Diverse expertise and an "attitude of standing alongside the client" are their strengths. SYSTEMI's proposal and execution power that turns customer requests into reality

Of course the vendor we'd worked with before was excellent too, but we had issues with "(1) the pricing felt high" and "(2) only quasi-mandate contracts were possible, with no contract-for-work option," so at the timing of additional development we considered switching to another company.

We also had a concern that continuing to place orders with the same vendor might lead to vendor lock-in. To avoid a future where the system became dependent on individuals through reliance on one specific vendor, we thought it would be better to place orders with a different vendor.

I'd known of SYSTEMI since my previous job, and I had the impression that Mr. Ogushi, the sales lead, was someone worthy of trust. He'd given us proposals several times on other projects, and he never said "no" to our requests — he always stood alongside us as much as he possibly could. In the end, there was a reassuring sense that "this person can keep the field under control." The fit and validity of the proposals mattered, of course, but ultimately the deciding factor was the trustworthiness of the person in charge.

To make the system easier for field workers to use, we carried out a wide range of improvements. We standardized various data imported from external sources into a single format, and we made UI/UX improvements to the system. UI/UX improvements directly affect how easily field workers can do their jobs, so we carried out more than 10 of them.

To give one example: when filling out an absence slip during meter reading, workers enter it while looking at the "absence registration screen," but the codes and addresses they needed weren't displayed, so they had to go back to a different screen to check — and we'd heard complaints that this was inconvenient. For a single case it might not be much trouble, but when the same effort occurs across multiple cases it's inefficient, and it's stressful for the field workers too.

So that they could revamp the system to better fit our operations, we held a training session for them during the handover period and walked them through the details of field operations and the gas business. Because they took such a positive attitude toward acquiring domain knowledge, the engineers had a high level of understanding of the work, and we could entrust the improvements to them with peace of mind.

This time, the period from when we requested the estimate to when they began development was short — just three months — yet within that window they handled the handover from the previous vendor and absorbed the domain knowledge, which was a tremendous help. It was also reassuring that they'd offer suggestions like "it'll be even easier to use if you revamp it this way" or "there's this kind of cost advantage to doing it like this."

A really good point about SYSTEMI is how nimble they are. They're light on their feet, and when there was trouble in the past, they immediately gathered people and responded. They're also often flexible when there are changes to the development process, which I feel is a sense of speed unique to a mid-sized company. There are many people who "hear one thing and understand ten" — they pick up on unspoken needs and proactively propose and act ahead of us, and I feel this quickness on the uptake and smooth communication is what drives their improved responsiveness.