Client Interview – Emerge: “We are so satisfied”

Our company Relipa had the opportunity to talk with Mr Masayuki Hirata – Representative Director and Mr Fujiwara Hiroaki – Director of Emerge Co., LTD (Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan) about our latest development project. The project is about building a EC-CUBE in selling educational goods, which Relipa did receive the chance to support in technology.

They were both system engineers working for the same mail-order company. In 2004, making use of the experience, they launched Emerge Co., Ltd, from that they continued to operate the company specializing in mail-order systems development and EC sites construction.

Through the project that our company Relipa cooperated with Emerge this time, we were able to hear about their thought about the first offshore development, and what they expected from Relipa in the future.

“To be honest, we were a little worried about our first offshore development…”

Emerge has the main activities on building EC-site and Web Development, then, how was the business situation since the the Corona Virus Disease?

Mr. Hirata: About two years ago, when the Corona virus began to spread, orders dropped for a while. Projects that had been about to be finalized had to be stopped due to the deterioration of the customer’s business performance.

However, in the past year or so, our business has recovered, and I feel that our customers’ investment in E-commerce has been increasing. Along with that, we have been able to receive orders for big projects, and somehow, things have been going well.

That’s great!. Our company Relipa was really happy for being entrusted by you in the EC-CUBE project. Could you share a little bit more about this project, why you have the idea, for example?

Mr. Hirata: As you may know, in Japan, there is a large scale parent company (holding company) (or the major educational service management company placed in Shinagawa, Tokyo), and there are also several related small companies in the market. In the past, they only sold products and services individually in their group, but this time we received a request of launching a whole big platform where all the company can sell their products at one time, so we decided to launch an EC site.

Did you have experience in using offshore development before the project with Relipa?

Mr. Hirata: Well, actually we have worked with China and Mongolia before, but at the time, it was more of a request for programmers working in those countries rather than a B2B partner relationship. This project with your company was the first time that we have officially developed a project through offshore development.

Offshore development can be considered to use from Mongolia, China, India and Philippines, but why did you choose Vietnam?

Mr. Hirata: Yes, I know there are many countries where we can use offshore development. Originally, I thought Vietnam itself has good compatibility with Japan and other countries in terms of price and quality, and there were many companies around us who use the service in Vietnam. Among them, I was introduced to a Vietnamese company by a mutual acquaintance (with Relipa).

Did you have any concerns about offshore development for the first time?

Mr. Hirata: Sure we did. First, let’s talk about Japanese and communication. I was worried about whether I would be able to convey my intentions accurately or not, and because this was my first time using this kind of service, so what kind of task, how it can be progressed… were my concerns at first.

“First time is supposed to be tough, but it turned out to be no problem at all. “

Mr. Fujiwara: Through the project with your company, there were code reviews and regular meetings, about once a week, so we were able to communicate frequently, that’s why there was very little problems… If this was all outsourced style, I may have been a little uneasy about what was going on in the middle (because I might not know). However, since it was a lab-type contract, everything went well, actually (laugh)

Were there any conditions that you had made for requesting offshore development?

Mr. Fujiwara: Yes sure, about the budget.

Mr. Hirata: You know, our company using offshore development service frequently, so budget has become a very important factor. Other than that, I heard from my acquaintance that there was no problem with the quality when you choose Vietnam as the partner, so there were no particular conditions other than the budget.

Have you considered other offshore companies for this project?

Mr. Hirata: No, Relipa was actually our one and only choice!

Hearing that is really happy. So, can I have chance to hear the story about how you came to know Relipa?

Mr. Fujiwara: Well, let me remember the story haha… A friend of an Emerge customers, Mr. Takashina, did introduce us about Relipa, so we got to know each other when we had the opportunity to discuss about developing using offshore development in a party. With that flow, we had chance to cooperate. That’s all I think haha.

That’s great. Thank you for sharing. So, you feel confident that everything can be trustworthy if you have a introduction, right?

Mr. Hirata and Mr. Fujiwara: Yes, right!

Mr. Fujiwara: If it wasn’t for the introduction, there might have been more considerations, actually.

Did you have any concerns when working with Relipa? Especially when it comes to communication…

Mr. Hirata: I have to say that there were no particular problems. When it came to programming, Relipa’s engineers had a high level of understanding, so there were no problems either.

Mr. Fujiwara: Translation was also quick and helpful. It usually arrived properly (at hand) within a day, so there was no waste of time and we were able to work together smoothly.

I’m happy to hear that. And, are there any problems in terms of development quality?

Mr. Hirata: About the quality, I think it is impossible to have no problems, it’s easy to understand. But what surprised me in a good way was that the testers were very thorough in their work, so, I had no special issues with the quality at all!

What are your thoughts on the service and staff at Relipa?

Mr. Fujiwara:I am satisfied. It was so lucky that we have chance to work with your company. Since I checked each function, I was able to solve any troubles on the spot. It was so easy!

“If we have chance to discuss directly, we should be able to develop at a higher level!”

Please let us know if there is anything you think Relipa should improve in the future.

Mr. Fujiwara: I thought it was a little frustrating not to be able to have a discussion. Relipa’s engineers and our abilities do not mean a level, but a different area, so I thought it would be good if we could spend more time talking and combining each other’s strengths to create a single product. I think.

At present, we are in a relationship where one side receives a proposal and the other side creates according to it, but if we make a mistake in how to give instructions, or if there is a better method and we can’t give it, there is a side that I think that I may not have reached the best level.

And vice versa, the engineer on the developer side may not be the best, but there may be a deliverable presented, and it was totally acceptable without noticing the problem.

So, if we can have more direct discussions and deeply talk to each other, we can develop something at a higher quality… No, honestly say, the quality is still good (laughs). I think so.

“Relipa is an indispensable partner for our future growth!”

May I ark some more questions? Are there any other projects that Relipa can cooperate with other than the project of EC-CUBE for educational goods this time?

Mr. Hirata: Right now, Relipa is helping us with the EC-Cube site construction work called Revo, but of course there are other projects we would like to ask.

I’m still not sure what will happen due to the time and resources, but there is a project that I would like to request.

If there is a project that we can cooperate with, we are waiting for you, so please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mr. Hirata and Mr. Fujiwara: Of course! (laughs)

Do you think Relipa can contribute to your company’s growth in the future?

Mr. Hirata: We have been working with a small number of people so far, and since Fujiwara and I have been the main people in charge of development, we’ve left our hands and Relipa has developed it. We believe that if we can take on this role, we will have more leeway, and we will be able to proactively take on projects that we have turned down in the past. In that sense, we hope that you will cooperate with our company’s growth.

Do you have any plans to expand your business in the future?

Mr. Hirata: Well, how to say… Currently, we are mainly developing outsourced services, but we are thinking about developing our own services in the future, and we have two projects already underway.

Relipa is also helping to develop blockchain services in terms of contract development. If you are thinking about expanding your business using blockchain in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mr. Fujiwara: Of course we will. Thank you very much.

Thank you for spending your time talking with me today. We are looking forward to working with you.