What ZEAD does

ZEAD CO., LTD. (株式会社ジード) is a privately held Japanese cloud and server management firm headquartered in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, with five additional branch offices across Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Originally founded in 2001 as Netfrontier and reorganized into ZEAD in 2006, the company has positioned itself as a specialist in multi-cloud operations outsourcing for mid-market and enterprise customers lacking in-house 24/7 server engineering staff.

The company's core offering is a tiered cloud management service covering monitoring, maintenance, and full operations across Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud, delivered through Zabbix and native cloud monitoring tools such as AWS CloudWatch and Azure Monitor. Pricing is structured as recurring monthly subscriptions — ¥11,000/month for monitoring-only, ¥27,500+/month for monitoring plus maintenance, and ¥38,500+/month for full outsourced operations — supplemented by initial setup fees. Beyond managed services, ZEAD sells proprietary SaaS products including Beerfroth (a marketing automation, CRM, and SFA platform with AI-driven customer analysis) and Sumapo (a smartphone app for model house visitor management), and runs a partner program that lets system development firms refer clients needing cloud operations support. Hosting products (managed hosting, dedicated servers, shared servers, colocation) and security services (vulnerability diagnosis, penetration testing) round out the portfolio.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through recurring subscription and managed-services contracts, distributed via direct enterprise sales, a content-marketing funnel (technical columns, downloadable white papers, online consultations), and channel referrals from development firms. The customer base is described as Japanese mid-market and enterprise companies needing professional cloud infrastructure oversight, together with SMB customers for lower-tier hosting. The firm holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for information security management, a Privacy Mark under JIS Q 15001:2006, and a General Type II Telecommunications Operator license, and is staffed by Microsoft MVP award winners. Registered capital stands at ¥15 million and the firm discloses only 1–10 employees.

Name

ZEAD

Legal name

株式会社ジード [英記 ZEAD CO.,LTD.]

Website

https://zead.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ZEAD is a privately held Japanese cloud and server management company providing 24/7 multi-cloud monitoring, maintenance, and operations outsourcing for Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud, alongside managed hosting, security services, and proprietary SaaS products, serving Japanese mid-market and enterprise customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Managed Cloud Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Cloud Compliance, Audit & Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM/GRC) (HDABAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Network Performance, Visibility & SLA Monitoring (Managed NPM/Observability) (HDAIAFAI), Cloud FinOps & SaaS Spend Management (BPAEAOAH)

Keywords

• Managed cloud services
• Multi-cloud monitoring
• Managed web hosting
• Cloud security services
• Server infrastructure management

Headquarters

HQ city

Utsunomiya

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Cloud Management and Operations Services: Recurring monthly fees for monitoring, maintenance, and operations services. Pricing tiers based on service combinations: monitoring only (¥11,000/month), monitoring + maintenance (¥27,500+/month), and full management (¥38,500+/month). Initial setup fees also apply.
2. SaaS Products (Beerfroth, Sumapo): Original cloud service products providing MA/CRM/SFA functionality and model house visit management.
3. Hosting Services: Managed hosting, dedicated servers, colocation, and shared server services with various pricing tiers based on server specifications and service level.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ZEAD provides outsourced cloud infrastructure management covering 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and operations for Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud environments. The offering is layered as monitoring-only, monitoring plus maintenance, or full management (monitoring + maintenance + operations) subscription bundles, complemented by managed hosting, dedicated servers, shared servers, colocation, security services (vulnerability diagnosis, penetration testing), and cloud design/construction services. Proprietary SaaS products include Beerfroth (AI-powered MA/CRM/SFA) and Sumapo (housing exhibition visitor management app).

Product overview

ZEAD是一家云·服务器专业公司，运营由托管主机服务、专用服务器、服务器托管、共享服务器组成的综合托管服务体系，以及自有SaaS产品Beerfroth（MA/CRM/SFA云服务）、住まポ（房产展示场App）组成的产品组合。公司同时提供面向AWS、Azure、Google Cloud三大公共云平台的监控·维护·运营代理服务，以及安全服务（脆弱性诊断、渗透测试）。

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Beerfroth（ビアフロス）: MA（マーケティングオートメーション）・CRM（顧客管理）・SFA（営業支援）クラウドサービス。インサイドセールスをはじめとするデジタルマーケティングを実現するWEBサイトを売上に直結させるサービス。
• 住まポ（スマポ）
• Pococa!（ポコカ）

Products and services

• Cloud Monitoring, Maintenance, and Operations Service (クラウド運用代行) Outsourced 24/7 monitoring, maintenance, and operations service covering Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud environments, including failure detection, resource monitoring (CPU, memory, disk), log monitoring, job/process/service monitoring, database response monitoring, troubleshooting, OS/middleware updates, vulnerability measures, software updates, configuration changes, and scale adjustments. Tiered into Monitoring Only (¥11,000/month), Monitoring + Maintenance (¥27,500+/month), and Full Management (¥38,500+/month) packages, plus initial setup fees. Targeted at mid-market and enterprise companies lacking dedicated in-house server administration staff.
• Cloud Design and Construction Service (クラウド導入・設計構築) Design and construction service for cloud environments, including cloud service selection, architecture design, monitoring system configuration, application development, website construction, and consulting. Provides project-based engagements for adopting or expanding Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud deployments. Targeted at organizations planning new cloud initiatives or migrations.
• Security Services (セキュリティサービス) Three-pronged security offering covering comprehensive server security countermeasures (antivirus, web reputation, intrusion prevention, UTM via FortiGate), web application vulnerability diagnosis, and penetration testing against internet-facing systems. Targeted at companies operating web-facing cloud or hosted infrastructure that need to validate and harden their security posture.
• Managed Hosting Service (マネージドホスティング / 託管主機) Fully outsourced managed hosting service with professional staff handling server setup, operations, daily backups, bandwidth-guaranteed connections. Available in Entry (Xeon 2-core, 2GB RAM, 500GB RAID1), Standard (Xeon 4-core, 4GB RAM, 1TB RAID1), and Professional (custom) specifications, plus Silver and Gold support plans (Silver for configuration changes; Gold adds file monitoring and log management). Targeted at businesses wanting end-to-end managed server infrastructure without in-house operations staff.
• Dedicated Server Service (専用サーバー) Customer-dedicated server hosting supporting Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Windows Server, and other operating systems, with server monitoring, fault response, and FortiGate UTM security. Targeted at customers needing exclusive server resources with managed security.
• Shared Server Service (シェアードサーバー) Multi-tenant shared web hosting with one physical server serving multiple customers, available in Entry (10GB disk, 50 emails), Basic (20GB disk, 100 emails), and Business (30GB disk, 300 emails) plans, bundled with email service, MySQL database, virus checking, spam filtering, and UTM security. Targeted at SMBs and small businesses needing an affordable web and email presence.
• Colocation Service (コロケーション) Data center rack space rental starting from 1U units, allowing customers to place their own servers and network equipment in ZEAD's data center facilities. Targeted at customers with their own hardware who require secure data center housing.
• Beerfroth (ビアフロス) - AI-powered MA/CRM/SFA Cloud Service Integrated MA (Marketing Automation), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and SFA (Sales Force Automation) cloud service that combines real-world sales activities with website-based digital sales activities, using AI to analyze accumulated customer information and extract target customers. Targeted at sales and marketing teams seeking to digitize and integrate inside sales and field sales operations.
• Sumapo (すまぽ) - Housing Exhibition Visitor Management App Smartphone app for managing visitors to model house housing exhibitions, providing QR-code-based simple reception, generic survey forms, and push notifications to streamline visitor entry at model houses and increase exhibition foot traffic. Targeted at housing developers and real estate operators running model home exhibitions.
• Pococa! (ポコカ) - Success-based Advertising Platform Success-based (performance-based) advertising platform that charges fees only upon successful outcomes. Patented in Japan in 2011 (Pococa! patent) and awarded the Invention Encouragement Award in 2014. Targeted at advertisers and agencies seeking performance-based pricing for online advertising.

Quantifiable outcome

• 24/7 monitoring capability without internal staff investment
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Fullbiz Co., Ltd. (株式会社フルビズ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFullbiz provides the 住まポ (Sumapo) service - a smartphone app for model house visitor management. ZEAD offers this service as part of its product portfolio for housing exhibition sites. The partnership enables ZEAD to provide specialized solutions for real estate and housing industry customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• NTT Data Group: Major Japanese IT services and systems integrator providing cloud migration, managed operations, and infrastructure services to large enterprises, competing for the same enterprise cloud management contracts as ZEAD.
• SCSK Corporation: Large Japanese IT services company providing cloud infrastructure design, managed operations, and system development — overlapping with ZEAD's core cloud management and systems development offerings at larger scale.
• BIPROGY (formerly Nihon Unisys): Japanese IT services firm offering cloud infrastructure, managed services, and systems integration for enterprises — adjacent competitive set for ZEAD's mid-market and enterprise cloud engagements.
• KDDI Cloud Solutions: Telecom incumbent operating a broad portfolio of cloud, managed hosting, and network services across Japan, directly competing with ZEAD for enterprise customers while offering a much wider solution portfolio.
• Rackspace Technology: Global multi-cloud managed services provider across AWS, Azure, and GCP — comparable service portfolio to ZEAD but operating at much larger scale and primarily outside Japan, useful as a competitive reference point.
• NTT Communications (NTT Com): Large Japanese telecom and cloud provider offering enterprise managed cloud services and data center hosting, overlapping with ZEAD's hosting and operations services as part of a much broader portfolio.

Direct peers

• SAKURA Internet: Major Japanese hosting and cloud provider offering managed hosting, dedicated servers, and cloud services directly overlapping ZEAD's hosting and cloud infrastructure management offerings.
• Internet Initiative Japan (IIJ): Large Japanese internet and cloud services provider with managed cloud, network monitoring, and 24/7 operations offerings comparable in scope to ZEAD's multi-cloud managed services.
• Fusic Co., Ltd. Japanese cloud MSP specializing in AWS and GCP consulting, infrastructure design, and managed operations — comparable size and target market to ZEAD's mid-market cloud management services.
• Serverworks (now part of Sakura internet group): Japanese AWS-focused managed services provider offering cloud infrastructure design, operations, and 24/7 monitoring — the closest direct competitor to ZEAD's AWS/Azure/GCP managed operations business in the Japan mid-market.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zead_jp
• Facebookfacebook.com/zead.jp
• Instagraminstagram.com/zead.ceo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zead

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZEAD