The reason why we challenge developing the world’s first Cloud Design Platform. CEO/Founder, Shintaro Hara
Three turning points and my passion put in reindeer project.
Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Shintaro Hara, and I am CEO of REINDEER TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD.
I am extremely excited to be here today to introduce reindeer project to all of you. The project is alive with the passion and commitment of each of its members. For my part, I have incorporated the deeply-held ideas I maintained for my 10+ career as an IT engineer. I am truly moved to be seeing that come to fruition at last.
I would like to take a bit of your time today to discuss the background and thought process that led to the creation of this project.
After graduating from university, I went on to straightaway become a salesperson for a chemical manufacturer. However, I was disheartened and surprised to find that the world of business was exceedingly analog and inefficient. However, the frequent business trips I had abroad afforded me opportunities to dream big from the cabin of airplanes and overseas hotels.
So I began thinking that I wanted to one day use digital technology to bring my ideas to the world and change it for the better.
That was my true calling as an engineer.
However, I only learned that reality and dreams are two different things after changing jobs and working my way up the ladder as an engineer, proposing solutions to various clients. As my skills developed, I thought that I had the skillset (software development) I needed to change the world at a stroke. I did not realize that system creation relies on two spokes — not just software, but IT infrastructure.
My clients at the time had very complex and costly IT infrastructures in place, and the only way to sell them a product was to expend considerable time and expenses to develop tools tailored to their black box workflows.
I was quite disappointed at the way this “inner sanctum” remained to closed off by such steep hurdles.
The first turning point:
However, things would soon change after partnering with a company offering a certain IT infrastructure service. I often refer to this as the “harbinger of the democratization of system solutions that was to come.” What it implied was that their dedicated hosting services met clients’ demands for quality. This change led to the barriers to pitching system solutions to clients — such as considerations for their existing infrastructure and systems, et cetera — being broken down. We could now pitch them products in an infrastructure-agnostic fashion.
I found my pitches leading to sales, and I became a devout believer in these new hosting providers.
As I began to take on more accounts, however, a new issue emerged. Hosting services had costly equipment that would run idle, but by employing a monthly fee system against the depreciation cost, they made it financially feasible. To make this all come together, they required annual contracts. When a client’s service would suddenly be sunsetted, they would still have to pay for the remaining cost on their contract.
In addition to taking on outsourced development projects, I, too, was the operator of my own services, so I faced the same issue.
I was no stranger to how serious this issue was to clients.
The second turning point:
It was at this time that the IT infrastructure service we had dreamed — cloud computing — came into being. It represented a true democratization to system solutions. Being able to contract for server use on an hourly basis instantly resolved these issues for me, and the quality offered met clients’ demands. No matter how complex the system prototype or advance testing needed, no matter how large-scale the load testing, it could all be done with mere pocket money. And after making a success with the client’s large project in 2012, almost all of my proposal has been shifted to cloud computing utilization in no time.
During Japan’s IT bubble, we had many new employees who wanted to spin up online services, such as selling the alcohol their parents brewed online. In those early days, all we could offer them was a space to learn and develop the skills they needed to withstand the complex barriers that loomed both within and without the company.
But cloud computing let us boldly say this: Build it as you want!
“If you build it, he will come.” (Field of Dreams, 1989)
Seeing the emergence of cloud computing made me realize its importance. I did not want to put it to waste, and knew we needed a democratic, global system that would allow for proper use of IT infrastructure.
If the cloud were under threat of instability and fell out of favor, the IT infrastructure would once again fall into the lockboxes of a privileged few and be shackled with restrictions. We would be back to the past.
The third turning point:
In 2017, I met with Ikeda, one of the co-founders. I was fascinated by the way he insisted on the endless possibilities that blockchain technology would achieve. However, most blockchain projects emphasize that they will try to replace cloud computing technology outright by creating a new IT infrastructure (an environment in which to launch software). That did not interest me.
Instead, my expectation is that the blockchain will coexist with cloud technology and drive its further use.
Until that time, I had been engaged in developing certain tools that assisted me in my work — namely, ones for aiding in cloud computing design and creation of estimates. However, these tools were not enough for complex projects, so I relied on seeking advice from various experts to design cloud architectures. Therefore, I believe that the way blockchain technologies offer a platform for the open exchange of information would let us create a vast, systematic, and scalable approach — it was quite a natural evolution. If we could make use of a platform accessible to all for free, the world of IT infrastructure would, like the world of open source software, enjoy a new culture of open-minded collaborators working closely together for their mutual growth.
This would be a true democratization of IT infrastructure.
reindeer is now finally coming into being through the help of Ikeda, whom I introduced above, Nakamizu, another co-founder who is in charge of project management, Tsuruda, our designer, Nakano, our legal advisor who is working with various government ministries and agencies, and many others.
If you take a look at the web site and whitepaper below, we are confident you will agree with our vision of the future reindeer can achieve.
These are by no means stale documents, but ones in which I have incorporated my passion and commitment to the fullest.
It is our hope that we can enable young people the world over who dream of changing society with a single idea to make that vision a reality without suppression by unclear vested interests and create a better future.
We want to help you create a world unfettered from the constraints of lack of transparency and contractual impediments that make the traditional IT infrastructure so difficult.
Thank you for reading through to the end!
If you are interested in reindeer, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
Please ask any questions about the project at Telegram messenger!!
