"We need to move forward with digital transformation (DX), but we can't seem to get to the point of system implementation."
Business divisions have many ideas and want to move forward with improving operational efficiency and developing new services. They need to move forward. However, it takes too long to bring these ideas to fruition as systems. Many people may be facing this kind of problem.
In fact, Macnica itself used to take more than a year from planning to release when developing systems in the past.
Macnica succeeded in overcoming this "unable to reach systemization" barrier. The key to this was "agility."
Agility is an English word that means "quickness" or "nimbleness," but in the context of DX (Digital Transformation), it can be described as "the ability to quickly adapt and make adjustments in response to changing times, thereby creating new value."
This agility cannot be achieved overnight. However, through our own experience, Macnica has learned that if agility is achieved, IT can become a source of profit for business divisions.
This article introduces the mechanisms Macnica has learned from its own experience for achieving agility. (This is a restructured version of a presentation by Mr. Tone Macnica 's Innovation Strategy Division.)
Why are business units kept waiting? One bottleneck is the "collaboration mechanism."
Collaboration between business and IT departments is crucial to the success or failure of DX.
According to IPA's "DX Trends 2026," 48.9% of companies in fiscal year 2025 reported that coordination between management, IT departments, and business departments was "sufficiently" or "fairly well" achieved. Furthermore, when examined by whether or not DX results were achieved, the percentage of companies that achieved results reported successful coordination was 72.9%, compared to only 37.1% for companies that did not. (Source: IPA "DX Trends 2026")
Overseas research also shows the relationship between the results of technology investment and business-side involvement from a different perspective. KPMG's "Global tech report 2026" defines the top approximately 5% of companies with high technology and process maturity and reporting an ROI of 200% or more on digital technology investments as "High performers." Among High performers, 13% reported that they "have not secured sufficient business-side sponsorship to support their technology programs," compared to 60% among other companies. (Source: KPMG "Global tech report 2026")
These survey results highlight the importance of involving not only IT professionals but also business operators in order to generate results from digital transformation (DX) and technology investments.
Macnica has also witnessed numerous instances of this "integration between business and IT" problem while supporting many companies in their manufacturing DX initiatives.
Business divisions possess operational knowledge and the ability to generate profits. They can determine which operations are causing problems and to what extent, and what has value. On the other hand, the IT division possesses technical knowledge, the ability to create solutions, and a holistic perspective. They can create a system that is optimized for the entire organization while maintaining company-wide governance and control.
Digital transformation (DX) only takes shape when these two elements are combined. Conversely, the problem with collaboration is that these two elements are not combined.
Three reasons why combinations do not occur
So why is it so difficult to combine business and IT? Based on what Macnica has observed through its own practices and support for companies, there are three main reasons.
As a prerequisite, the IT department cannot act immediately. This is because they have daily tasks that cannot be interrupted, such as maintaining core systems. In other words, the combination will not happen if you just wait.
Furthermore, there are three factors that hinder the combination.
The first issue is that there are few opportunities or points of contact where business divisions can easily consult about DX promotion and system development, making it difficult to even create an opportunity for such initiatives.
The second issue is the lack of opportunities for business and IT teams to work together from planning to development. In fact, there are simply no opportunities to collaborate on projects.
The third issue is a lack of personnel and expertise to jointly advance projects. Because there are no precedents and few opportunities to gain practical experience, it's difficult to cultivate capable individuals. Furthermore, the company lacks the know-how for optimal project management methods and organizational structures.
In other words, DX must proceed even without a system for collaboration. Furthermore, there is a deadline. Therefore, business units sometimes start by selecting tools that are easy to implement within their own department and that seem to directly lead to solving problems.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with starting with tool selection. However, simply implementing a tool in isolation won't create a combination of business knowledge and development capabilities. On the contrary, it can lead to the implementation of tools that are only partially optimized, increasing the number of tools that the IT department has to manage and further straining their resources. Moreover, agility will not take root within the company.
Thus, simply introducing tools does not create a system where business knowledge and the power of IT are combined.
Therefore, Macnica decided to create a "mechanism for combinations to occur" within the organization.
Agility can be achieved through systems. Four mechanisms created by Macnica.
The system that Macnica created can be broadly divided into four parts.
We will explain each of these in detail. Note that ④ Theme selection and effectiveness measurement will be explained in the next chapter.
Agility Mechanism ①: Team Structure
Product owners come from business units.
Let's start with the first mechanism, the team structure. Macnica 's teams are structured as joint projects between business divisions and IT divisions.
What sets this apart from a typical collaborative project is the central role and responsibilities. The team has a permanent role called Product Owner, which determines "what to build and what its value is," and this role is filled by someone from the business division who has the necessary knowledge of the business.
Why is the product owner a business unit? The business unit is the one that understands the business best. The key information for making important decisions about the system (which tasks are causing problems, and what is valuable) resides in the minds of the people performing those tasks. Furthermore, they have a high level of motivation to improve. In other words, it creates a situation where someone with a deep understanding of the business can make important judgments about the product while driving the project forward with high motivation.
At Macnica, the IT department used to be the product owner. However, after shifting this responsibility to the business divisions, we saw an increase in projects running smoothly.
Supporting product owners through team building and development.
So, can people in business divisions handle IT decisions as well? At Macnica, we take two approaches.
The first is support from the IT department. A Scrum Master role is assigned to the project. The Scrum Master is an experienced member of the IT department who knows the tricks of agile development and acts as a coach to improve the productivity of developers. The developers themselves are provided by the IT department if the project is done in-house. There is also the option of partnering with an external partner.
This combines business knowledge and the ability to create in a way that allows projects to be successfully driven forward.
One concern here might be the burden on the IT department. Even with organizational changes, the fact remains that the IT department is overwhelmed with its existing tasks. At Macnica, we decided to improve the development productivity of the IT department by utilizing low-code and generative AI.
And the second is training the product owner themselves.
First, you'll learn what a product owner's role is. Then, you'll learn about IT and Scrum (an agile development methodology) and put it into practice in projects. This cumulative process is how we cultivate your skills.
These two approaches enable product owners to make decisions and drive progress while collaborating with the IT department.
Agility Mechanism ②: Agile Development
Fix it every two weeks and release it in three months.
So, how will we proceed with this project? This is where our second approach comes in: agile development.
Agile development is a development methodology used in system and software development that continuously increases the value of software by repeatedly developing and improving it in short cycles.
This project begins with the product owner articulating their vision of what they want to create. This vision is then broken down into a prioritized list of desired features (product backlog). Developers proceed with agile development, presenting a working version every two weeks.
When you see something moving every two weeks, ideas like "it would be nice to have this too" start to flow one after another. That in itself is a good thing, but the standard release of an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is about once every three months. The more you add, the later it gets. So the product owner has to constantly judge whether to include it in this release or whether it even has value.
This "value judgment" is the most important job of a product owner. They determine whether something has value and prioritize what to implement.
Furthermore, the bi-weekly reviews provide a forum for business units and developers to continuously align requirements. Having a product owner who understands the business processes to adjust the direction every two weeks prevents the creation of systems that are implemented but never used in the field.
The person who understands the work adjusts the direction every two weeks, and the plan takes shape in about three months. Through this iterative process, agility is fostered within the team.
Agility Mechanism ③: CoE Organization
By consolidating the point of contact and the cases into one, we can accumulate expertise.
The third mechanism is the Center of Excellence (CoE) organization.
These collaborative projects have a pitfall when it comes to continuing them. When a project ends, the members return to their respective departments. As a result, the experience and know-how that they have accumulated are scattered along with them. This prevents them from leading to the next project.
A Center of Excellence (CoE) organization is an effective solution to these kinds of challenges. At Macnica 's CoE, we first receive consultations and ideas from all departments through a single point of contact. The idea is that you can just bring it here and that's all that matters.
Furthermore, by consolidating projects into one location, the acquired know-how can be accumulated in a single place. This provides a foundation for utilizing the know-how gained in one project in other projects.
The CoE organization is also responsible for developing DX talent.
Furthermore, the training of the product owners themselves will also be conducted within this Center of Excellence (CoE) organization. The person from the business unit that brought the idea will drive the project forward as the product owner, learning through practical experience. The CoE will then support their training. After the project is completed and they return to their department, they will take on the role of leading their department. Through this cycle of people, the number of product owners who can make value judgments about IT, in other words, DX talent, will increase.
In other words, the more projects are implemented through the Center of Excellence (CoE) organization, the more know-how and DX talent accumulate within the organization. This accumulation transforms agility from being project-based to becoming organizational strength.
This system is based on the best practices for digital transformation (DX) systematized by Siemens and Mendix (providers of low-code development platforms). Macnica optimizes and implements these best practices to suit Japanese companies through its own practices and client support.
In fact, at Macnica, our Center of Excellence (CoE) organization gathered over 70 ideas in about a year, released 11 systems and services, and reduced working hours by 44,000 hours.
The method Macnica used to create its Center of Excellence (CoE) organization is explained in detail in this article.
Agility Mechanism ④: Theme Selection and Effectiveness Measurement. The first theme is "High Effectiveness x Low Development Cost".
How do you choose a theme?
The final step is theme selection and effectiveness measurement.
Many companies already have ideas about what they want to do. The difference lies in selecting which ideas to start with—in other words, prioritizing them.
Macnica divides themes into four quadrants based on effectiveness x system development cost (scale, development effort, etc.). Effectiveness (such as time saved on tasks) can be estimated by the business unit. The key is to add the axis of system development cost to that. Priority 1 falls into the upper left quadrant, "high effectiveness, low development cost," because it has great value for the business unit and low development cost.
One point to note is that the upper right corner represents the area with the greatest potential in terms of both effectiveness and development costs. Indeed, it offers the highest return on investment. However, the high development costs mean that investment is also greater, and the time it takes to see results is longer. From the perspective of management making the investment, a project with a slow return on investment will appear as "not yet producing results."
Therefore, instead of aiming for "high effectiveness and high development costs," it's important to start with "high effectiveness and low development costs." It's about quickly securing a sure first win, rather than aiming for a home run.
However, estimating development costs is difficult for business divisions alone. Therefore, it is necessary to consider this in collaboration with the IT department. The third mechanism, the Center of Excellence (CoE) organization, serves as the point of contact for this collaboration.
At Macnica, the Center of Excellence (CoE) organization has established a portal site where all employees can share their ideas anytime, anywhere. Ideas and problems are registered there. The CoE then provides support to refine these ideas from the perspectives of ROI, functional and non-functional requirements, etc. At this stage, development costs are estimated, and themes to be pursued are prioritized.
Two perspectives on measuring effectiveness
Once you've chosen a theme, the next step is measuring its effectiveness. Effectiveness is measured from two perspectives.
The first is "Effects in the business division," which includes how much the workload of the chosen project will be reduced, or the revenue generated by the new service. The second is "Cost reduction effects in the IT division," such as reductions in development and management workloads.
For example, at Macnica, they were able to develop systems in-house using Mendix that required integration with core systems, which previously incurred high subscription fees, resulting in significant cost savings.
In this way, we can measure the effects of switching development that was previously outsourced to in-house, as well as shortening release cycles and improving development productivity.
In other words, we measure the impact not only on the business divisions but also on the IT department. Then, we subtract the costs of licenses and infrastructure from the reduction effect and measure the remaining amount as profit. This way, we can measure the impact of IT from a company-wide perspective.
Four steps to achieve agility by integrating business and IT.
Finally, here are four steps to help you gain agility by making small turns in your first round.
- Step 1: Have a common goal
- Step 2: Choose a theme
- Step 3: Form a team
- Step 4: Turn it in small circles and finish.
The first thing to decide is the goal. Macnica believes it is extremely important for business divisions and IT divisions to have common goals. This is because people can only take action on their own when they truly understand "why" they are doing something.
Many projects start without a common goal and end up stalling midway. Setting goals that align perspectives is the first step in bridging the gap in coordination between business and IT.
Next is choosing a theme. Using the four quadrants mentioned earlier, start with something that will have a big impact and can be implemented quickly. It's important not to aim for a home run right away, but to focus on securing that first win that you can definitely achieve.
Once the theme is decided, the next step is building the team to drive it. This involves bringing together business knowledge and the ability to create within a single team. Crucially, the product owner should come from the business unit. This ensures that the project moves forward with strong momentum and appropriate value judgment.
Finally, let's talk about the process. Instead of trying to complete it all at once, you should make one piece over several months by repeatedly "showing and correcting" at short intervals. Because you make small pieces and show them immediately, you can notice and correct any deviations in direction on the spot. Make quickly and correct as you go.
By completing these four steps, you can release a system that solves real-world problems within a few months.
This entire process is precisely why agility leads to profit.
We quickly bring to life themes with high impact and low development costs, resulting in a rapid return on investment. Because we adjust our approach as we go, we avoid investing in things that won't be used. And any savings that outweigh the costs become pure profit. That's why we believe IT is not a cost, but a source of profit for our business divisions.
Furthermore, the very first release serves as the ultimate proof to investing management. It demonstrates, in action, that IT creates value and generates profits.
By repeating this process many times, the organization will gradually transform into one that is more agile.
As I mentioned at the beginning, Macnica used to take over a year from planning to release. However, now we can release a system that automates quotation work with an AI agent in just 5 days for PoC and in about 4 months for MVP.
Further details about the above case are provided in the following article.
It has been a long journey to get here. However, Macnica shares the failures and know-how we have gained along the way with many companies, supporting them in achieving agility.
With the rapid advancements in generative AI, if you're looking to accelerate the process of systematizing your data, please feel free to contact us.
Macnica also offers workshops where you can experience the entire process of developing and implementing applications to solve real-world problems, from planning to implementation, in just a few days. If you'd like to see for yourself just how quickly things can be done, please contact us using the information below.