Not many senior-level foreign delegations at Cybertech this year - but I did have the privilege of speaking with veteran Japanese distributors and integrators of Israeli cyber technologies. Two of them spoke with TV10 - Naoki Kaneda of Terilogy Holdings Corporation, and Asaf Green, of NTT Israel.
Terilogy is based in Tokyo with 400 employees. Kaneda told me that Japanese companies have been buying Israeli technology for about 10 to 15 years. These customers are aware that Israeli cybersecurity vendors provide “really cutting-edge solutions,” and ignore geopolitical noise around Israel, prioritizing the quality of the cyber solutions that they procure.
Terilogy distributes Israeli technology, working with integrators like Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) - one of Japan’s largest companies, with 350,000 employees. NTT has a 10-person office in Israel, and its Business Development Director, Asaf Green, spoke to me about what vendors are expected to do to sell into Japan.
Green says that translation into Japanese and localization are inevitable - and that this is still a barrier for many vendors. Both Green and Terilogy’s Kaneda mentioned that the Israeli and Japanese business cultures are as far apart on the culture map as can be - Kaneda noted that Israeli entrepreneurs would do well to “be patient,” and understand the Japanese way.
Terilogy has a strong portfolio of Israeli and American cybersecurity vendors that it brings into the Japanese market, as a major distributor. The company brought at least 5 people to CyberTech to scout for new technologies. Meanwhile, NTT makes direct investments in Israeli companies off its balance sheet - they’ve invested in about 15 Israeli companies to date.
Green noted, “We are hoping that now we will see more foreign delegations coming into Israel - and not only Japanese ones, global.”
