JMA Systems: Bolstering Clients with Brand New UX

As the pace and impact of digital transformation accelerate, the efforts to deliver a new and enhanced user experience (UX) powered by technologies such as AI, Fintech, and blockchain are burgeoning. While the series of mobile devices such as iPhone, Android, tablets, watches and the like have taken over the main user interface (UI), cloud computing services have become indispensable for the speeds and flexibilities demanded by applications running on these devices.

In JMA Systems, the efforts started back in 2010, when the adoption of mobility in the corporate environment had just begun. Since then, “JMA Systems has developed more than 900 mobile applications for 100 companies, working hand-in-hand with client corporations,” says Takeshi Sakakura, Representative Director & President, JMA Systems.

JMA Systems is a Microsoft certified GOLD partner in the area of Cloud Platform and Application Development and utilizes cloud services in many of its applications. For creating a new UX for end users, JMA Systems employs the co-creating and co-raising development style while engaging with clients. The unique development style comes wrapped in two services—LayApp and GrowApp. LayApp is a mobile application planning service based on human-centered design and design thinking. The LayApp’s concept development and product design are based on reasoning and thinking about the UX, and it allows defining problems and examining ideas to be carried out in a short and focused manner.

On the other hand, GrowApp is a service used to incrementally define the usability and functionality of a product as it goes through the production lifecycle. GrowApp lowers development costs while realizing rapid production from humble beginnings. The agile-like development style of these services is fueled by the efficient utilization of Microsoft Azure services, which improves their speed, flexibility, and extensibility.

Microsoft Japan’s tech events promote LayApp and GrowApp. The official applications for Microsoft Japan’s flagship events such as de:code and Tech Summit have been supplied by JMA Systems five times. The applications evolved in a new UX each time, and the fifth application was used in conjunction with the Beacon technology that enabled users to collect check-in stamps at each booth they visited.

JMA Systems has successfully led a variety of corporate mobile application development projects in diverse areas. The company’s diversification success stories involve a pharmacy where JMA System created an application to manage the medicine intakes of 50,000 patients.

In 2016, JMA Systems worked closely with a bank that deployed approximately 23,000 iPads to realize its one iPad per employee policy and then implemented it across all branches. Each iPad had apps developed by JMA Systems, including a portal application. This application could be used by the bank’s employees to consult internal data to execute their tasks efficiently. The iPads also had the Paper-less Meeting System developed by JMA Systems, which facilitated online discussions and provided shared environments for multiple users to review documents simultaneously.

Fostered by the fruitful experiences, JMA Systems has also developed new services to create intelligent applications powered by Azure AI, with the cultivated Azure know-how to support clients in creating new, easily deployable UX. Amongst these is an AI Chatbot service that combines Azure Bot Service with JMA Systems’ own semi-automated learning tools. Clients can use the AI Chatbot to deploy intelligent and useful chatbots systems in Azure quickly for delivering internal helpdesks and customer FAQ services.

Recently, JMA Systems has allied with Microsoft Teams, the workplace collaboration tool, whose chat function works in tandem with the JMA Systems’ implementation of tools like FAQ, schedule reservation, and the like, to support the materialization of business efficiency. Moving forward, JMA Systems aims to offer a brand-new UX to its customers with its widened service range empowered by intelligent apps working together with the latest Azure technologies.