[Web System Development | AWS Deployment and Operation Maintenance] Tokyo Shoseki

This time, we asked Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd., a company that uses Beyond's web system development, cloud construction, and operation and maintenance services, about their actual usage situation and impressions

The guests are Mr. Shimada from Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd., who oversees the service, as well as Mr. Akiba, Mr. Hino, and Mr. Miyashita, who are in charge of the services [total ID], [Tabudori Live!], and [More NIMOT for Everyone! (hereinafter referred to as NIMOT!)]

Tokyo Shoseki Co., Ltd. (From right to left)
Masato Shimada, General Manager, Education System Development Department, DX
Development Headquarters, Education DX Bureau; Ayaka Hino, Section Chief, Second Team, Education System Development Department,
DX Development Headquarters, Education DX Bureau; Koji Miyashita, Education System Development Department, DX Development Headquarters, Education DX Bureau;
Takeaki Akiba, Team Manager, System Development Supervision Team, Education System Development Department, DX Development Headquarters, Education DX Bureau

--Please tell us about your company's business

Shimada : Tokyo Shoseki was founded in 1909 (Meiji 42). With the corporate philosophy of "developing people through education and culture," the company aims to cultivate unique, creative individuals who will take on new challenges in the new era. It is the largest publisher of textbooks in the industry, publishing the most textbooks for elementary, middle, and high schools. In recent years, the company has also been focusing on the development and sale of digital educational content, such as digital textbooks. It also engages in a wide range of business activities related to education and culture, including the operation of a comprehensive educational portal site, various assessment services such as academic and physical ability tests, and the publication of general books.

――Please tell us the background to your decision to introduce our services

Akiba: At the time, various educational material services were being created by different departments, each with its own login function. This meant that school users had to register individual accounts for each system, which was a hassle. In this situation, each time a new product was released, a separate login function had to be developed, which was a huge burden for both our company and our users. Given this background, there was a growing need to consolidate login functions.

This led to the launch of an internal project, and we came to know Beyond through a company we had previously worked with

Initially, we started off by discussing "Once development was complete, we would only ask them to operate the infrastructure," but when we heard that they were also involved in development, Beyond emerged as a potential candidate. At the time, several development companies had been considered, but some of them were unfamiliar with the cloud

Although we were still in the planning stage of a full-scale cloud implementation, we decided that cloud compatibility was essential, given the changing times and the expected increase in the number of users in the future. In that regard, Beyond's extensive track record and high level of cloud technology make them extremely trustworthy and we felt we could entrust them with the project with confidence, so we decided to ask them to handle the development

What made the biggest impression on our company was that they had a track record with major gaming companies. During our initial meetings, we learned that they specified the service's response speed down to the decimal point, and we were confident that we could entrust them with processing a large number of users

First, they established a track record with "total ID," so we introduced them to Beyond when planning other in-house projects such as "Tabudori Live!" and "NIMOT!"

--Specifically, what are some areas where Beyond has been useful?

Akiba: "Total ID" is a system for managing accounts, and only a small part of it is visible to the outside world. Although it is not visible from the outside, various processes are carried out in the backend to link various services. We are working to ensure that these processes are handled properly. We receive a large number of inquiries from users, especially around the end of the fiscal year, and our engineers respond promptly to these inquiries as well.

They also help us with operational aspects, and we appreciate their quick response time and the feedback they provide after carefully determining whether they can handle our requests. In the development field, new projects arise one after another, and there are times when we are unsure about the specifications or when we make vague requests, but even in those cases, they always accurately organize the issues and compile easy-to-understand materials, which is very helpful. Sometimes we make unreasonable requests and they work late into the night to help us, but we are truly grateful for their efforts

While many companies separate maintenance from development, Beyond's flexible approach of providing maintenance during the development period is very helpful. What's especially helpful is that, because they handle both development and infrastructure, we can just leave it to them if any problems arise.

When the company in charge of infrastructure and the development company in charge of the application are different, it's not easy to isolate the problem. For example, when a user complains that they can't open a screen, we need to determine whether it's a problem on the server side or the application side. However, in our current situation, we can simply inform Beyond of the problem and they immediately begin various investigations. Even though we outsource the work, they are able to properly isolate whether it's an infrastructure problem or an application problem, which is extremely helpful. This kind of response is possible because we are responsible for both development and infrastructure in one company, and I don't think other companies would be able to match this, including the speed of our response

Hino: The service that preceded "Tabdori Live!" had a variety of issues. Even the response time was not fast. For example, the data displayed in the graphs was calculated immediately after it was called up, which meant long loading times and poor usability. To address these issues, Beyond came up with various ideas for "Tabdori Live!", such as dividing the learning history into one that can be displayed in real time and one that is calculated overnight and can be viewed the next day, as well as optimizing the processing to further increase speed, so that the service can run smoothly even on GIGA devices that do not have high specs like school terminals.

When it comes to drill materials, people tend to focus on the front end, which is the overall visual aspect, but when actually using it, I feel that the back-end processing is actually the key. Starting with data management and processing, performance and security, they are responsible for the important parts that form the core of "Tabdori Live!", and we are really grateful for their stable operation and management

--Was there any particular reason behind the decision to make such a major change to the system from the original tablet drill?

Hino: The GIGA School Initiative involved providing each student with a learning device and a high-speed, high-capacity communication network. Initially, the plan was to complete the development of the environment by fiscal year 2023, but due to the spread of COVID-19, the goal was changed to completing the deployment of devices and the development of the network environment by fiscal year 2020, and work was accelerated. The predecessor digital drill teaching materials attracted attention, and the number of their adoption increased. Schools that had introduced them but hadn't used them often suddenly began to use them, and the number of users easily exceeded the number anticipated in the original design.

We decided to develop "Tabudori Live!" in response to these changes in the environment. Since we launched "Tabudori Live!", we've been hearing a lot of positive feedback and opinions from schools. We're really grateful to everyone who helped develop it!

Miyashita: I was originally in sales, and became involved with the "NIMOT!" service when I was transferred to another department. The time from when I was transferred to when the service was released was only six months, so I started from a completely unknown state and had a lot of trouble, but Beyond's engineers carefully explained various aspects of the system to me over and over again, and I was able to gradually deepen my understanding.

Even when I receive inquiries from other companies involved in "NIMOT!" and there is something I don't understand, when I consult Beyond, their engineers are able to accurately interpret the information and respond smoothly. Furthermore, they are able to explain the content to me in a digestible way, which helps me to deepen my own understanding

As for "NIMOT!", there was a previous service that was quite outdated, so I am very pleased that they have made it into such a good product with this renewal

――Please tell us your impressions of using the service

Akiba: Thanks to you, "total ID" is currently running very stably. With the launch of many services looming in fiscal year 2024, we consulted Beyond, asking, "The number of users will exceed one million. Will simultaneous access be acceptable?" At the time, they conducted load tests to ensure that the system could properly handle a large number of simultaneous logins, and although the current specifications are more than capable of withstanding this, we were nervous at the time. In fact, we received a considerable amount of access at the start of the new fiscal year, but we were relieved that there were no major issues. We currently have over two million users, and there are no problems logging in.

They also respond quickly and are very trustworthy. Of course, there are still bugs, but when a problem does occur, they take it seriously, which is particularly impressive. In fact, they sometimes report problems that we haven't noticed beforehand, saying, "This is what happened," and they respond quickly to those reports

The specifications for "total ID" involve linking with other systems, and we need to coordinate the development of the functions required for linking with "Tabdori Live!" and "NIMOT!" However, in this regard, Beyond first sorts out the key points internally and then formulates the specifications, which is extremely helpful and makes us feel that they are a reliable company

Hino-san: With regards to "Tabdori Live!", the front-end team took the lead in reviewing the specifications, so I think it was a tough time for everyone. There were some plans that made me wonder if they could even be realized, but I think they implemented them well, and I don't think any other company could have done it like this.

They have been extremely helpful not only in development, but also in maintenance and operations. Currently, they are constantly monitoring our infrastructure 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and even if an alert occurs, they are quickly confirmed and the cause is investigated nonstop, which gives us a great sense of security. They also respond immediately to inquiries from users, so they are truly indispensable.

Miyashita: In a good way, I don't feel like they're from an external company. It may seem like a small thing, but even the small details, like the way they use language and the exclamation marks at the end of emails and chats, make me feel like they're part of our company as part of a team, which makes it very easy to work with them.

Also, when I contact someone, sometimes I receive a reply from someone other than the person I contacted, but even in those cases, the content of the conversation is properly connected, and I feel that information is shared properly within the company. In my experience, there have been many times when information was completely linked to an individual, and even when I asked another person, I couldn't find out anything. However, I think it's that even when I'm interacting with multiple people, I get the exact same answer no matter who I ask, and work progresses as if I'm talking to just one person .

--What do you expect from us in the future?

Miyashita : Regarding "NIMOT!", our first goal is to increase the number of users even more than we currently have. Even if the number of users increases in the future and we experience a large amount of access, we would like you to operate the site in a way that allows users to continue using it stably.

Hino-san: It's been about a year since the release of Tabdori Live!. Thanks to your support, the annual update work for the large amount of accumulated learning history that took place in April was successfully completed, and the system is now stable. At the same time, we would like to continue developing new products to address the challenges and requests that arise from schools, so we appreciate your continued cooperation!

Akiba: "Total ID" has all the basic functions implemented and is operating stably, so we hope that you will continue to operate it stably in the future.

-Please tell us about your future business development plans

Akiba: "Total ID" is currently actively working to link with other companies' account management services. This policy is based on the fact that the need to "integrate account management that is scattered across various systems," which was the reason "Total ID" was born, is a common issue for many companies. We are already working on developing collaboration with other companies' account management systems, and we expect that this will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of accounts in the future.

Hino : "Tabdori Live!" and "NIMOT!" are being developed separately, but they are also sold as a set. Therefore, in the future we would like to consider linking "Tabdori Live!" and "NIMOT!", or linking them with other services, as well.

--Thank you for your valuable insights today!