■E-Guardian ＜6050＞ Growth Strategy

1. Strengthening proposed sales capabilities for large-scale enterprise digital BPO projects is underway through collaboration with Change HD

The effects of proposed measures to strengthen sales capacity are becoming apparent. Customers in the entertainment industry have supported the company's growth until now, and since demand is generated as the customer's business expands, it can be said that they were on time even with a “passive” sales style. On the other hand, as represented by the game industry, when the industry itself and client companies themselves are not blessed with hit titles, the company's jobs also decrease, so there is a need to complement it. Taking advantage of the partnership with Change HD in 2023/10, we steered in the direction of adding enterprise industries such as large enterprises and local governments as customer targets. Enterprise digital BPO projects are relatively large-scale, and since cost effectiveness is strictly required, skills in proposal sales and consulting sales are required. The company is working on building capabilities to actively acquire new projects by strengthening the organization by hiring sales managers, implementing education, etc. Mutual customer transfers and joint proposals with Change HD are also becoming active, and it is said that it is also an opportunity to share know-how. Since digital BPO projects for enterprises involve a “production system” (securing human resources to perform operation services and improving skills) along with sales, a certain amount of preparation period is required. Regarding the “production system,” efforts to transfer outsourced operations outside of the Change HD Group to the company have already progressed to the middle of the road, and it has been confirmed that the company's human resources and systems can handle it. It is expected that business for the enterprise industry will become one of the pillars of the new business in the medium term. In the second half of the 2024/9 fiscal year, there was an increase in actively acquired new projects, and a response was obtained. In the 2025/9 fiscal year, a certain amount of results will be visible.

2. Strengthening marketing and recruitment in the cybersecurity field

Domestic cyber attacks are on the rise year by year. In terms of the total number of observation packets per year (number of packets reaching the darknet range, per IP), which is an index reflecting its seriousness, 2023 was about 2.8 times that of 5 years ago (2018). In terms of the number of cybercrime arrests, the number of cybercrime arrests in 2023 was 12,479, about 1.4 times that of 5 years ago (2018). Even in cases that have occurred in recent years, cases where peripheral companies such as business contractors, business partners, and software developers are targeted have been reported. There is a possibility that companies, organizations, countries, and local governments in all industries will be targeted, and movements aimed at strengthening security are accelerating.

The main targets of the company's cybersecurity division are small and medium-sized enterprises, startup companies, etc. that are not prepared for security in time. In the 2024/9 fiscal year, the company hired a dedicated marketing specialist for the purpose of strengthening marketing, and worked on SEO measures, which had been lacking until now, reviewing advertising policies, and strengthening relationships with service partners. Also, with regard to recruitment of human resources, recruitment managers with expertise in hiring engineers in particular have been assigned, and recruitment of security engineers and sales personnel is being accelerated. In the 2024/9 fiscal year, recruitment of security engineers will progress smoothly in particular, and momentum will be gained for future business expansion. The company's cybersecurity business is a field that is growing steadily as demand increases, and the average annual growth rate for the past 3 years is 12.2%.

(Written by FISCO Visiting Analyst Hideo Kakuta)