JPComCenter, Inc. of Stamford, CT and Octet Corporation of New York, NY today announced the formation of Octet Japan. This new venture provides a variety of innovative financial software applications, tools, and support services exclusively to the Japanese market, both in Japan and the United States. Unlike most software companies, Octet Japan guarantees clients on-time delivery at the agreed-upon price, along with a one-year software warranty and full support. Until its planned Japanese office opens, the company will operate from the United States.

The advantage to clients is clear: Sophisticated software solutions for institutional and individual investor portfolio management, risk management, online banking, charting and wireless trading, along with the expertise needed to merge existing legacy applications with modern financial systems, will now be available from a single vendor. Octet Japan's prebuilt trading and banking solutions will assist companies suffering from Japan's acute shortage of skilled software engineers, and will shorten the time to develop new products and services.

"Naturally, we're very excited," says Tatiana Aleksa, CEO of Octet. "Combining JPComCenter's expertise in creating enterprise-level software for Japanese users and its extensive knowledge of Japan's financial markets with Octet's robust back-end engines is a winning combination." JPComCenter's clients are Japanese and multinational corporations targeting Japanese users.

While JPComCenter was building its reputation and business ties in Japan, Octet was quietly building the mission-critical and end-to-end applications that many leading financial firms rely on to deliver services to online customers worldwide. Its expertise lies not only in creating robust, real-time trading and banking solutions but in integrating those applications with clients' existing software infrastructure.

"Most Japanese companies need assistance to seamlessly merge their highly dependable legacy mainframe systems with their new online trading and banking systems," explains Marc Ira, CEO of JPComCenter. "Leveraging, extending and building on existing infrastructure is crucial to success in the modern Japanese financial markets, and Octet's extensive experience in this area is invaluable."

The rapid growth of the cell phone and PDA markets provides a huge opportunity for Octet Japan's wireless trading systems. "More than 81% of the world's Internet-enabled cell phones are in Japan," notes Ira. "Enthusiasm for wireless solutions is forcing Japan's financial-services industry to create and deploy wireless banking and trading applications in order to attract and retain customers."

Over the past few years, Japan's financial markets have become significantly more flexible for investors, providing access to the enormous pent-up demand for trading stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. "Remember, Japan leads the world in savings but investment options were limited," says Ira. "Competition, both domestic and from abroad, is forcing financial service companies to improve their tools and interfaces at an unheard of pace."

The convergence of trading fees to nearly identical amounts and the reform of Japan's securities laws to stimulate financial markets has altered the financial-services landscape significantly. "Intense competition between firms now drives innovation and sales, leading to a 'market-leader take all' approach," says Ashraf Ebid, Octet's Executive Vice President. "Success requires continual improvement: lowering risk, reducing operating costs, improving time-to-market, and increasing sophistication in software infrastructure."

Octet Japan's prebuilt trading and banking solutions, along with its extensive integration expertise, allow rapid and cost-effective deployment of complex financial-services applications while minimizing risk. "Octet Japan is the ideal partner for companies recognizing the value of software solutions delivered on-schedule, at the contracted price, and with a one-year warranty against all defects," says Ebid. "Companies seeking a skillful and trustworthy supplier only need to remember one name: Octet Japan."