The “Management Perspective” Gap Among Support Vendors Revealed by Subsidy Program Selection

The “Management Perspective” Scrutiny Behind Subsidy Support Vendor Selection

The list of support vendors for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “Digitalization and AI Introduction Subsidy” program has been announced. News reports have covered the selection of companies like Wasabi Inc. Many business owners and DX managers will look at this list and consider which vendor to engage. However, the crucial question to ask is *why* these companies were chosen. The “selection criteria” themselves hold vital clues for gauging the current quality of digitalization support.

The selection of support vendors is not decided solely by technical prowess or the number of past projects. The screening process demands a deep understanding of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) management challenges and the “design capability” to link initiatives to business outcomes, not just tool implementation. In other words, this selection result can be seen as a list of “IT supporters with a management perspective” endorsed by the government.

The Shift from “Tool Proposals” to “Objective Function Definition Support”

Traditional IT implementation support often tended to end with proposals for individual tools like “this cloud accounting software is good” or “this SaaS is recommended for attendance management.” This reflects a state where IT is viewed merely as a list of “means.” What managers truly need is not individual tools, but a concrete pathway to integrate them and achieve their company’s “objectives.”

For example, suppose the objective (objective function) is “to increase sales by 20%.” Achieving this requires a series of “mechanisms”: managing leads with a CRM, nurturing them with marketing automation tools, and measuring effectiveness with analytics tools. Excellent support vendors work with managers to clearly define this objective function and design the necessary combination of IT (architecture) and implementation sequence. It is believed that this “design capability starting from the objective” was highly evaluated in this subsidy vendor selection.

The “Digitalization Debt” Created by Implementation with Ambiguous Management Decisions

Companies that rush to use subsidies with vague objectives and hastily implement AI or RPA will later face significant challenges. I call this “digitalization debt.” It burdens management in the form of disparate tools that cannot be integrated, siloed operations, and ongoing license costs. Particularly for SMEs, this debt can easily lead to a vicious cycle that hinders future investment.

What is required of support vendors is “future-proof design” that avoids creating this debt. For instance, can they propose system selections that consider future data integration possibilities, even if initially implementing tools optimal for each department? Can they present calculations for mid-to-long-term Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)? This is the dividing line between a mere systems integrator and a support vendor who acts as a strategist with a management perspective.

The “Productization” of Support Shown at Exhibitions and Its Perils

News coverage of this announcement also included articles about exhibits at the concurrently held “Digitalization & DX Promotion Exhibition (ODEX).” Companies promoted their solutions, such as NX Onevia Archives’ document management system “WAN-RECORD Plus” and Miroku Information Service’s accounting/finance support.

While exhibitions are useful for learning about the latest tools, they also have an aspect that accelerates the “productization of DX.” Managers can be drawn in by attractive demos and success stories, losing sight of their company’s core challenges. The chain of partial optimizations—”our document management is a problem, so let’s get this system” or “accounting is tough, so let’s use this cloud”—is a classic example leading to a “split in the objective function.”

What is truly needed is the perspective that document management or accounting efficiency are not ends in themselves, but means to achieve higher-level management objectives such as “increasing decision-making speed” or “reducing compliance risk.” An excellent support vendor, while introducing their products at an exhibition, should be able to consistently steer client conversations back to these higher-level objectives.

Three Questions Managers Should Ask Support Vendors

So, what criteria should managers considering subsidy use apply when selecting a support vendor? Try asking the following three questions.

1. “Which of our company’s management metrics are you aiming to change, and how, with this implementation?”
Can they discuss changes to specific KPIs like sales, profit margin, customer lifetime value, lead time, or employee satisfaction? The key is whether they can explain the link to business outcomes, not just describe tool features.

2. “How do you envision our company’s IT environment evolving three years after implementation?”
Do they have a design philosophy that looks beyond a one-off implementation to future scalability and integration possibilities with other systems? This reveals whether the support vendor has a long-term perspective as a “strategic partner.”

3. “If we don’t feel the expected effects, at what stage and how would you propose to verify and course-correct?”
Are they envisioning the entire support scope, including post-implementation effectiveness verification and continuous improvement (kaizen) processes? This question is a litmus test for the support vendor’s genuine commitment.

The True Change Created by Collaborating with Supporters Who Have a “Management Perspective”

The subsidy is merely a “starting point.” The greatest value lies in the process: managers themselves develop the ability to define their company’s IT strategy and gain a powerful external partner—a supporter with a “management perspective.”

They are not only technical experts but also possess the aspect of business consultants who have seen the challenges of many SMEs. You can gain objective, external advice on operational inefficiencies you might have missed internally and on how to leverage data. This collaborative relationship forms the foundation for leaping from mere digital “ization” to business-transforming Digital Transformation “DX.”

Summary: The Selection List is Not the Endpoint, But the Starting Point for Management Engagement

The news about the selection of subsidy support vendors, including Wasabi Inc., can be interpreted as the government signaling to the market the standard for “high-quality IT support.” Managers and DX leaders should view this list not as the finish line for “finding a vendor to outsource to,” but as the starting point for “finding a partner to jointly think about and define our company’s IT strategy.”

The success of digitalization does not lie in cutting-edge tools, but in the ability to design a “mechanism” that deeply understands management challenges, combines appropriate technologies, and enables continuous improvement. It involves managers actively participating in that design work and leveraging the wisdom of experts with a “management perspective.” The subsidy opportunity is an ideal chance to build this most crucial collaborative relationship.