What STEP does

STEP Co., Ltd. (株式会社ステップ) is a Sendai-headquartered Japanese IT services company founded in 1991 by Suzuki Shigeru, providing system design, development, operation, and maintenance services for mission-critical infrastructure. The company's customer base spans defense, aviation control, healthcare, central and local government, electric power, telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, and logistics — a sector mix weighted toward regulated, high-availability verticals where vendor certification and domain track record are decisive. As of April 2026, STEP employs 215 people across offices in Sendai (headquarters and Development Center), Tokyo, and Osaka, with registered capital of ¥13 million and ISO 27001 and Privacy Mark certifications.

Core technology offerings are focused on embedded and large-scale business systems for mission-critical deployments, supplemented by cloud migration consulting and legacy system modernization introduced as adjacent service lines. The Sendai IT Training Center (established 2003) and the Development Center (opened April 2022) serve as engineering capacity hubs. Business operations are not product-platform based but project-based: STEP delivers custom system integration under multi-year development and maintenance contracts with government agencies and large enterprises, with revenue mechanics tied to project milestones plus recurring maintenance and operation engagements. The company's track record includes payment of a special year-end bonus in 29 of its 35 years, signaling consistent profitability and retention-based compensation.

Effective June 1, 2026, STEP was acquired by SHIFT Inc., becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the software quality assurance group. The strategic intent is to bring STEP's mission-critical SI capabilities — particularly in defense, aviation, and healthcare — into SHIFT's broader quality assurance and testing ecosystem, while extending SHIFT's methodology and tooling into STEP's installed base.

Name

STEP

Legal name

株式会社ステップ (STEP Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://stepltd.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

STEP Co., Ltd. is a Sendai-headquartered Japanese IT services company providing system design, development, operation, and maintenance for mission-critical infrastructure across defense, aviation control, healthcare, government, and major enterprise verticals, with 215 employees and offices in Sendai, Tokyo, and Osaka. Acquired by SHIFT Inc. effective June 1, 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom IT System Development and Integration Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Computer Training (611420)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

ITSM Tooling Integration, Automation & Orchestration (BPAEAJAD)

Keywords

• Custom software development
• IT system integration
• System maintenance services
• Cloud migration consulting
• IT infrastructure construction

Headquarters

HQ city

Sendai

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. System Development: Custom software development services including air traffic control systems, defense systems, hospital nutrition management systems, logistics/EC systems, web/app development, and legacy system cloud migration consulting.
2. Maintenance Services: System maintenance including daily operations, monitoring, backup, and minor specification changes for customer systems.
3. Education Services: IT technical training for system engineers and general office workers, including the Sendai IT Training Center operations.
4. Infrastructure Construction: Computer and network equipment proposal, procurement, installation, cabling, software deployment, and infrastructure setup services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

STEP provides custom IT system development and integration across mission-critical domains including air traffic control, defense/satellite control, hospital nutrition meal management, electric power grid monitoring, telecommunications, finance, government, logistics/EC, and manufacturing. Complementing development, the company delivers post-launch system maintenance (daily operations, monitoring, backup), IT technical training through the Miyagi Prefecture-certified Sendai IT Training Center, and IT infrastructure construction (procurement, installation, wiring, software deployment) as an end-to-end IT services partner for Japanese public and private-sector clients.

Product overview

STEP (株式会社ステップ) is an IT solutions provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of system development, maintenance services, education services, and infrastructure construction. The company's core offerings span multiple industry verticals including air traffic control systems, defense systems, medical systems (particularly hospital nutrition meal management), electric power systems, communications, finance, government/municipal, logistics/EC, manufacturing, and construction. Their product portfolio includes specialized systems like aviation control systems, hospital nutrition management systems, and defense/space-related systems, supported by maintenance services for system stability, education services through the Sendai IT Training Center, and infrastructure construction services. The company also offers package products such as baseball performance management systems and parishoner management systems. STEP joined the SHIFT group in June 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• System Development (システム開発)

Quantifiable outcome

• 35 years of continuous operation with stable business performance
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SHIFT Corporation (株式会社SHIFT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026As of June 1, 2026 (Reiwa 8), STEP joined the SHIFT Group. SHIFT is a quality assurance-focused IT services company headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The partnership aims to integrate SHIFT's advanced quality assurance expertise into STEP's development processes to deliver more reliable systems and services. President: Tange Dai.
• Seventy-Seventh Bank (七十七銀行)minorOthersPrimary banking partner for financial transactions and business operations.
• Sendai Bank (仙台銀行)minorOthersRegional banking partner for financial transactions.
• Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (三菱UFJ銀行)minorOthersMajor city banking partner for financial transactions.
• Mynavi (マイナビ)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPrimary recruitment platform partner for new graduate hiring. STEP advertises recruitment information through Mynavi job platform.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NS Solutions Corporation: Mid-sized Japanese systems integrator serving industrial, financial, and public-sector clients with custom software development and IT services. Closely comparable to STEP in size, customer verticals (manufacturing, finance, government), and mix of bespoke application development plus managed services.
• Transcosmos Inc. Japanese IT services and business process outsourcing company with system development, contact center, and digital marketing services. Comparable to STEP for domestic-Japan focus and horizontal multi-vertical IT services delivery to enterprise and government clients.
• Otsuka Corporation: Long-established Japanese IT services and solutions company offering system development, infrastructure construction, and managed support primarily to mid-sized enterprises and public institutions. Comparable to STEP for its bundled development-plus-infrastructure-plus-support model and broad vertical exposure.
• BIPROGY Inc. Japanese IT services firm (formerly UNISYS Japan) delivering custom system development, mission-critical operations, and IT outsourcing across financial services, government, and distribution. Highly comparable to STEP in customer mix, mission-critical delivery, and multi-vertical systems integration.
• Future Corporation: Japanese IT consulting and systems integrator serving financial services, logistics, manufacturing, and public sector with bespoke development and IT strategy advisory. Comparable to STEP in the mix of consulting-led, custom-built mission-critical systems for regulated industries.
• SCSK Corporation: Major Japanese SI (Sumitomo group) providing custom system development, IT infrastructure, and managed services across financial, industrial, and public-sector clients. Comparable to STEP's end-to-end development-plus-maintenance-plus-infrastructure offering and broad industry portfolio.

Others

• SHIFT Inc. Acquiring parent of STEP since June 1, 2026; a Japanese publicly listed software quality assurance and testing specialist. Adjacent rather than directly competing — SHIFT provides QA services that complement STEP's development capabilities, and the post-acquisition integration is the direct relevance.

Broad incumbents

• NTT Data Group: Japan's largest systems integrator with a global delivery network serving central government, defense, financial services, and telecoms. Comparable to STEP in mission-critical public-sector IT delivery, but at meaningfully greater scale and brand recognition.
• Nomura Research Institute (NRI): One of Japan's largest consulting and IT services firms serving financial services, public sector, and industrial clients with deep systems integration capability. Comparable to STEP in mission-critical systems work, but operates at vastly larger scale with global delivery footprint.
• Fujitsu Limited: Global Japanese-headquartered IT services and infrastructure provider with extensive public-sector, defense, and financial-services system integration practices. Comparable to STEP in mission-critical systems focus, but at dramatically larger scale and product breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 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 STEP