Daily Post August 19 2025

Duplicated Chat Services in Japan

In Japan, many organizations from global corporations to small and medium enterprises have fully embraced digital chat and conferencing platforms to keep employees connected. Yet a troubling trend has taken root here, and that is the duplication of communication services. A company might subscribe to Microsoft 365 for Teams, deploy LINE WORKS for group chats, and use Zoom for video conferencing, all simultaneously. What may look like flexibility on the surface really translates into spiraling costs, unnecessary complexity, and compromised data security.

This phenomenon is not just about inefficiency, but a deeper cultural reliance on convenience and familiarity rather than accountability and ownership. When looking at the financial waste, the vulnerabilities of proprietary Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and the potential of open source alternatives such as Matrix or Jitsi, it becomes clear that Japanese businesses really shoul rethink their communication strategies.

The Financial Waste of Duplicated Systems

At first glance, subscribing to multiple communication tools may appear to be an investment in productivity. Teams has tight integration with other Microsoft 365 tools, LINE WORKS reflects domestic habits by mirroring the LINE messaging app familiar to Japanese society, and Zoom has become synonymous with online meetings. Each service, however, comes with its own recurring subscription fees, usage policies, licenses, and administrative overhead.

For large firms, these costs accumulate into large expenditures. Consider a multinational company with thousands of employees in Japan. They purchase Microsoft 365 enterprise licenses, granting access to Teams. Yet certain departments resist Teams due to habits or the learning curve and push management to adopt LINE WORKS, arguing that it “feels more natural” for staff engagement. Soon after, executives insist that official client-facing meetings should remain on Zoom, claiming brand perception and ease of use. The result is three separate services being paid for, each overlapping in its core functionalities.

This is not a matter of choice dictated by productivity needs, but largely repetition of tools that already exist within the enterprise ecosystem. A single decision to streamline would not only reduce redundant fees but also cut down operational confusion. Yet inertia, employee preference, and the pursuit of simplicity for the short term lead companies to bleed money unnecessarily. In many cases, the annual waste can run into millions of yen. That financial leakage could otherwise be reinvested into innovation, local talent development, or customer-centric improvements.

The Security Illusion of SaaS-Based Communication

Proprietary SaaS communication tools such as Teams, LINE WORKS, and Zoom come with glossy marketing promises of enterprise-grade security. Encryption, compliance measures, and elaborate privacy statements are sold as assurances to users. However, true ownership and accountability are weak when the service provider retains ultimate control. Data housed on foreign servers or controlled by third-party providers is never truly in the hands of the company generating it.

In practice, this means that sensitive discussions, customer records, and strategic documents exchanged through these platforms are technically accessible by employees of the service provider, or by government requests issued in the jurisdictions where the servers operate. Even premium subscriptions with supposed “enhanced privacy” do not eliminate this fundamental concern. The organization renting the service remains at the mercy of corporate policies and external entities beyond their control.

The reliance on external SaaS solutions creates vulnerabilities. Service outages at a global level, sudden changes in pricing models, policy updates, or even data shocks such as breaches expose companies without recourse. Japanese companies, while prizing efficiency and stability, seem to overlook this issue in favor of convenience. But the actual situation is scary at best: internal data that should be sovereign to the firm is effectively outsourced to another company’s infrastructure.

Open Source is a way to Data Ownership

Then we have open source platforms like Matrix for messaging and Jitsi for video conferencing present an alternative. Where as proprietary SaaS systems, these tools give organizations the ability to host their communication infrastructure on their own servers whether in on-premise data centers or in trusted domestic cloud environments. This shift fundamentally alters the dynamic of ownership. The company decides where the data lives, who can access it, and under what conditions.

Adoption of open source tools reduces reliance on third-party corporations with opaque policies. With Matrix, for instance, encrypted communication is decentralized and avoids lock-in. Jitsi provides secure and customizable conferencing without the licensing burden of Zoom. Together, they eliminate redundant costs while also providing accountability. Any alterations to policies, security updates, or feature decisions can be controlled internally or addressed directly within the transparent, community-driven open source ecosystem.

This does not mean open source tools are free from costs. Hosting infrastructure, system maintenance, and skilled IT oversight do incur expenses. Yet these costs feed directly into the organization’s own resilience and expertise. Instead of paying perpetual subscription fees to maintain access to somebody else’s servers, Japanese companies would be investing in their own long-term digital independence.

Accountability and Cultural Resistance

Why then do so many Japanese firms cling to duplicated proprietary chat systems? Cultural tendencies within corporate Japan shed some light. The business environment heavily favors familiarity, trust in established convenience, and risk aversion. If employees are comfortable with LINE because it echoes personal social use, managers approve it even at the expense of redundancy. Similarly, executives often encourage Zoom because of the reputation it carries abroad, regardless of existing overlap with Teams.

But such decisions reflect a troubling lack of accountability. Instead of making difficult decisions that align with strategic cost reduction and data protection, leadership bends to convenience, prioritizing short-term harmony over long-term security. Employees may enjoy their preferences and executives their image, but the organization as a whole suffers from financial waste and exposure of its most valuable internal knowledge.

The accountability problem can only be resolved when leadership acknowledges communication infrastructure as a strategic digital asset, not just a utility. Transparency, cost monitoring, consolidated platforms, and deliberate open source adoption will signal a shift toward maturity. Without these measures, Japanese companies risk falling behind global peers who increasingly recognize the strategic value of independence.

The Real Value of Ownership

Ownership in digital communications means more than cost savings. It makes sure that sensitive customer data never leaves the sovereign realm of the company itself. It means that employees can collaborate securely without the presence of uninvited third parties. It equips organizations with resilience against outages, corporate buyouts, or pricing manipulations by foreign vendors.

Accountability leads to confidence. Customers trust their data and interactions to firms that handle communications with responsibility. Data privacy scandals make global headlines daily, demonstrating genuine control over communication channels becomes a clear differentiator. Japanese businesses aiming to earn customers’ loyalty cannot afford to appear careless about something as fundamental as safeguarding conversations.

With open source solutions, firms are investing in technology but also sending a message, that they are committed to stewardship of data, to internal ownership, and to authentic accountability. This cultural shift is important for a society that strives for excellence and reliability in manufacturing, hospitality, and service.

Last Thought

The use of duplicated chat services in Japanese companies is a symptom of convenience-driven choices and resistance to change. While businesses run to subscribe to Microsoft Teams, LINE WORKS, and Zoom simultaneously, they fail to question the effectiveness of funding multiple overlapping systems. This waste, coupled with the inherent insecurities of SaaS-based solutions, undermines both financial health and data sovereignty.

Open source tools like Matrix and Jitsi are a clear way forward, grounded in ownership, accountability, and resilience. The cost of deployment and maintenance is not a burden but an investment in independence.