FAQ

Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the IT infrastructure, cloud, AI, and business system implementation and support services provided by JBS USA.If you have a question that is not covered here or would like to discuss your specific needs, please feel free to contact us.

About Our Services

What IT services do you provide?

We provide comprehensive, one-stop IT services tailored to each client’s specific needs and challenges, including:

  • Microsoft 365 implementation and support
  • Cloud migration and management, primarily using Microsoft Azure
  • IT infrastructure implementation, including servers, networks, and Wi-Fi
  • Cybersecurity solutions, including endpoint protection, identity management, and Zero Trust
  • IT help desk, troubleshooting, and IT asset management
  • ERP implementation and support with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • System development, RPA, and generative AI solutions

Even if you are not sure where to start, we are here to help. We will assess your current IT environment and needs and recommend the best approach for your organization.

Yes, absolutely. Many of our clients come to us because they do not have dedicated in-house IT staff.
As an extension of your internal IT team, we provide comprehensive support covering everything from IT planning and implementation to ongoing operations and troubleshooting.
Whether you are looking to start small or undertake a large-scale system implementation, we offer flexible solutions tailored to your organization’s size, needs, and budget.

JBS USA has more than 30 years of experience supporting the North American operations of Japanese companies.
We have extensive experience across a wide range of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, distribution and retail, healthcare, and the public sector. We understand industry-specific requirements and compliance needs and can provide solutions tailored accordingly.
We can also provide recommendations that take into account U.S.-specific business requirements and practices, including fiscal, tax, and employment considerations.

Support for Japanese Companies and North American Operations

Can you provide support in both Japanese and English?

Yes. We provide bilingual support in both Japanese and English. This enables seamless communication with local staff in the U.S. as well as reporting and coordination with headquarters in Japan.
We can help address challenges such as communication gaps between U.S. offices and headquarters in Japan or difficulties understanding technical documentation in English.

We provide support throughout the United States, with extensive experience particularly in California, where our Torrance office is located. While most services can be provided remotely, on-site support by our engineers is also available depending on your needs.
As part of the JBS Group, whose parent company, Japan Business Systems, Inc. (JBS), is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market, we work closely with our headquarters in Japan and other group companies worldwide.

Our global support structure enables us to assist clients across time zones, including 24/7/365 support for Microsoft 365. By connecting Japan, the United States, and the rest of the world, we leverage the strength of the JBS Group to support our clients’ global operations.

Cloud Implementation and Migration

What is the process for migrating from on-premises systems to the cloud?

To minimize disruption to your business operations, we take a phased approach to cloud migration:

  1. Current Environment Assessment – Review existing systems and data volumes
  2. Migration Strategy and Cloud Service Selection – Determine the optimal migration approach and target cloud services
  3. Migration Planning and Scheduling – Develop a detailed migration plan and timeline
  4. Migration Testing – Test the migration in a validation environment
  5. Production Migration and Cutover – Migrate to the production environment and transition operations
  6. Ongoing Support and Optimization – Provide post-migration support and continuously optimize the environment

We can help you determine the best approach. We assess your current IT environment, business requirements, cost structure, operational resources, and security requirements to identify the advantages and disadvantages of each option and recommend the solution that best fits your organization.
We do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to cloud migration. Depending on your needs, we may recommend a hybrid environment or a phased migration strategy to provide the most practical and effective solution.

ERP and Business Process Optimization

What is ERP, and how does it work?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It integrates a company’s core business processes—including sales, purchasing, inventory, production, accounting, and human resources—into a single system with a shared database.
By consolidating information that was previously managed separately across departments using different software or Excel spreadsheets, ERP eliminates duplicate data entry and transcription errors while providing real-time visibility across the organization.
For example, when a sales order is entered, related inventory, cost, and accounting data can be updated automatically. This seamless flow of information across departments is one of the key benefits of ERP.

It may be worth considering ERP implementation if your organization is experiencing any of the following:

  • Data is scattered across Excel spreadsheets and separate systems, requiring the same information to be entered multiple times
  • Monthly closing, inventory management, or cost calculations take too long, making it difficult to access the information you need quickly
  • As your locations or workforce grow, information sharing between departments is becoming increasingly difficult
  • Many business processes depend heavily on the knowledge of specific individuals

ERP is more than just a system replacement. It is an investment in improving overall operational efficiency and enabling faster, more informed management decisions.

A useful question to consider is: “Can our current systems and processes support our future growth?” If you are unsure, JBS USA can help assess your current business processes and identify the key challenges before recommending the best approach.

Yes. We provide ERP implementation services primarily using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Our end-to-end support covers requirements definition, system design, implementation, and ongoing operations, with the goal of improving core business processes such as accounting, sales, purchasing, and inventory management while increasing visibility into management data.
For Japanese companies operating in the United States, we frequently integrate ERP systems with Power BI to build management dashboards that streamline reporting to headquarters in Japan.

When estimating the cost of an ERP implementation, it is important to consider the total cost of ownership (TCO), not just the initial implementation cost.

Typical costs include:

  • Initial implementation costs
  • Software licensing fees
  • Implementation and configuration services
  • Customization and additional development
  • Data migration
  • Employee education and training
  • Ongoing licensing fees
  • Maintenance and support
  • Future enhancements and modifications

Commonly overlooked costs include data migration, employee training, and the time required to review and redesign business processes.

Underestimating these areas can result in an ERP system that is technically implemented but not fully adopted by employees. JBS USA provides cost estimates that take into account both initial expenses and medium- to long-term TCO.

The timeline depends on the scope of your business processes and the level of customization required, but a typical implementation takes approximately 6 to 12 months.

The project is carried out in phases, including requirements definition, design, development and configuration, testing, go-live, and post-implementation adoption support. This phased approach helps minimize disruption to your business operations.

We also provide an estimated implementation cost during the requirements assessment phase.

There are two main approaches:

  • Fit-to-Standard: Business processes are aligned with the ERP system’s standard functionality. This approach generally helps reduce implementation time and cost while making future upgrades easier.
  • Customized Implementation: The ERP system is customized to fit existing business processes. While this makes it easier to retain current workflows, it generally requires more time, cost, and ongoing maintenance.

The key is determining which requirements can be addressed using standard functionality and which genuinely require customization.

JBS USA provides pre-implementation requirements consulting. Through interviews with both management and end users, we identify requirements that should be addressed during the initial implementation, those that can be handled in future phases, and those that may require add-on development. Based on this assessment, we recommend the most appropriate implementation strategy.

Yes. This is a common concern among our clients.

We assess your current systems, business processes, costs, and future growth plans to objectively determine whether implementing a new ERP system or improving and expanding your existing systems would be the better approach.

Yes. In addition to its standard functionality, Dynamics 365 can be combined with industry-specific solutions, add-ons, and customizations to address specialized business requirements.

For example:

  • Manufacturing: Production order management, Bill of Materials (BOM), Material Requirements Planning (MRP), cost management, and more
  • Distribution and Wholesale: Inventory and warehouse management, lot tracking and traceability, multi-location management, and more

We determine which requirements can be covered by standard functionality and which require additional solutions or customization. This allows us to avoid unnecessary development while creating a system that fits your business.

JBS USA will assess your specific business processes and recommend the most appropriate system configuration.

Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s suite of integrated business applications. It provides both ERP and CRM capabilities, allowing organizations to select and use the applications they need.

Key Dynamics 365 applications include:

  • ERP: Business Central, which integrates accounting, sales, inventory, purchasing, and other functions for small and mid-sized organizations; and Finance & Operations solutions for larger and more complex business environments
  • CRM: Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, and other customer-facing applications

One of the key strengths of Dynamics 365 is its native integration with Microsoft 365 applications such as Outlook, Excel, and Teams, as well as Azure, Power Platform, and AI capabilities such as Copilot.

This integration allows employees to work within familiar Microsoft tools and can make organization-wide adoption easier.

Yes. Dynamics 365 is designed with system integration in mind.

  • Native Microsoft 365 integration: Seamless integration with Outlook, Excel, and Teams
  • Automation and extensibility with Power Platform: Automate business processes with Power Automate and build custom applications with Power Apps
  • External integration through APIs and connectors: Connect with EDI platforms, banking systems, e-commerce platforms, existing sales and production management systems, and other applications through standard APIs and a wide range of connectors

JBS USA can also assess whether Dynamics 365 can integrate with your existing systems. Once we understand your current environment, we can recommend the most appropriate integration approach.

For most organizations, we recommend a cloud-based SaaS deployment. The cloud eliminates the need to manage your own servers, provides automatic access to the latest features and security updates, and enables access from virtually anywhere.

However, Business Central also offers an on-premises deployment option. If your industry-specific requirements or security policies require an on-premises or hybrid environment, JBS USA can evaluate your needs and recommend the most appropriate deployment model.

When selecting an ERP system, the key question is not simply which product is better, but which product is better suited to your business requirements and future growth plans.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Oracle NetSuite are both established cloud ERP solutions. We recommend comparing them from three key perspectives:

1. Company size and growth stage
Consider not only your current number of employees and locations, but also future business expansion and international growth. The required functionality and licensing model should be able to support both your current and future needs.

2. Industry and business requirements
Manufacturing, wholesale, professional services, and other industries have different operational requirements. It is important to determine how much can be handled with standard functionality and how any gaps can be addressed.

3. Integration with your existing technology environment
ERP systems do not operate in isolation. Integration with the systems and applications your employees use every day is an important consideration.

For organizations already using Microsoft 365, Teams, Excel, Power BI, and Power Platform, Business Central can provide a highly integrated environment for data sharing, reporting, workflow automation, and AI-enabled processes.

ERP selection should therefore consider not only features, but also operational requirements, scalability, and integration with other systems. JBS USA assesses your business requirements and existing technology environment to help you select, implement, and make effective use of the right ERP solution.

By connecting data stored in Dynamics 365 to Power BI, you can build dashboards that provide real-time visibility into the information needed for management decision-making.

A typical implementation process includes:

  1. Define the KPIs to be visualized, such as revenue, gross profit, inventory turnover, and cash flow
  2. Connect Dynamics 365 data to Power BI
  3. Design dashboards using charts and tables, with drill-down capabilities for detailed analysis
  4. Configure automatic data refreshes to keep information up to date

Once implemented, dashboards can be accessed not only from PCs but also from smartphones and Microsoft Teams, allowing management to review the latest business performance information from virtually anywhere.

JBS USA can support the entire process, beginning with identifying what information needs to be viewed, by whom, and in what format.

AI and Automation

How can Copilot (AI) be used with Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365?

Copilot uses AI to assist with everyday tasks and is available across a wide range of Microsoft products.

  • Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central: Helps streamline accounting and sales processes by assisting with data entry, reporting, product description generation, and other tasks
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot: Allows users to give natural-language instructions to draft emails in Outlook, create documents in Word, summarize Teams meetings, analyze data in Excel, and more
  • Copilot in Power BI: Helps users create reports and gain insights using natural-language prompts, such as “Show me last month’s sales by region.”

Because the data stored in your ERP system can be integrated with the Microsoft tools your employees use every day, Copilot can help improve efficiency across a wide range of business processes.

JBS USA can also provide demonstrations tailored to your specific workflows and business needs.

Yes. We offer a range of document automation solutions using OCR and AI, including Microsoft Copilot, and can recommend the most appropriate solution based on your document types and processing volume.

By integrating these solutions with Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can automate the entire workflow—from receiving documents and extracting data to processing the information in your accounting system. This can help reduce data entry errors and significantly improve the productivity of your accounting operations.

Security and Risk Management

What types of cybersecurity solutions do you provide?

We provide a multi-layered approach to security designed to protect your entire IT environment.

  • Endpoint protection, including Microsoft Defender
  • Identity and access management with Microsoft Entra ID, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and Conditional Access
  • Email and web filtering
  • Zero Trust architecture design and implementation
  • 24/7/365 security log monitoring
  • Vulnerability assessments
  • Security awareness training and phishing simulations

We recommend the most appropriate security architecture based on your industry, organization size, IT environment, and risk tolerance.

Yes. We provide backup solutions for both cloud and on-premises environments to help ensure business continuity in the event of system failures, disasters, or other disruptions.

We design the most appropriate solution based on your specific requirements, including how quickly your systems need to be restored and how much data needs to be protected.

We can also assist with the development of Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies.

Support and Operations

What are your standard support hours?

Our standard support hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays.

We also offer optional plans for customers who require 24/7/365 support or support on weekends and holidays. Response times and the scope of support can be customized to meet your specific requirements.

Yes. When necessary, our engineers can visit your location to provide on-site assistance, including system maintenance, configuration, coordination, and troubleshooting.

Yes. We can take over the operation and maintenance of systems implemented by other providers.

During the transition period, we review and organize the necessary documentation and operational procedures to ensure a smooth handover and seamless transition.

JBS Group’s Microsoft Expertise

Why should we choose JBS Group for Microsoft expertise?

As a member of the JBS Group, JBS USA works closely with specialized teams at our headquarters in Japan and other JBS Group companies.

JBS headquarters is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with extensive expertise and technical capabilities across Microsoft technologies. Through this global network, JBS USA brings the strength and expertise of the entire JBS Group to customers in the United States.

By combining our local project delivery and operational support capabilities in the U.S. with the technical expertise and resources of the JBS Group, we provide practical, results-driven solutions tailored to each client’s unique business challenges.

JBS USA provides consulting, design, implementation, migration, system integration, and managed services across a wide range of Microsoft technologies, including Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Power BI for data analytics, and security solutions.

We provide end-to-end support tailored to each client’s environment and business needs, from initial planning and implementation through ongoing operations and continuous improvement.

Consultation and Inquiry Process

What is the process from initial inquiry to contract?

The process generally follows these steps:

  1. Inquiry / Initial Consultation – Contact us through our inquiry form or by email
  2. Discovery and Current-State Assessment – We discuss your needs, challenges, and current environment
  3. Proposal and Estimate – We present our recommended approach and cost estimate
  4. Contract and Project Kickoff
  5. Project Launch

From the initial inquiry to our first proposal, the process typically takes approximately two weeks.

Feel Free to Contact Us

If you have questions that are not covered here or would like to discuss challenges specific to your organization, our experienced specialists are ready to help.

Even if you are not sure where to start, please feel free to reach out. Drawing on approximately 30 years of experience supporting the North American operations of Japanese companies, we will assess your needs objectively and recommend the most appropriate approach.

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