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Nikkei Computer

July 24, 2006 Issue <<Contents>>

FEATURE 1 Toyota Motor’s Efforts to Overcome the “Year 2007 Problem” - Toyota Motor has renovated its production management system for the first time in 30 years, based on the idea that IT personnel for the next generation can be developed only by reconstructing a mission-critical system. Under the guidance of veteran engineers, middle-level and young employees took charge of the project and learned the know-how of system operations as well as the skills they require. This article reveals the whole picture of Toyota Motor’s measures to overcome the Year 2007 Problem, including its employees’ efforts to improve the infrastructure and develop new applications, secret measures taken for obtaining the necessary budget and analyzing data, and the results that the company has achieved. Effort 1: Are your company’s engineers on vacation? Effort 2: A postponement of more than two months is not permitted Secret Measure 1: A budget is obtained for “upgrading an obsolete system” Secret Measure 2: Toyota Motor examined its database thoroughly Achievement: Supporting the success of cars that have been developed for the global market FEATURE 2 “Formal Method” Attracts Attention as Way of Eliminating Bugs - An increasing number of vendors have started using the “formal method” when they develop a system. Their aims include preventing oversights in specifications and finding bugs that are difficult to detect in conventional tests. This method is recommended in the guidelines released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in June for improving the reliability of information systems. Actually, the method has existed for many years. It has come into the spotlight thanks to the advent of tools that have overcome its poor usability, as well as the accumulated knowledge of how to use it.

REPORT

[Inside]

- With an investment of ¥11 billion, Japan Post plans to establish an information systems infrastructure for a postal service company that will be created through its privatization

- Fujitsu plans to set up a consulting firm


[News & Trends]

- Keidanren’s initiative for establishing IT graduate universities suddenly faces difficulties finding sufficient funds and recruiting faculty

- Toshiba is ranked top in customer satisfaction in the corporate PC sector

- NEC’s strategy for the sale of its new servers has been developed by taking into consideration the system environment of the Next Generation Network

- ITSS’s description of jobs associated with system operations is to be drastically revised

- The Software Engineering Center has revised the “common dictionary” for system development for the first time in eight years

- An interview with the CEO of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the HDD operations of Hitachi: How do you intend to turn business around?

- Two organizations have been established to help companies comply with the Japanese version of the SOX law

- Microsoft has only been able to muster a half-baked response to the Open Document Format (ODF), a document and data file format

- Nissen has successfully reduced costs by 30% by outsourcing system development and maintenance to IT vendors in Vietnam


Actual Practice of Internal Control (4)

Marubeni has established its own internal control system by referring to COSO’s internal control framework


[From BusinessWeek]

- EMC has succeeded in integrating acquired companies


[News Flash for Each Industry]

- Finance: Amagasaki Shinkin Bank, Kanazawa Shinkin Bank, and Hyogo Shinkin Bank have jointly established an outsourcing company

- Distribution: Nippon Travel Agency has to move its mission-critical system from mainframe environments to Microsoft.net Framework

PEOPLE

Interview
Kohshi Yoshida: President, JTEKT Corp.

- We have to prevent our databases from deteriorating


Interview
Robert Enslin: President & CEO, SAP Japan

- There is considerable potential for expanding the share of our services for large companies


Real Feelings Expressed by Top Executives
Jiro Koizumi: board chairman, Yachiyo Bank, Ltd.

- A good system has a longer life

CASE STUDIES

Investigation of a Noteworthy Project
Planet, Inc.

- The company reduced the risk associated with adopting a new technology by testing it before system development


Absolute Solutions for Enhancing IT Strategy
Toei Animation Co., Ltd.

- The company manages the user’s right to access by using virtual LAN technology


A Computer That Does Not Work
CooperVision Japan, Inc.

- The company’s project for the reconstruction of its mission-critical system, which was initiated by its U.S. headquarters, is proceeding with difficulty


Novel / Cyber Lawless Area

Third Chapter: Excessive Self-Defense (1)

MANAGEMENT/TECHNOLOGY

Hints for IT Managers
- To boost the morale of IT staff members, you should first listen to what they say about their thoughts and feelings


Risk Management That Brings a Project to Success
- The biggest risk regarding requirements definition is that we tend to forget to include business specifications


A Practical Project-Management Course for Users
- It is important to ensure the quality of system operations in the system establishment phase


IT Project Recovery Management at the Site
- Impromptu efforts to recover a project may worsen the situation, so you should first grasp the entire picture surrounding any problem


IT Keywords You Should Have Known Long Ago

Internet search