Single-Handedly Constructing the Company IT Environment Single-Handedly Constructing the Company IT Environment Single-Handedly Constructing the Company IT Environment

Hello. I am Iwase Jun. Nippon Design Center includes a wide variety of creative divisions including graphic design, video, web design, CG, and photography, and computers are an essential part of the production process in all of them. This is the why the Computer Management Department exists – to prepare an IT infrastructure, create tools for expression, and pursue the perfect balance of convenience and security. Our function is to provide an environment where the creators can concentrate fully on being creative. To me, our on-site work where we have to respond flexibly to the issues of the moment is our own form of creative work.

I joined Nippon Design Center straight away after graduating from university. My major was economics and business administration, and I did not have a science background. Because PCs were expensive and I very much wanted one during my student days, I started building them myself, and became fascinated with computers. This was the starting point that led me to my current position. The year I joined NDC was the time of Mac OS9. Compared with that time, the IT environment has undergone some very large changes. I would say that the largest changes are the increase in data volume and the faster communication environment. Moreover, the volumes of data are continuing to grow over time just as expected. Because the works of a design company are its assets, it is important to create a system with an eye towards five and ten years in the future. In fact, right now we are thinking about constructing a new infrastructure.

A lot of interesting things have happened during the 15 years since I joined the company. One particularly memorable event was our relocation from the old company building at Ginza 1-chome to the new building at Ginza 4-chome. Although the distance involved was only a hundred meters, it was a difficult task for the approximately 200 Head Office members to complete the move in such a short time. We had to coordinate the relocation of each staff’s PC and printer without interrupting the production work which was already on a tight schedule. The move was divided into three parts, and all members of the Computer Management Department combined our efforts so that each individual could start working immediately without stress. This was a move on a scale unlike anything we had done before, and of course we did not have a playbook to follow. We have to think and act on our own every day, and I think that is what makes this work so interesting.

Although I became the department director last year, I am trying not to think too much about that. I feel strongly that if I concern myself with my position, I will overlook many more important things. My top priorities are communication and a flexible network, and I am constantly focused on what my next step should be. It is one of my personal principles that because I work with computers, I need to be in close touch with people.

Because I was born in the year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac, horses are one of my interests. On my days off, you can often find me at the racetrack. However more than buying the betting tickets, it is the horses as animals that I like, and I am always focused completely on capturing the scenes of the paddock and the racing horses with a single-lens reflex camera. I also have invested in a racehorse fund, and of course my horse is always the most attractive. After retouching them myself, I keep the photos I take. My knowledge of cameras and photo processing software which I pick up through my hobby is often useful to me when talking with the creators at work.