This is Jasmine Hill, New Jersey, where Lucent Technologies, Inc., which has been driving the next generation of communications networks for years, is located. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Lucent has a very long history, especially with the help of Bell Labs, which has been around for 60 years, and has maintained its position in the top three in the industry for many years. Taking technology as the core is the most lacking and valuable business philosophy in this era.

But for a whole year, people haven't smiled in this headquarters building that carries the dreams of thousands of employees.

At this time, Orlando Bryan, the CEO at the time, was meeting with many executives from his technical department, finance department, marketing department, etc., in a high-level conference room.

"As you can see, this is Cisco's latest product. ”

Orlando was talking about an instrument that was sitting on the table. Its shape looks similar to that of a switch, but it is clear to everyone present that it is 108,000 miles away from a switch in terms of technical principles and price.

"Rysted, when Cisco officially announced the research and development plan of the firewall, we immediately set up the same research team, and the time difference was only half a month. ”

Orlando looked at the head of the technical department, who was a slightly bowed man: "Although the speed of renewal in our industry is amazing, everyone knows that the time difference of half a month is not a big deal, that is, we should be on the same level as Cisco." ”

As Orlando said these words, the only thing Reisted could do was keep his head down deeply, trying to keep his eyes fixed on the firewall. The colleagues around him did not look relaxed, and Ramos in the marketing department was even more worried.

"So now, at the same time, Cisco's products are about to go on sale, Rysted, what about our products?"

It's a really hard question to answer, because everyone knows the real reason. In contrast, although Lucent's capital base is extremely deep, Cisco, which is like a bright new star, has always burst out stronger R&D capabilities. This firewall is not a precedent at all, and it has been suppressed by the other party since the beginning when Lucent and Cisco seized the common market.

"The main problem is, Brian, we have absolutely no experience in this area. ”

After a long silence, the manager of the technical department, Lai Side, finally spoke: "Network security protocol maintenance, this is almost the same nature as when Cisco first launched the router, although they all belong to the field of computer networking, but they are all branches that no one has ever touched. They will suddenly announce R&D, surely because they are ready, and we are working on a new ...... after all."

"But God, it's only a three-year-old company after all, three years! And the registered capital is only a fraction of the time, and it hasn't even carried out an IPO yet!"

Orlando couldn't hold back his anger, but as his roar echoed through the soundproofed conference room, no audience was dissatisfied. On the contrary, their faces are solemn, they sigh silently, or they are deep in thought, or their eyes are rolling and they don't know what they are thinking. Even when Orlando finished roaring, no one had the intention of picking up.

Because, the contrast between the two companies is indeed too obvious, one is an industry veteran company backed by a dignified Bell Laboratory, and the other is a stage team hastily built by two university professors and a genius girl. The accumulation of world-wide differences should have made the competition unsuspenseful, however, since Lucent took the initiative to compete with Cisco, it has really never been pleased.

After a moment's respite, Orlando gulped down a full cup of coffee and said to Reisted, "You can give me an exact date now, when will our firewall come out?"

"July...... Brian, I really can't advance it, we still have several key technologies that have not been broken through, and counting the finished product experiments, it will not be possible to make them until July at the earliest!"

"July ......"

Orlando scratched his scalp hard, he glanced at his colleagues in the audience, sighed and said, "Ramos, what is the market share of the two products that overlap with Cisco now?"

Ramos, the manager of the marketing department, straightened his back, opened the documents prepared earlier, and said: "In terms of routers, as of the end of February this year, the cumulative sales of our first product, LX-100, have reached 850,000 units, and the cumulative sales of the second generation of new products, LX-200, are 1.34 million units, and the total sales of the two are 2.19 million units, and the market share in the eastern region of the United States is ...... 27.6% and 48.5% in the central region. In addition, the newly opened Hong Kong market, because Cisco and other peers have not yet touched it, we can now be regarded as 100%. ”

"In the field of switches, the cumulative sales of the first generation of products are 470,000 units, and the second generation of new products is 550,000 units, with a market share of 23.5% in the eastern region of the United States and 34.8% in the central region respectively......"

Ramos had stopped reading this, because Orlando had already raised his hand to stop him: "The board of directors has expressed its dissatisfaction more than once, everyone, although we have just stepped into the field of Internet hardware, this is not a traditional industry, and Cisco is not a long-established giant, being bullied to this extent by a rookie, is that what you want to see?"

"The Midwest region doesn't even have a 50 percent share, and the western market has no room for meddle at all, so I'm going to ask you the most critical question now, Rysted, and that's what the board wants me to ask you on their behalf. ”

He looked at the company's technical manager, his eyes blazing: "Routers, switches, and current firewalls, why was every concept first proposed by Cisco? The total number of employees in your department, plus those employees in Bell Labs, can almost equal to more than half of Cisco, and this is still more than half of Cisco after their latest expansion." Reisted, I hope you can give the board a reasonable explanation, I will convey it in the original text. ”

The meeting was awkward from the start, and the audience could only hear Orlando and the executives he asked questions, and everyone was silent, thinking that they would become the first bird in front of the CEO and even the board.

"Because ......"

Drops of sweat appeared on Rysted's forehead, and after spending many brain cells seeking answers, he replied quickly: "Probably because of ...... They have Alice Wang. ”

Orlando frowned and sneered, "You want me to tell the board that the reason why the whole company has been able to push us down in this field is only because of one person?"

"But that's Alice-King, boss!"

Rysted was also anxious: "You should also know the industry news, right? She founded Cisco on the patent of the router, and then developed Microsoft's WinODWS on her own, and is still working as a technical consultant for the NT system." Boss, although we have a lot of employees, but they are just employees, and no one can meet a genius entrepreneur like Rockefeller!"

This blurted out answer can be regarded as the purpose of easing the atmosphere of the conference room. The seven or eight executives who were called in the audience couldn't help laughing, and even Orlando, who wanted to be angry again, couldn't help but shake his head.

"Rockefeller-like? You can really find an example!"

Orlando sneered and lit a cigar, and there was only one woman in the room, "You should compare Edison to that wouldn't be appropriate?"

At this time, Julie Cohen, the company's CFO, the only female executive in the room, spoke: "Oran, does the board mean that it must compete with Cisco in its field?"

Orlando looked at her with a cigar in his mouth: "Internet hardware is an emerging industry, and the value will reach at least 100 billion yuan in the future, how can you ask the board of directors to give up this market?"

"Then maybe we can choose to work with Cisco appropriately, just like IBM and Microsoft did earlier, and we're definitely going to get a lot out of working with them, right?"

This is indeed a feasible idea, Orlando did not rush to answer, but first silently smoked two large puffs of cigarette: "At present, the overlapping business of the two companies is routers, switches and firewalls that are still under development, and this is the only product that Cisco currently has." And we ......"

"Network infrastructure. ”

Julie Cohen continued: "Haven't we been working closely with AT&T in the areas of fiber optic cable manufacturing and R&D, network card modules and communication data? ”

"That's our strength, but it's Cisco's weakness. ”

Orlando still agrees with this proposal, the field of telephone communication network and computer network infrastructure is a bottomless pit, and the research and development expenses required for it, and the infrastructure construction before obtaining huge profits, all require the support of large consortiums, and Cisco will certainly not be able to compete with Lucent.

"We will have a good relationship with other countries through cooperation in this field, and at the same time strengthen our advantages in traditional fields, and take the opportunity to gain more advantages in new fields......"

The mumble made it clear to everyone, and Orlando didn't say it all. Undoubtedly, this is the perfect time for commercial spies to come into the game, and such secrets are not something that can be revealed to department managers, and it seems that he has something to talk about to shareholders at another board meeting that will be held soon.

Orlando picked up the document at hand, which was another confidential piece of information about Alice Wong that the company had gathered to the best of their ability.

"It's all nonsense, I don't want to know about her public career. ”

Staring at the resume-like content of the document, Orlando was unhappy with the perfunctory attitude of the subordinate employee: "I want information about her private life, including what kind of boys she likes, you idiot ......" (to be continued). )