[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?

Seiken: Considering our size, we're undertaking new initiatives such as establishing overseas offices. There aren't many companies of this size with two overseas offices, so from the outside, Beyond might seem like a dynamic company, but I believe that the true essence of Beyond lies in our willingness to challenge ourselves with things that other companies don't do. I like the environment that allows us to take on challenges, and it feels like our corporate culture has always been one of trying to do things that other companies don't, and taking on challenges.

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?

Seiken: In Japan, I feel that various changes have occurred along with the increase in the number of employees, but I think the essential parts haven't changed much. This job is one where you can go through the day without saying a single word to a client or an internal colleague, but as our core values ​​include "communication, hospitality, and speed," I feel that everyone places great importance on communication. As a result, unlike most IT companies that are centered around engineers, everyone seems to get along well.

What is the atmosphere like on the Beyond GTA team?

Seiken:Beyond GTA currently has seven members, including myself and Morita. When I joined Beyond, there were just over ten employees. It's like a high school class; because it's a small group, communication becomes even more important. GTA happens to have a high proportion of female members, which I think is similar to Beyond in the old days.

Basically, since most of the GTA members are Japanese, it feels like a Japanese company. On the other hand, our partner, Idealogical , rings a bell-like device when someone achieves a result on a project, and everyone gathers together to celebrate, so I often feel like it's an overseas 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

Seiken:Originally, the purpose of establishing an office in Canada was to handle night shifts in Japan from within Canada. Beyond operates on an irregular three-shift system, with a system in place to cover the period from 11 PM to 8 AM Japan time from Canada. The work content is the same as in Japan, butwe can provide the same quality of service even at night in Japan as we do during the dayis the reason we established an office in Canada, and I think it is the strength of Beyond's service and what sets us apart from others. In that sense, I believe one of the purposes of creating an office in Canada has been achieved.

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 exchange questions, answers, or inquiries, it's a fairly real-time process where we arrive at the correct answer through a series of short exchanges. This keeps the pace good and allows us to correct any issues immediately. However, in Canada, where I am, it's basically a one-shot deal. Even if we contact a client, it's late at night in Japan, so we don't get a reply during the hours we're there. If we give a reply that doesn't match the client's intent, it could actually increase the burden on the Japanese side during the daytime.

Therefore, when we want a customer to take action or make a decision, westrive to provide them with the information they need to make that decision as easily as. We also try to ask questions and provide answers that can be answered with a simple yes or no, and that are 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 job, I don't think the Japanese side is as concerned about this aspect. That's because we can communicate with customers in real time. Tempo and speed are more important, and while increased communication volume can sometimes lead to a decline in quality, I think there are times when quantity of communication is more important than quality.maintaining a balance between Japan and Canada, and between daytime and nighttime, I hope to make things easier for our customers as well.

What kind of work are you currently doing?

Seiken:I'm a jack-of-all-trades. Before Morita came, I was doing all the work, but thanks to Morita, he's been helping me with sales and customer communication, so the burden on me in those areas has been greatly reduced.

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 also joined forces to conduct marketing activities. Since it's difficult for one company to increase brand awareness in the North American market alone, the three companies are working together to achieve this.

What is important to you in your work?

Seiken:Rather than that, I often tell the members things like, "I want you to work like this," or "I want you to approach your work with this kind of mindset." In that sense, it reminds me of the principles of chefs that I read in a book. It's called "The Heart of Wasabi," which means "toplay a supporting role, to think ahead, and to work with an aesthetic sense." I feel that these ideas can be applied to the operations of Beyond, and that this is 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 been particularly feeling latelyof fact-checking skills for the vast amount of information available in the world, and the ability to properly verify and judge for yourself whether information is correct. Without that ability, it's impossible to find what's truly accurate amidst the overwhelming amount of information.

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 asked a question, since we live in an age where you can find a lot of information by searching, I provide answers to customers. However, I believe it's important for team members to think for themselves, so I often ask them questions or problems instead. I try my best to support them in the process of arriving at the answer by thinking for themselves. (Although, if I'm in a hurry, I might just give 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?

Seiken:At Beyond Japan, our approach of building the company together with the members called managers (department heads) remains unchanged. I hope that the members currently in leader and sub-leader positions will grow and help us make Beyond even bigger. I think that as we do new things, the older members will eventually hand over their positions and pursue what they are passionate about, and that will be our role going forward.

Beyond GTA is still a developing company, so we don't know yet what kind of people will join us in the future, but I think it's certainly possible that we'll have more non-Japanese members. On the contrary, I think this is a good opportunity to re-examine the essence of Beyond as a company, think about how to expand it overseas, clarify the values ​​and corporate culture that Beyond currently possesses, andpeople who resonate with those values ​​and corporate culturegrow together with

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

here for the beyond GTA homepage
(this will take you 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 Co., Ltd. is currently recruiting new graduates for 2026. We are accepting applications for online company information sessions, escape game-style company information sessions , and virtual selection processes. If you are interested, please our recruitment website visit

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