PBC, JBS, and Microsoft Japan Form a Consortium Aimed at Supporting the Digital Transformation of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses Achieving Implementation in a Minimum of Three Months Using Microsoft’s Cloud ERP

Pacific Business Consulting, Inc. (Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Toshiki Kobayashi, President and CEO; hereinafter “PBC”), Japan Business Systems, Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Yukihiro Makita, President; hereinafter “JBS”), and Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative: Takuya Hirano, President; hereinafter “Microsoft Japan”) are to establish a partnership consortium in Japan that will be known as Cloud ERP Partners for SMB (CEPS). This consortium will specialize in the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (hereinafter “Dynamics 365 Business Central”), an all-in-one business application for small and medium-sized businesses offered by Microsoft, with the aim of supporting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized companies.

Small and medium-sized businesses account for more than 99 percent of domestic companies in Japan and it is no exaggeration to say that they are the drivers of the Japanese economy. An increasing number of such companies are also advancing overseas and growing globally. In Japan too, more and more companies are employing non-Japanese workers due domestic skills shortage. This situation makes it urgently imperative for small and medium-sized businesses to reform legacy systems through digital transformation. However, such companies do not have the capacity to make large-scale IT investments and they have limited choice when it comes to finding a system that would best fit their needs.

Microsoft Japan supports the global business expansion of small and medium-sized businesses through Dynamics 365 Business Central which can handle multiple languages, currencies, and business practices, and implementation is advancing.

Now the three companies are to form a consortium to further promote the implementation of Dynamics 365 Business Central with PBC, which has its strength in ERP implementation for global small and medium-sized businesses, and JBS, which has extensive experience in Microsoft cloud solution implementation, as the lead managers and Microsoft Japan acting as the secretariat. With dynamic partnership between the three companies, the consortium will aim to implement Dynamics 365 Business Central at 1,000 companies and train 1,000 specialists in three years.

This consortium was established with the aim of expanding the implementation support structure for small and medium-sized businesses nationwide and local subsidiaries of Japanese companies overseas by bringing together partners who have strengths in diverse fields. As the first phase of the consortium’s activities, it will launch the Dynamics 365 Business Central training program. By providing templates that harness the strengths of its members in manufacturing or distribution, etc., the consortium will vitalize its activities and aim to newly implement application at 1,000 companies within the next three years.

• Date of establishment:
  June 5, 2019
• Structure:
  Participation declared by 15 Japanese and foreign companies (As of June 2019)
• Recent activities:
  Hosting a nationwide seminar by participating companies

Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one business application offered as a cloud service integrating functions that small and medium-sized businesses need for finance, sales, services, manufacturing, and SCM. With an intuitive and modern interface that is easy to use, the application allows users to comprehensively grasp the movement of business and supports smart decision-making. Furthermore, it is a global ERP system that can handle multiple languages, currencies, and business practices. Due to its compact design, it is possible to start small. Depending on the user’s requirements, it can be implemented in a minimum of three months. However, because the number of partners that can implement this product in Japan is limited, increasing the number of partners handling the product and training specialists are imperative. Establishing a consortium for the purpose of supporting the implementation of Dynamics 365 Business Central at small and medium-sized businesses will resolve such issues.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is offered as a new product in the Dynamics 365 series lineup, keeping all of the functions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (hereinafter “Dynamics NAV”), Microsoft’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) package for middle-class small and medium-sized businesses. Dynamics NAV is provided by about 4,500 partner companies in 196 countries and regions around the world. It has been implemented in over 223,000 companies worldwide.

Dynamics 365 is a Microsoft intelligent business application offered on a cloud infrastructure. It has modules for sales support, customer service, field service, project service automation, Finance & Operations (ERP function for enterprises), Business Central (ERP function for SMB), distribution, retail, human resource management, marketing, and more.

Pacific Business Consulting (PBC) is a global IT consulting firm that supports the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics products and other Microsoft products such as Microsoft Azure, Office 365, Power Platform (Power BI/PowerApps/Microsoft Flow). In 2001, PBC started consulting for the implementation of Dynamics NAV and as Japan’s oldest Dynamics solution vendor, the company has successfully led over 300 ERP/CRM projects. PBC also serves as the Japanese representative in the world’s largest global networks in the Dynamics business such as PIPOL and DynamicsPact. Its strengths are in the implementation of Dynamics products in Japan focusing on J-Pack, a PBC original localization and business practices package for Japan as well as the global expansion of Japanese companies through bilingual consultants, and supporting implementation projects for foreign companies’ advancement in the Asia-Pacific region.

Microsoft Japan is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in Japan. Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft Japan aims to contribute to the transformation of Japanese society by providing innovative and secure intelligent technology.