanted to collaborate with people overseas. I wanted to see a world beyond what could only be seen in Japan. So I kept studying English little by little, waiting for my chance. And finally, that opportunity arrived. “You’ll be joining the English project.” At that time, I was genuinely excited. Finally, it had come. The global project I had been waiting for. But there was one thing bothering me. There was a sales manager on the team with an intense power-harassment style. Honestly, the atmosphere felt heavy. Still, work is work. “This is the chance I finally earned. I’m going t...