February 19, 2007

FEATURE 1 Pre-J-SOX Measures It Will Be Decided in the First 2 Months The start of application of the J-SOX Law which aims to put in place internal controls regarding financial disclosure for the 3,900 listed companies in Japan and their subsidiaries is drawing closer.  For companies with a March fiscal year end, there are only 13.5 months left before the start.  The first 2 months will be particularly important.  We introduce some of the essential points for system divisions, based on the findings from our interviews with experienced consultants, certified accountants, and those in charge at user companies. Simple questions regarding the J-SOX Law Building a communication platform The basis is “No waste, no excessive strain” Round-Table Discussion: “Enforcement of J-SOX will be a good opportunity for governance for the IT division”   FEATURE 2 Vietnam, Where Engineers Are Full of Enthusiasm Rapidly emerging R&D center on a par with China and India Vietnam is emerging as a destination for commissioning offshore development.  Regarding Japan as its most important customer, industry, government and academia are cooperating to pick up the pace of training engineers who can communicate in Japanese.  Becoming a member of the WTO this January is also acting as an additional tail wind.  We look into the here and now of the IT industry of "young Vietnam," with continuing economic growth rate of over 8% per annum, and over 60% of the population under the age of 30.

 

REPORT

Inside 

Mitsui Corporation integrates its backbone servers which are scattered over its overseas bases

NTT Data reinforces its partnership with NTT Communications in global SI initiatives

 

News & Trends

Kirin Brewery renews its group IT strategy

Payments from home using mobile phones become easier

Oracle’s ERP products more strongly colored by Peoplesoft

NRI strengthens internal control of development division

More and more fraudulent transactions by IT vendors come to light

J-SOX implementation standards practically fixed

Kokuyo rebuilds its Internet ordering system

 

The Practical Side of Introducing a BCP

 Suzuken implements business continuity that involves business partners

  

The Leading Edge of RFID

Department stores and electrical retailers examine the effects of their investments

 

From Business Week

The voices against the relaxation of the SOX Law

News Flash by Industry

 

Finance:

Resona Bank charges too much loan interest as a result of a programming mistake

 

Internet:

GMO Group supports “Second Life” activities

 

 

PEOPLE

Interview

Yoshiki Yagi, Former Member, Internal Control Committee, Business Accounting Council, Financial

Services Agency (Chairman of the Board, Hitachi Limited)

Putting in place internal controls is an imperative of the times

 

Real feelings Expressed by Top Executives

Takekazu Kaneko, Executive Vice President in Charge of Human Resources, General

Affairs and Public Relations, Sumitomo 3M Limited

IT is the driving force of corporate growth

 

CASE STUDIES

 Investigation of a Noteworthy Project

 Bandai renews the backbone for all its divisions with R/3

 

 

Absolute Solutions for Enhancing IT Strategy 

Itochu Corporation uses a company-wide “IT Constitution” to exert control

  

A Computer that Does Not Work

JBIS Holdings, Mito Securities and Toyo Securities give up joint securities system

 

MANAGEMENT/TECHNOLOGY

Reading and understanding the implementation criteria for the Japanese version of the

Sarbanes-Oxley Law

The role of the IT division in preparation for IT controls

 

Hints for IT Managers

Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your career path, and also of the risk of too many years in

IT

 

Salient Points on IT Investments and Outsourcing

Pursuing the implementation of a mid-term plan using portfolio management

 

Risk Management for Successful Projects

Reducing surprisingly great delivery risks by strengthening software engineering

 

 

Basic Knowledge for the IT Manager - The Art of Communications from A to Z

Communicating your purpose precisely by minding how you speak and the structure of what you say

 

 

Practice: IT Service Management

Monitoring systems and personnel training that bring about steady PDCA (Plan Do Check Act)

 

 

IT Keywords You Should Have Already Known

Scripting language