On the software road, Sun is facing four crises
■ Wen / Lin Yu
(This article is published in "Programmer" 2005 No. 4)
Some time ago, Sun intends to organize a national highest level of Java programming.
The game, the news is open, many Java technical experts and developers are waiting
. Unexpectedly, this is a little enthusiasm, and that Sun is notified.
: The funds of the competition have been issued, prizes, schedules, review experts, etc. need corresponding
Cut.
As of February 15, Sun's number of layoffs in its software departments within one year has been
More than 3,600 people, SAY has a number of personnel managers and sudden
The programmers who lost the rice bowl must be more depressed. What's more worthy of
, Jonathan, President and Chief Operating Officer, taken in the first half of last year
Schwartz is previously the executive vice president of software business
After taking office, he also claimed to transform SUN into a software company. At that time, domestic media even passed
The speech said that Sun will expand the size of the software department, but the addition of the software
The large abolition of the door and budget. This makes us can't help but ask: What happened to Sun?
Let's first take a look at Sun's earnings. From 4 to June 2004, Sun is SUN
In the last quarter of the 2004 fiscal year, SUN in this quarter achieved profit of $ 795 million
But the shake Microsoft is 5 billion compensation for solving the judicial dispute.
This is actually a huge loss quarter. 05 fiscal year in the first quarter
(July to September 2004), Jonathan
Schwartz starts "transforming to software companies" and starts a big increase
The company's loss is $ 174 million. In the second quarter (October 04 to 12
Month), under continuing to increase the efforts of layoffs, Sun finally got 19 million
Dollar profit. It looks at the leadership of Schwartz
Sun is gradually moving toward the correct direction. But the seemingly tanked road
, But latent a variety of crises.
One of the crises: completely lost the Java software market.
In the past year, the J2EE middleware market has a substantial growth of 40-50%.
However, the back of the market seems to have no relationship with the founders of the Java world.
. According to Gartner's survey data, the current application server market, IBM
WebSphere's share is 37%, bea WebLogic is 29%, while Sun Java System Application
Server only accounts for only 5%, and since 1999, it has declared a year-on-year situation.
. Sun employees disclosed that Sun is only Java technology line.
2ME, and profit model is not software sales, but from the mobile phone supporting J2ME
Vendors charge license fees. When Schwartz starts to transform the Sun into the next
When the software empire, it is a market that is almost the end of it.
Does he have such a huge disadvantage?
The second crisis: the essence of the soldiers, drinking thirst, killing the enemy, no power back.
In January 2005, the leader Calvin Austin, the J2SE 5.0 development group left Sun. Java programmers know
, Calvin
Austin is the top of Joshua Bloch, which is second to Joshua Bloch, AUSTIN is the second number of Joshua Bloch, and J2SE 1.5 IN A
NUTSHELL "author. So "Java Gloria",
"Effective
Java "author bloch? As early as the beginning of Schwartz
In July 2004, he has been dug a wall by Google.
. In order to get a beautiful earning, Schwartz's unreasonable is naturally unable to
Thick, but the cost of pay is the company's image and combat power. Without the leader of the Java world, it cut off more than 3,000 excellent developers. What will be used to challenge?
IBM, BEA so powerful opponent?
Even if you are in Beijing, we can also feel the simplicity of Sun's soldiers. this year
, Sun's market costs of China 's greatly cut developmenters
, Have a prize essay, Java User
GROUP, Java Programming Competition and other activities will be reduced to different degrees
. In the most direct face of users, IBM and BEA are in 2005
Will be doubled, but the SUN China Developer Technology Community (http: /
/gceclub.sun.com.cn will cut a budget.
Original SUN's software products are not as deep as competitors.
If you lose the cohesiveness of the developer, it is hard to imagine the taste discerning developer.
What reasons have suggested their boss to buy Java
System Application Server instead of WebLogic.
Third Crisis: The organizational structure is difficult to return, and the company's transition resistance is heavy.
In the view of the general manager of Kingdee Middleware, SUN is never a software company.
It is a "hardware sales company". This slightly ridicule evaluation said a fact
: In the organization structure of Sun, the person in charge of the hardware sales channel occupies the most important
The location of it is. Such organizational structures have caused only companies to pay attention to short-term sales benefits.
, Ignore the cultivation of long-term user relationships. In the Chinese market, Sun is a large size
Reduced developers market funding, on the other hand, still put a lot of hardware sales channels
Propaganda, give a lot of IT practitioners, "SUN only sells hardware"
This is not related to the organizational structure of Sun itself.
Under such an organizational structure, the software marketing department even has a seedlings that have been eager to have recently
. New Java Studio, SUN
Creator development tool Global unified $ 99, publicity attack on major websites
I have already gaked overlapping, attracting many domestic software companies to call Sun China's sales electricity
words. This phone is scared: pricing $ 99 products have sold several times in China
on. Although this approach can bring short-term benefits, it reflects Sun public
The confusion of the department's internal strategy, leaving a bad impression on customers and developers
How to measure the damage of Sun's image?
The crisis is four: people are scattered, and the team is not good.
The military law has a cloud: the battle is in the heart. As a software company, the profit and loss for a moment may be
Easy to deal with, if the company lost confidence inside and outside, then it is the most terrible
. But Sun is currently in such a situation: talk about development tools
And programmers think of Eclipse and Intellij
Idea; talking about the application server, the preferred of the project manager is WebSpher
E and WebLogic; in the JCP Executive Committee, more members only IBM Horse
The first is looking for; in the private Java community, TSS
The Java Seminar has completely covered Javaone. Java technology is still
However, Xin Xin is, but Sun is growing away from Java's prosperity.
. In most people's eyes, Java (especially enterprise Java
It is no longer a Sun's Java.
The confidence inside the Sun camp is gradually being sured. Since April last year
, Sun's share price (NASDAQ: sunw) has been swinging up 4 dollars
Investors feel more and more pressure. On the other hand, Sun is there.
"Java founders" is known, but there are few in the Java software market.
So, the acquisition of Sun is increasingly popular - if Java is controlled by IBM, is it comparable to it?
What about .NET's super software platform? What's more, because Japanese companies are in J2ME
Soching tree is outdated, the SUN software sector has passed forward to the transfer of a Japanese company.
Say. Although rumors are Ziwu, people 's heart float can be seen.
The market has fallen in the lower wind, the talents are lost, and the organizational structure is not mismatched.
Losing the recognition of users and investors, this is Sun this ambitious
The four crises facing "Software". If you can't spend the crisis of the crisis
Type, restore confidence in all parties as soon as possible, reshaping the image in the software industry
, I am afraid Sun's transformation will finally evolve into a learning - the software market is not grabbed
Looking back and found that even the original hardware market has lost. At that time, Sun's days were
I really have to be sad.
