Tokyo, Japan, SoftBank Group Headquarters.

"You're looking for our president?"

Zhou Shuo nodded, the front desk hall of SoftBank headquarters is very beautifully designed, the ring-shaped wooden cabinet is enough for more than ten people to use, and the back wall is embossed with the LOGO of SoftBank Group. Of course, the most eye-catching are these dignified and beautiful reception ladies in seductive uniforms.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Probably, probably." Zhou Shuo said with some uncertainty: "I received an email from Mr. Sun Zhengyi, saying that if I come to Japan again, I can come to him." ”

"Wait a minute, I'll help you check. Your name? ”

"Zhou Shuo, from China."

After a while, the phone at the front desk suddenly rang. The receptionist picked up the phone, said "Hi", and immediately stood up respectfully. She listened for a while, half-bowed and said softly, "Yes, I understand!" Then he gently put the microphone back in place.

The reception lady at the front desk opened the small door of the counter, walked out and led the way: "Zhou Sang, Wu Sang, please come with me." ”

Zhou Shuo glanced at Wu Hao and motioned for him to follow. The two of them followed behind the reception lady at the front desk and walked to the VIP reception room next to the hall. She arranged the two of them to sit down on the spacious and comfortable sofa, poured two cups of tea, and said with a smile: "Please wait a moment, someone will come to greet you soon." ”

Zhou Shuo smiled and nodded with her, and looked at the reception room leisurely. At this time, SoftBank Group had already completed the work of listing in Japan, and gradually showed the momentum of Japan's software hegemon. From this reception room alone, you can see a thing or two.

Unlike the general reception room of a company, SoftBank's reception room does not have any decorations such as antiques and famous paintings, but instead treasures the first issue of the magazine issued by the SoftBank Group since its establishment and the group photos of the founders of various famous software companies.

I didn't have to wait much time when there was a sudden commotion outside the reception room. Zhou Shuo looked out from the window, and the crowd in the hall seemed to have pressed the freeze frame button, all facing the direction of the reception room and maintaining a ninety-degree bowing posture. Even the reception lady at the front desk, who was talking and laughing just now, looked unconsciously serious, and stood respectfully at the door of the reception room.

The door of the reception room clicked open, and the reception lady at the front desk saw the short man who came in, and hurriedly bowed: "Hello president, these two are Zhou Sang and Wu Sang from China. ”

Zhou Shuo and Wu Hao both stood up and looked at the high-spirited man who came in. He has bright eyes and a broad forehead, and he walks with a vigorous demeanor, pursing the corners of his mouth and holding his chin high, and has a certain momentum of looking at the world.

"Zhou Sang, I'm Sun Zhengyi, I hate to see each other late!"

Zhou Shuo shook hands with him and said with a smile: "Mr. Sun greeted him, and he was ashamed." ”

As he spoke, Zhou Shuo pointed to his side and introduced Sun Zhengyi: "This Wu Hao is a staff member of my country's Science and Technology Commission. He is responsible for evaluating my work, and if the results are good, the follow-up cooperation will be more strongly supported by the upper management. ”

Sun Zhengyi looked at Wu Hao, nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "Wu Sang, welcome to Neon." ”

In Son's position, there is really no need for foreign civil servants to be overly enthusiastic. From his point of view, he can be free to interact with private business owners, but he needs to be cautious about those with official status.

"Zhou Sang has had a hard journey, have you found a place to stay?"

Zhou Sang nodded and said with a smile: "Mr. Lao Sun is bothered, I have already booked a room at the Ise Island Hotel." ”

"That's good, the service at the Ise Island Hotel is still very good." Son said approvingly: "In that case, let's not waste time, let's come to my office to talk in detail." ”

"That's what I mean." Zhou Shuo raised his arm and said, "Mr. Sun, please." ”

Then Zhou Shuo, Sun Zhengyi and Wu Hao walked out of the reception room, stepped into the direct elevator under the congratulatory eyes of everyone in the hall, and came to the president's office on the top floor.

"Zhou Sang's achievements in the software industry are worthy of affirmation, I asked Microsoft about their cooperation with you, and the sales of ERP software are very promising."

Zhou Shuo took the teacup from Sun Zhengyi's hand with both hands, and said with a smile: "Mr. Sun pays a lot of attention to the development of software, even a small business like me can notice it." ”

Masayoshi Son waved his hand and sighed: "Maybe the turnover of software is not high, but I think ERP software is a very important reform direction for the management mode of enterprises." For enterprise management software, ERP system is of great significance. ”

The two of them talked about the topic of ERP, Zhou Shuo changed his words and said: "The realization of ERP software is inseparable from the support of the Internet, in fact, I think the development of the Internet will very profoundly change the operation of the entire world." Not only in business management, but also in the software industry, the Internet can completely change the way production has been done in the past. ”

Son nodded cautiously and said, "Do you want to say about the software outsourcing model described in the email?" ”

"I believe that President Sun should be able to understand this model." Zhou Shuo said confidently.

In fact, looking at the history of Son's real fortune, we can find that he has a very accurate grasp of the pulse of the Internet economy. When SoftBank went public in Japan in 1994, it raised only $140 million. He then used the money to invest in Yahoo, cooperate with Cisco, buy Ziff, and enter the telecommunications industry, etc., and by 1999, SoftBank's stock price had increased 90 times in the year after it went public in the United States! His success has been achieved with the development of the Internet industry.

How can such a person not have a sensitive sense of smell to the industrial transfer brought about by the development of the Internet?

Sun Zhengyi laughed and said, "I still want to hear Zhou Sang's opinion on this. ”

Zhou Shuo scratched his head and smiled helplessly: "Okay, then I'll tell you my opinion." The development of the Internet has had a profound impact on the software industry, and I actually think India has done a good job of that. They are closely integrated with the software industry in Europe and the United States, and in 90 years their outsourcing exports were only 190 million US dollars, but now their entire software industry has grown more than tenfold. However, their business ideas are more Western, which is incompatible with the Japanese market situation. ”

He took a sip of tea, moistened his throat and said: "But since China connected to the Internet last year, the conditions for participating in the international software industry competition have been met. Japan's economy is booming, but the corresponding labor costs are rising sharply. A data entry person earns more than $3,000 per month; A software tester with some technical knowledge can earn between four and five thousand dollars a month, while a good software developer earns even more. The high cost of labor is dragging down Japan's competitive advantage, and in fact, if these tasks are outsourced to us, the labor cost can be controlled to less than one-tenth. ”

Just as there is a so-called 300 percent profit, the capitalists dare to trample on all human laws, let alone reduce the cost by nine-tenths? In the nature of capital, this is already very tempting.

Bang bang, Sun Zhengyi clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Yes, Zhou Sang's opinion is indeed bloody. I agree that Japan's software industry will quickly lose its competitiveness if it fails to reduce costs. However, I am skeptical that China's technological capabilities will be able to meet the requirements of Japanese software companies. ”

"Our ERP has been well received by many customers in the United States, isn't this enough to reflect our technical level?"

Son shook his head and said: "The ability of a company is different from the general ability of an industry, and Zhou Sang's Xinke Computer Company is indeed a great enterprise, but this does not prove that the entire Chinese software industry has such a level." There are many requirements for software outsourcing beyond the software itself. For example, perfect development documents, business reputation requirements of the entrusted party, data privacy, intellectual property protection ......"

Zhou Shuo couldn't help but sigh that Son Masayoshi was indeed an excellent strategist. These questions are to the point, and almost all of them hit the nail on the head. In the 90s, the first batch of programmers in China were still working as "lone rangers", and they looked at the source code of the program as if it were an exclusive secret. In the process of work, it is important to achieve the most functions with the least amount of source code.

Of course, there are many reasons such as the high price of domestic hardware and the slow development of the microcomputer market. However, as a result, the process of developing programs by domestic programmers is generally not standardized, there are no development documents, no comments, and more personal "skills", which are all obstacles to software outsourcing.

What's more, the current domestic software market is very barren, and it is extremely indifferent to intellectual property rights, and does not respect customers' trade secrets......

"These are obstacles that can be overcome!" Zhou Shuo pointed at Wu Hao and said, "Director Wu Hao is here, which is the embodiment of this attitude. The specifics of the software industry are different between China and Japan, but we can learn from and import advanced development techniques from Japan. As for the issues of business reputation, data privacy, and intellectual property, we can solve them through a third party, that is, the software park project that Director Wu Hao and I are actively promoting. ”

Zhou Shuo took out a document from his bag and handed it to Son Zhengdao: "This is a plan for the software park, and the management of the software park can inspect and guarantee the units entering the park. Urging the companies to improve their skills, examine their business reputation, and guarantee the business practices of Chinese software companies - the management of the software park will evaluate the credit of the Chinese companies entering the park, and the Japanese companies can choose companies with high credit to cooperate and pay the management of the software park in advance. The Chinese company can carry out software development before receiving the payment, and only after the Japanese company confirms the receipt and praises the goods, the management of the software park will pay the development money to the Chinese company, so as to ensure the interests of the Japanese company. ”