Do you eat out every day?

Hello, I am Mitsunori Kimura, an expert in Smile Engineering. Please see this article for more on "Smile Engineering."

Many companies outsource the entire development of the systems they use in-house.

However, I believe this is like eating out for every single meal.

Of course, eating out is convenient.
Food prepared by professionals is exceptional, and there is no need to buy ingredients, cook, or clean up yourself.
It is very helpful when you are busy.

System development is the same.
If you ask an expert, it can sometimes take shape quickly.
You can also have them supplement knowledge and skills that your company lacks.
There is also a sense of security in being able to leave difficult parts to them.

Therefore, outsourcing itself is not bad.

The problem is outsourcing everything completely.

Having to call someone just to adjust the seasoning

If you eat out every day, you can be satisfied to a certain extent.

However, what if you want to make the flavor a little lighter?
You want more vegetables today.
You want less oil to suit your physical condition.
You want to reduce the spiciness for children.

What if you had to call a chef every time you felt that way?
How would that be?

Even for a minor adjustment, it takes time.
It won't be understood unless you explain it.
It also costs money every time you ask.

Systems are the same.

I want to change this item a little.
I want to change the order of the forms.
I want to skip this verification task.
I want to see this data from a different perspective.

Every time there is a small improvement like this, you have to explain it to the outsourcer, get a quote, adjust the schedule, and wait for the fix.

If that happens, the company's movements will slow down.

It is better to fix small discomforts in the field immediately.
The accumulation of that creates ease of work and increases value for customers.

It is hard to make everything from scratch

However, what is important here is not to misunderstand in-house production as "making everything yourself."

Even when thinking about daily meals, it is difficult to make everything from raw ingredients.

Wash the vegetables.
Prepare the meat and fish.
Make the dashi stock.
Mix the seasonings.
Watch the heat.
Clean up.

If you try to do this perfectly every day, you won't be able to keep it up.

That is why sometimes we buy prepared side dishes.
Sometimes we use frozen foods.
Sometimes we use pre-cut vegetables.
Sometimes we use retort pouches or store-bought dashi.

That is not cutting corners.

It is wisdom for preparing meals that suit your family and yourself within a limited amount of time.

Systems are the same.

You do not need to develop everything from scratch.

Use Google Workspace.
Use Notion.
Use kintone.
Use existing cloud services.
Use AI.
Use templates.
Incorporate mechanisms created by external experts.

These are, so to speak, prepared side dishes and frozen foods.

The important thing is not to just serve them as they are.

Adjust the flavor a little to suit your company's operations.
Combine them to match the flow of the workplace.
Make changes only where necessary.
Supplement what is missing.

I believe this is realistic in-house development.

Companies that can 'cook for themselves' are resilient to change.

Companies of the future need the 'ability to cook for themselves'.

Cooking for oneself here does not mean building every system from scratch in-house.

Understand daily operations yourselves.
Grasp the flow of data yourselves.
Try small improvements yourselves.
Use existing tools and AI to shape them to fit the workplace.

That is the kind of ability I mean.

Tweak Google Sheets a little.
Collect input via forms.
Have AI help organize tasks.
Try simple automation.
Review forms to match the voices of the workplace.

This is close to home cooking that supports your daily life.

It may not be luxurious.
It may not be perfect.
But it suits your own body.
You can change it immediately to match how you feel today.

This sense is what is important for a company.

Being able to taste your own work yourself.

I believe this is the essence of in-house production in the digital age.

Being good at cooking is different from opening a restaurant.

There is one more thing we must not misunderstand.

Just because you have become able to cook for yourself does not mean you can open a restaurant.

Being good at home cooking is different from managing a restaurant.

Restaurants have hygiene management.
They have procurement.
They have cost accounting.
They have hiring and training of staff.
They have systems to consistently produce the same quality.

Systems are the same.

Being able to make small improvements in-house is different from safely designing, operating, and providing a full-scale system as a business.

Security.
Backups.
Access control.
Incident response.
Legal compliance.
Maintenance structure.
Long-term design.

These still require the power of experts.

Therefore, in-house production does not mean 'stopping outsourcing'.

It means having the ability to taste the food yourself, and then correctly delegating to professionals where appropriate.
is what it is.

Co-cooking, not blind delegation.

System development from now on is not a binary choice between outsourcing or in-house production.

What is important is co-cooking.

The company knows the taste of its own operations.
It can immediately catch problems in the field.
It knows its relationship with customers.
It knows what it wants to value.

External experts know the technology.
They understand the essentials of design.
They know safe operation.
They know examples and pitfalls from other companies.

When both of these are combined, it becomes a good system.

Conversely, if a company just leaves it to others without thinking,
saying, "Please make something delicious," and dumps the task on them,
even if it looks nice,
a system that doesn't fit the reality of the workplace may be created.

It has many functions.
The screens look impressive, too.
But it's difficult to use on the front lines.
It costs money even to make small changes.
In the end, no one can keep using it.

This is a great waste.

The AI era is a time when companies can stand in the kitchen

With the evolution of AI, no-code, and low-code tools,
it has become easier than ever for companies to
"stand in the kitchen."

You can organize your operations without writing professional code.
You can also brainstorm ideas for forms and screens
while consulting with AI.
For simple automation, you can even try things out under the leadership of the front-line staff.

However, just because you can stand in the kitchen,
it doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself.

Use frozen foods effectively.
Combine pre-made side dishes.
Incorporate professional cooking.
Put the finishing touches on the flavor yourselves.

This sense of balance is important.

In-house development in the AI era
does not mean making everything yourself.

It is the ability to use what already exists wisely
and shape it to fit your company.is.

Management is responsible for the flavor

Ultimately, the person who decides the flavor of a company's system
is the management.

Which operations do you value?
How far should you go with efficiency?
Where should you leave a human touch?
Which information should be made visible?
What kind of work style do you want to achieve?

This cannot be decided by an outsourcing partner alone.

An outsourcing partner might cook the meal for you.
Cloud services might provide convenient ingredients.
AI might help with the preparation.

However, what you feel is delicious,
who you want to eat it,
and what kind of dining table you want to create

is something the company itself must decide.

That is why management
must not treat the system as someone else's problem.

You don't need to be able to write programs.
However, you do need to take an interest in your company's workflow, your company's data, and the problems faced by your front-line staff.

I believe that is the management responsibility of the digital age.

Taste it yourself and create it with professionals.

Outsourcing systems entirely is like eating out for every single meal.

It is convenient.
However, it is unlikely to result in a taste that suits your own body.

On the other hand, there is no need to make everything from scratch.

It is fine to use prepared side dishes.
It is fine to use frozen foods.
It is fine to use convenient tools.
It is fine to enlist the help of professionals.

The important thing is to taste it yourself in the end.

What fits?
What is too heavy?
What do you want to change?
What do you want to protect?

With that sense in mind, create it together with experts.

Not outsourcing entirely, but co-creating.

I believe that is the form DX will take from now on.

Companies that can taste for themselves are strong.
Companies that can make good use of what already exists are smart.
Companies that can enlist the help of professionals where needed are even stronger.

Systems are a company's meals.

Because it is something you eat every day, I want us to properly taste it with our own hands, tongues, and hearts, rather than leaving it entirely to someone else.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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