[Manager Interview] What is Beyond GTA, the company that operates servers in Canada?

Winter is camping season! I'm Pikoma, your public relations representative, and the time spent warming by the wood stove at camp is blissful

The recruitment season is finally upon us! This is the fourth installment of our manager interview series, and we hope that anyone who is curious about Beyond and wants to know more about the company will read it

This time, we interviewed Seonghyun from Beyond GTA (Canada office). Please see below for previous manager interview articles!

◆ [Director Interview] Directors talk about their thoughts on the company and their work

[Director Interview] Director talks about his thoughts on the company and work

Other interview articles can be found here

What is the appeal of Beyond?

Seonghyun : Considering our size, we are taking on new initiatives such as opening overseas bases. There aren't many companies of our size with two overseas bases, and from the outside, Beyond may seem like a dynamic company, but I think Beyond's true essence lies in its willingness to take on challenges that other companies won't. I like the fact that we have an environment that allows us to take on challenges, and I feel like our willingness to take on challenges and try things that other companies won't is something that has always been in our nature.

Even in our main service, 24-hour server operation monitoring, we are always mindful of the trends of other companies in the industry, but ultimately we feel that there is no point in doing anything if we don't do what we can. We may not be the first to currently operate 24-hour servers by taking advantage of the time difference between Japan and Canada, but there are few companies working on this scale. Beyond has not imitated what other companies are doing, but rather has long had a vision of utilizing overseas digital services and having an overseas office while conducting 24-hour operations

Amidst all this, I had the opportunity to connect with people in Ontario, Canada, around 2017, and decided to visit the area. Although I didn't make detailed plans or calculations, after visiting the area several times, I felt that it could be realized

Given the nature of the work, I feel that all of the members are generally serious, but I think that Beyond has a good balance between seriousness and fun-lovingness, which is a unique feature and charm of the company

Do you feel that things have changed since you were in Japan?

Seonghyun : I feel that in Japan, as the number of employees has increased, there have been many changes, but I don't think that the essential parts have changed much. In this job, it's possible to finish a day without speaking a single word to customers or colleagues, but as our core values ​​state, "communication, hospitality, and speed," I feel that everyone places particular importance on valuing communication. As a result, it feels like everyone gets along well, which is rare for an engineer-centered IT company.

What is the atmosphere like on the Beyond GTA team?

Seiken: There are currently seven people in Beyond GTA, including Morita and me. When I joined Beyond, there were just over ten employees. It feels like a high school class, and because it's a small group, communication is even more important. GTA happens to have a high ratio of female members, so I think it reminds me of the old Beyond.

Basically, most of the GTA members are Japanese, so it feels like a Japanese company. On the other hand, Idealogical , when someone achieves results in a project, they ring a bell-like thing and everyone gets together and gets excited, so I often feel like it's a foreign company.

Also, the way Canadian offices are structured is that once you reach a certain level of position, you are given a private office. At Beyond, everyone works on the same floor and is basically in the same space. Since many of our members are Japanese and our clients are Japanese companies, we work in the Japanese style, emphasizing teamwork rather than each person working independently. If possible, even if GTA gets bigger, I would like to continue working together in the same place as everyone else. (Please stop, I would like to work in the same space until I am told to move to a different room...)

Currently, we have members from Japan travel to Canada on business trips for three months in shifts, but in the future, I think it would be good to have the opposite pattern, something like an exchange program. There are many factors to consider, such as the number of people, the situation, and the environment, but I think it would be interesting if such a system could be realized someday. In the future, as our number of English-speaking customers increases, we will likely hire local staff who primarily speak English, and for these people, the ability to go to Japan will be a valuable experience

The role of work between Japan and Canada in server operations

Seonghyun: The original purpose of establishing an office in Canada was to handle Japanese night shifts in Canada. Beyond operates on an irregular three-shift system, with work covering the hours from 11pm to 8am Japan time in Canada. The work is the same as in Japan, but we can provide the same quality of service during the night as during the day in Japan is the reason we established an office in Canada, what makes Beyond's service so good, and what sets it apart from others. In that sense, I think we have achieved one of the purposes of establishing an office in Canada.

At night, there are fewer alerts going off in server monitoring compared to the daytime, and customers are less active, so there are also fewer inquiries. Therefore, Canada sometimes takes over and investigates any inquiries that could not be fully investigated during the day. It is often difficult to find time during the day to investigate customer alerts in depth, so we use the nighttime hours to thoroughly investigate the details

We also receive a certain number of requests from customers to perform work at night because they cannot stop services during the day. Previously, we were able to provide nighttime support, but this required additional fees. Currently, we may require additional fees depending on the nature of the work, but we are able to handle a certain range of work in Canada, and we believe that we have become more flexible in meeting customer requests

Is there anything you need to be careful about when working in Canada?

Seiken: Basically, when we ask questions, answer them, or make inquiries, I think it's done in real time, with short exchanges of words until we arrive at the correct answer. That way, the tempo is good and if something happens, we can make corrections right away, but in Canada, where I'm from, it's basically a one-shot deal. Even if we contact a customer, it's late at night in Japan, so we won't get a reply by the time we're there. If we reply something that's not what the customer intended, it could actually increase the burden on the Japanese side during the day.

Therefore, when I want a customer to take some action or make a decision, I try to provide as much information as possible to make it as easy as possible for them to make a decision . I also try to ask questions and give answers that can be answered with a simple yes or no, and make them as easy to understand as possible.

When we can't communicate in real time, if it can't be completed in one go, it will drag on. When we receive an inquiry, if they say, "We'd like to do this," instead of saying, "That's ____, how would you respond?" we try to communicate in the form of, "That's ____, so there are two options. Which one would you like? Or, we recommend this." If they respond with a YES or NO, if the answer is YES, we or the Japanese side can proceed with the work as is. If the answer is NO, we can consider other options and the Japanese side can proceed with the subsequent discussion based on that

Even though we're doing the same work, I don't think the Japanese side is as concerned about this aspect. This is because we can communicate with customers in real time. Tempo and speed are more important, and while the quality can suffer if the amount of communication increases, I think there are times when the amount of communication is more important than the quality. I think that maintaining a balance between Japan and Canada, daytime and nighttime , it will be easier for customers to do their jobs.

What kind of work are you currently doing?

Seiken: I'm a jack of all trades. Before Morita came, I did all the work, but now that Morita has come, he's helping me with sales and communication with customers, so the burden in those areas has been lightened considerably.

While I handle the company's overall business, I also work behind the scenes when problems or issues arise that members don't understand in my main job of operation and maintenance. I also handle the practical aspects of human resources and management in Canada

Recently, three Japanese companies with offices in Toronto ( CO-Sol Inc. , Ayudante, Inc. , and Beyond GTA Inc. ) have come together to carry out marketing activities. Raising awareness in the North American market can be difficult for one company to achieve alone, so the three companies are working together.

What is important to you in your work?

Seiken: If anything, I tend to tell my team members things like, "I want you to do your work like this" or "I want you to approach it with this kind of attitude." In that sense, it reminds me of a chef's philosophy I read in a book. It's called "The Heart of Wasabi," which means " play a supporting role, think ahead, and work with a sense of beauty ." I feel that these ideas can be applied to the operational work at Beyond, and are what we actually do.

Basically, our work in server operation and development doesn't require us to be very proactive. In order to realize what our customers want, we need to think about what they are thinking when they say it, rather than simply reacting to what they say, and what it is they really want to do. Otherwise, I think it will be difficult to come up with a good answer. Regarding the last point, "aesthetic sense," I believe that by acting with sincerity and a desire to provide something appropriate for the customer, rather than relying on the one-sided aesthetic sense of an individual or company, we can create something that is well-received

Another thing I've felt especially recently is that the ability to fact-check the various pieces of information that are overflowing in the world, and the ability to verify information yourself and determine whether it is correct, is extremely important. Without this ability, it's impossible to find what is truly correct among the overwhelming amount of information available.

Servers and programs can function even if they have bugs or are incomplete. The internet is littered with information such as "If you do this, you can do this" or "If you want to write a program like this, you should do this." However, while the information there may be the right answer for a particular situation at the time, it is not necessarily the right approach or answer for the problems we or our customers are currently facing

Of course, when we don't understand something, we naturally look it up on the Internet, but the ability to accurately assess information and determine whether it is right or wrong is essential to our work, so I want my team members to keep this in mind not only in their own work, but also in theirs

There are now many tools available for investigating, including useful ones like ChatGPT. I sometimes ask questions myself, and I often get plausible answers. However, when it comes to infrastructure-related information, I feel like 50% of it is misinformation. Even when there is specific advice on parameter settings, even if the nuance seems correct, it is often incorrect, so I want everyone to be careful

Is there anything you value when interacting with members?

Seiken: When someone asks me something or asks me a question, I provide them with an answer, since we live in an age where you can find a lot of information if you research it, but I think it's important for the members to think for themselves, even just a little, so I will ask them questions or give them problems instead. I try to support them in the process of arriving at the answer, so that they can arrive at the result they came up with on their own as much as possible. (When I'm in a hurry, I sometimes give them the answer right away...)

Of course, I will give instructions, but I also try to guide them as much as possible in terms of motivation, such as why they need to do something, while also trying to lead them in a way that makes them feel like it's something that comes from within. The time we can communicate in real time with our Japanese base is very precious, in the morning and evening, and sometimes as little as five minutes, but I want to do as much as I can in that time

What kind of people would you like to work with to start a company in the future?

Seong-hwan: At Beyond in Japan, we will continue to build the company together with our managers. I hope that the current leaders and sub-leaders will grow and make Beyond even bigger. I think that our role from now on will be to try new things, while the older guys will eventually hand over their positions and focus on what they love.

Beyond GTA is still a company in its infancy, so we don't know yet what kind of people will join us in the future, but we're sure to see an increase in non-Japanese members. On the contrary, I think this is a good opportunity, so I'd like to reexamine the essence of Beyond as a company, think about how to expand it overseas, clarify the values ​​and corporate culture that Beyond currently has, and grow together with people who share those values ​​and corporate culture

I believe that my main role at GTA is to help Canada become independent and hand it over to someone else. Currently, GTA mainly caters to Japanese customers, so we employ members who can speak Japanese, but I hope that the number of English-speaking customers will increase and the day will come soon when locally hired local staff will be needed, so I will continue to work hard

Click here for the beyond GTA homepage
(will move to an external site)

lastly

Thank you for reading to the end!

In this interview, we were able to learn more about Beyond GTA, which we don't usually have much contact with, and about Seonghyun!

In addition to this blog, there is a lot of content that will allow you to learn more about Beyond, such as blogs written by other members and social media. We hope you will take a look at our various content and gain a better understanding of Beyond. And if you think that Beyond's corporate culture and values ​​are a good fit for you, we look forward to meeting you in the future!

Beyond Inc. is looking for new graduates to join our team in 2026. We are currently accepting applications for escape room-style company information sessions , and virtual selection check out our recruitment website

Beyond Co., Ltd. Recruitment Site - Making the world a little easier -