Empowering Teams Through Innovation: How HENNGE's Tech Solutions Transform Workplaces and Drive Global Growth
Cel Ogiya
Since its inception, HENNGE has remained deeply committed to change, continuously evolving its products to meet ever-changing market demands.
In this interview, the Engineering Talent Acquisition team chats with one of the company’s co-founders, Yoshiki Nagatome. Read on and discover HENNGE’s culture of innovation that keeps its products at the forefront of technology, how it empowers customers to maximize the value of its cloud security solutions, and its path to progress toward becoming a world-class IT company.
From Tech Fantasy to Practical Applications
Growing up in the 1980s, Yoshiki Nagatome imagined a world where supernatural elements intertwined with cutting-edge technology, brain-machine interfaces, and customizable magical devices from his beloved anime series. What started as a fascination with fictional technology developed into a hobby and ignited his interest in programming. As a young boy, he used his otoshidama—or money gift that children receive from their parents or relatives during the New Year—to purchase an MSX, an 8-bit home computer that became his portal to gaming adventures and his springboard into the tech world. At age 10, he taught himself to write codes by reading books on programming and made simple, interactive games on the MSX with his cousins and friends.
Nagatome’s passion for technology was rekindled while studying information theory at university. At the time, he took a course on UNIX, a character user interface operating system that he thought was particularly challenging to use. This experience led him to explore the potential of Linux, another operating system that he found to be more intuitive and user-friendly. Being an open-source platform, Linux was better suited for communication and interaction between multiple servers, enabling customization and optimization for different server environments.
While Linux offered more stability for inter-server communication, its steep learning curve was a barrier for many users. To make the system more accessible, the early members of Horizon Digital Enterprise—HENNGE's former identity—developed a Linux server management tool that was launched in 1997.
This Linux server management tool simplified user interactions and allowed customers to set up business emails using their company domain names. In addition, Horizon Digital Enterprise also sold Open Computer Network lines, an internet connection service provided by Japanese telecommunications company NTT in the 1990s to support the increasing demand for accessing home pages on the World Wide Web and electronic mail services. In his first year at Horizon Digital Enterprise, Nagatome sold over 50 Linux systems.
Making Technology Accessible for Everyone
“Our goal has always been to simplify complex technology by creating products that are easy to use, allowing customers to maximize the full potential of our solutions,” explains Nagatome, who also serves as HENNGE’s Executive Vice President. HENNGE’s flagship offering, HENNGE One, is a one-stop cloud security service that streamlines cloud security management, featuring three editions: Identity, Data Loss Protection, and Cybersecurity.
Identity Edition includes measures designed to prevent unauthorized data access and leakage. It provides secure access and single sign-on for SaaS and multiple cloud services. Data Loss Protection Edition automatically manages and controls file sharing permissions to mitigate unintended information leaks, which may happen when emails are inadvertently sent to unintended recipients. Lastly, Cybersecurity Edition aims to protect organizations and enterprises against cyberattacks and offers targeted email training to enhance employee awareness in identifying suspicious emails and taking appropriate action.
“Other similar products may have more functionality but have overcomplicated solutions or design features, and customers may need to hire technical engineers to operate the system. At HENNGE, our aim is to make our customers’ cloud migration as simple and secure as possible,” Nagatome says.
Nurturing Ideas From Within to Inspire Transformation
To spark innovative product development, HENNGE encourages employees to participate in internal innovation initiatives. One such event is the Monthly Technical Session (MTS), an in-house technical study forum where team members, mainly engineers from the development department, take the stage to share insights on a wide range of topics. The MTS serves as a platform for exchanging technical knowledge, exploring the latest advancements in technologies such as AI and Machine Learning, and discussing individual projects.
To promote broader participation, different project teams within the development department take turns hosting the event. MTS has proven to be an effective catalyst for team building, promoting collaboration through shared experiences and strengthening communication across departments to achieve common objectives.
Another initiative is Inspire Matsuri, an annual company-wide ideation contest where employees can submit their ideas based on specific themes. Designed to cultivate new business opportunities, Inspire Matsuri consists of four stages: identifying pain points, proposing solutions to real-world challenges, presenting ideas during the pitch phase, and transforming concepts into actual products. The qualifying teams advance to the next phase, called Wakaba Challenge, in which they develop new products that address customer challenges. One product that came out of Inspire Matsuri is HENNGE Connect, which enables seamless and secure remote access to hybrid on-premise software and cloud systems.
To keep up with the latest industry trends and drive growth, HENNGE takes part in international events such as SaaStr, the largest B2B software conference in the world. In August this year, six HENNGE members participated in the SaaStr AI Summit held in San Francisco.
Seeking to empower small businesses to launch successfully, HENNGE provides support to startups outside its usual areas of expertise. This strategy also allows the company to gain fresh perspectives and explore innovative ways to expand its offerings.
Nagatome explains, “Our support primarily focuses on boosting sales. We can increase our annual recurring revenue by collaborating with startups to offer their products under our brand, a process known as Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM). Looking ahead, we may consider acquiring these companies through mergers and acquisitions to fully integrate them into HENNGE.”
Setting Sights on Uncharted Paths for Greater Progress
HENNGE One has the largest domestic market share in cloud security. HENNGE’s products serve customers from across industries, including manufacturing, education, local government, finance, transportation, and logistics.
HENNGE’s customer success onboarding team educates customers to ensure that they have a comprehensive understanding of the company's product features and services. When customers are satisfied with the onboarding support, this boosts the likelihood of their ongoing engagement with HENNGE’s offerings, ultimately increasing the lifetime value of its cloud security solutions.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is the continuous cycle of recognizing evolving customer needs, developing new product features to meet those needs, and seeing how feature enhancements can fuel our revenue growth and attract new clients,” Nagatome says.
In recent years, the company has significantly increased its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)—which measures the average earnings generated by active customers—by adjusting prices following the introduction of new features. HENNGE aims to further boost its ARPU by improving its products through in-house development, forging strategic partnerships, and pursuing OEM collaborations.
To tap into new markets and connect with international customers, HENNGE acknowledges the diversity of the global landscape, where needs vary across Asia, America, and Europe—regions where it currently has operations. The company highlights the importance of ongoing market research to understand local demands and broaden its global client base on its journey to becoming a leading IT firm.
For Nagatome, having a diverse team sets HENNGE apart from its competitors. “We can achieve our goal of becoming a world-class IT company by building a strong team of global talents to help us navigate new terrains and expand our overseas business operations.”
Are you ready to take that leap of faith and embark on a journey of continuous growth? Browse through our job openings at recruit.hennge.com/en/ and discover how becoming part of our team can empower you to create the impact you desire, both now and in the future.