Regarding establishment of Canadian office

This is Haraoka, the representative of Beyond!

This time, we would like to tell you about the establishment of Beyond's overseas base, the Canadian office (Beyond GTA .inc).

Opportunities for establishing the Canadian office

Originally, for the past 10 years since its establishment, Beyond had been building and operating physical servers (hosting and on-premises) in data centers.

However, in 2017, the data center we were using at the time was scheduled to close, so at that time we renewed the physical servers and transferred all systems to the cloud. This made it possible to work without being restricted by location, but on the other hand, the 24-hour night shift meant that engineers still had issues with their work, physical condition, and recruitment.

The question, "How can we make night shifts better?" led to the idea of ​​taking advantage of the time difference and working late at night, converting night shifts into daytime jobs.

When I came up with this idea, I looked at the world map and thought, ``Where should I look?'' After considering this, we came to the conclusion that the best location for our base would be Toronto, Canada, given that South America is far away, we were a little concerned about security, and the United States is expensive. With the help of my past short-term study abroad experience in Canada, I decided to go to Toronto!

Start-up process

However, even though I decided to go, I started the project without any plans or contacts. First of all, Seiken Sato, the technical manager of the infrastructure department, said, ``Let's go!'' and the founding members were decided.

Next, since Beyond didn't have a base outside of Osaka, we decided that going overseas would be too difficult, so we established a satellite base, the "Shikoku Office", in Miyoshi City, Tokushima Prefecture, and operated the infrastructure to operate it in remote locations. We have put in place a system that allows us to do so.

While the Shikoku office was being set up, we were able to connect with people at the Canadian Embassy, ​​and with their help, we were introduced to Mississauga, a town next to Toronto. In April 2019, we visited Canada and completed registration through meetings with legal, accounting, and human resources personnel, and the Beyond GTA.inc was completed in October 2019.

Start of practical work

The company was scheduled to begin operations in April 2020, but the start of operations was postponed due to the declaration of a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.

Later, in October 2020, when restrictions were eased, Sato decided to go to Toronto by himself. I thought things would go smoothly after I managed to get into the country, but right after I arrived, Toronto went into lockdown and I started with restrictions on going out.

However, a month later, another founding member, Avosbek, a second-year graduate from Uzbekistan, arrived in Canada and gradually began to carry out operational work there. In the spring, we welcomed two more talented members locally, and in October 2021, we completely transferred the night shift to Canada. As a result, Beyond's 24-hour operation system has changed significantly.

Achievements and future prospects of the Canadian office

With the establishment of the Canadian office, night shifts were eliminated and the company's business hours were shortened from 24 hours to 15 hours, and as a result, members returned home gradually earlier, improving the working environment. The quality of operations has also improved as nighttime operations have become more stable.

Furthermore, night work costs have been reduced to zero, which has gradually had a positive impact on public relations and recruitment. There was a growing awareness of English learning within the company, and the positive effects were huge.

In October 2022, Director Morita will be assigned to Canada and will be conducting full-scale sales activities there. In the future, we are taking on new challenges to expand our business locally and establish roots, such as developing new services in Canada and the United States, and conversely providing nighttime work for North American customers in Japan. We also want to take on new possibilities beyond borders, such as translating our own services into English and localizing the Japanese version of services provided by Canadian companies.

Going forward, Beyond will continue to take on flexible and proactive challenges and expand its business globally with the goal of "creating services that can be used around the world."

*Please see below for service details in North America *
https://beyondjapan.com/service/china-msp

https://beyondjapan.com/service/north-america-msp/