Not every company in Japan has had a bad time of it lately. NTT Data, a software and systems integration subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications giant NTT, suddenly went from a minor player in the international software business to the 9th largest software company in the world in barely a year and a half on a wave of daring- and possibly far-sighted- international acquisitions. What’s the company’s story, and what are they doing right that other companies in the Japanese software business should seek to emulate?

The company’s run started late last year with their acquisition of US-based enterprise systems developer and integrator Keane Systems, a company a third the size of NTT Data with a global network of offices and customers. This big move was followed in March 2011, when the company purchased another US-based enterprise, Intelligroup, a software consulting and services group that utilizes a large base of outsourced workers in India. Between these and several smaller acquisitions, the company suddenly leapt to global status in the software industry, posting (US$11 billion) in revenues for FY2011- a startling success for a Japanese enterprise in one of the country’s worst years on record.

These international acquisitions send several messages to Japanese software (and other technology) firms. First and foremost is that Japan’s economic contraction can only be remedied through offshore acquisitions- and with the current strength of the Yen and general weakness of other global currencies, Japan is perfectly positioned for a wave of overseas expansion. While it’s unlikely that this year’s shocks will lead to a re-appraisal of Japan’s xenophobic immigration policies, more companies and business leaders are waking up to the fact that Japan’s continued success will depend on building a large base of income-generating overseas investments- in other words, if Japan won’t bring workers to Japan, they’ll need to hire and employ them offshore and repatriate their profits to the home islands. In this, the smartest bets are on assets in countries with young populations, weak currencies and strong future outlooks- India, Brazil and the US being prime candidates.

Second, NTT Data was ahead of the curve on another factor – resiliency. Having redundant capacities in many different countries can keep your business functioning and profitable even when catastrophe strikes your main offices or production centers. As was seen with Japan’s automotive industry, ultra-streamlined “just in time” manufacturing is great until disaster strikes- then, all your operations can find themselves grinding to a halt at the same time. By having similar capacities distributed through many other countries and markets, a company can remain perpetually ready to take advantage of market shifts, offset localized recessions, and resist natural disasters and other calamities.

One of the most important ways that Japanese companies can both internationalize their enterprises and make them more resilient is by embracing cloud services, as well as purchasing foreign cloud service providers. While the last half a year has seen a surge of interest in foreign cloud application companies and data centers by Japanese firms, it remains to see if this is a permanent trend- but it is a hopeful one, both for the software industry and Japanese industry in general.