Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1375 Double-Stalked Flower
"In addition to industrial software, the new company formed by the software division will also develop another basic data center platform for software and the Internet... cloud computing!"

It can provide cloud servers such as data storage, databases, and servers to startups, individual developers, and other companies.

I hope it will become the water, electricity, natural gas, or even air of the software industry, something that countless people need.

When someone needs them, these houses, already equipped with basic infrastructure, can be rented out to them, eliminating the need for that person to build a house from scratch and install water, electricity, and other utilities.

Li Dongling explained the concept of cloud computing to Jiang Tao.

Hearing this almost "absurd" project plan, Jiang Tao's eyes widened even more than when he heard about the industrial software earlier.

Jiang Tao knew all too well that once cloud computing truly emerged and could achieve the level Li Dongling described, it would be like a gold mine for the software industry!

Nothing in this world is absolute. Whether Dongke Software Department, which is developing industrial software, can actually succeed is anyone's guess.

Even a philanthropist like Li couldn't be certain, because there's no pattern to this kind of thing. It's not like you can be sure of getting a return just because you put in a certain amount of money.

Once it comes to algorithms and models, data is essential. Only with data can the model be continuously adjusted, ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and stability. And if problems arise, they can be quickly corrected.

Otherwise, even if two seemingly identical interfaces are replicated one-to-one, in reality, once used, they will be vastly different. Especially when dealing with complex problems, the software will crash directly, and the machine may even be rendered unusable as a pile of scrap metal.

The same applies to short video platform algorithms, large AI models, and the era of autonomous driving; all require massive amounts of data for computation, version updates, and constant innovation.

There are no shortcuts. Everyone who enters this field must walk the same path that others have walked before, collect data again, and recalculate using large-scale models designed with physics and mathematics...

Those who take the lead continuously update their versions, making the algorithms more and more advanced. Those who come later have to pay a higher price to catch up, investing more and more money in computing power and data collection. In the end, their investment becomes larger and larger, and they may even be dragged down.

Spending money on industrial software is a given, and even the philanthropist Li accepted it.

Companies like Eastchip Semiconductor can still obtain the necessary EDA software from overseas, although it may not be the most advanced version, it is still usable.

What Dongling High-Tech's software department needs to do is to develop these software programs as quickly as possible while there are still no restrictions.

Whether it's developing it themselves, "borrowing" from others, or acquiring competitors, as long as they can create qualified industrial software, that's considered a skill, and Li Dashan acknowledges it all.

As for the money spent on developing industrial software, Dongling Hi-Tech cannot claim that it lost money; it must recoup the losses from other sources.

Li Dongling has always believed in the principle of self-sufficiency for his companies, but this does not mean that Dongling Hi-Tech cannot support them.

Rather, if they cannot support themselves for a long time, they will be spoiled. The saying "a doting father spoils his son" is not just an empty phrase.

If you don't believe me, just ask the Indian Tejas fighter jet company. Every year, they receive a fixed order for hundreds of new aircraft from India, and then they take the money without actually delivering the aircraft.

This happens every year, in a never-ending cycle, and this thing has almost become a personal ATM for Kshatriyas and Brahmin councilors.

When it comes to companies under Dongke, Li Dashan can tolerate them losing money; for example, Dongxin Semiconductor has been losing money for years.

While losing money, it was also trying to make money to support itself by selling chips for landline phones, DVDs, repeaters, electronic dictionaries, MP3 players, PHS phones, and most importantly, Tianji computers. Dongxin was making money from chips alone, and quite a lot of money at that!

The money earned from selling chips is enough for Dongxin to recoup the cost of chip R&D, which is similar to MediaTek in its previous life.

In its previous life, MediaTek made its debut by providing chips for DVDs and counterfeit mobile phones. In other words, when manufacturers cooperated with MediaTek, MediaTek took care of the entire product design, including chips, software, and hardware. Manufacturers only needed to make a shell to start production.

Dongxin is doing something similar now, especially back in the days of PHS phones. As long as a PHS phone brand bought Dongxin chips, Dongxin could handle everything from software to hardware, and even design the casing.

As long as the money is right, Dongxin can handle everything for the buyer, from design, production, delivery, advertising, transportation, warehousing, and even retail, through Dongling Hi-Tech's component supply chain!

Buyers can simply pay and go home to receive their money without even looking at the screen. Of course, this is Dongxin Semiconductor's advertising. Whether it's really that good or not, only those who have experienced it firsthand know.

The reason why Dongxin's performance is so inconsistent, making a big profit one quarter and losing a lot of money the next, is mainly because lithography machines are too expensive.

Furthermore, Dongxin was simultaneously building two component supply chains for chips and lithography machines, investing a large amount of funds in its subsidiary companies, which naturally led to losses. However, regardless of the losses, Dongxin has been striving to support itself, which is why Li Dongling and the Dongling High-Tech headquarters are willing to continuously inject money into Dongxin.

If this were applied to an industrial software company that was about to be established, it would definitely need to find a way to make a living.

Otherwise, if they keep relying on headquarters funding, and when there is no pressure to survive and they fail to produce results, their enthusiasm will dissipate, and Li the Great Philanthropist is really afraid that he will ruin them.

Only when developers of industrial software companies are given a way to make a living and see hope can they go further. This is when they receive large bonuses and dividends.

Cloud computing, touted as the water, electricity, and natural gas infrastructure of the modern software industry, is the best choice.

To start a website now, you need to buy computers, hire people, set up a server room, and develop and build the system. But with cloud computing, you don't need to do any of that. You just need to select various configurations on the cloud.

Whether it's developing software, or websites, apps, videos, and various programs developed by different companies, or ordering takeout, hailing a ride, or browsing celebrity news on certain platforms, all rely on cloud computing servers.

This thing is like water, electricity, and natural gas in daily life. You won't die without it, but you can't live a modern life without it.

Therefore, the philanthropist Li plans to have this new company develop cloud computing, and use the money earned from cloud computing to support the development of industrial software.

In its previous life, Amazon began developing cloud computing in 2003 and started offering cloud computing services for lease in 2006.

Before Amazon released its financial results, no one could have imagined how profitable water, electricity, and natural gas could be in the internet industry.

But when Amazon released its financial results, the outside world realized the existence of this gold mine. Amazon's ability to break even is also related to cloud computing.

Its revenue is not as high as Amazon's e-commerce, but its profits far exceed those of e-commerce. With annual revenue of hundreds of billions of dollars, it contributes more than half of Amazon's profits, and has also enabled Amazon to completely transform itself!

Can the newly established software department of Dongke Software make up for the losses with this thing?
"The new company formed by the software department will be headquartered in the port city. In the future, it can acquire foreign companies in the industry and recruit talents globally."

The port city headquarters is also a suitable location to promote cloud computing to overseas markets!

Li Dongling said that if cloud computing is really developed, the inland market will definitely be captured, without a doubt.

The key is the overseas market. If the headquarters is located inland, going overseas will definitely lead to rumors and accusations of various security issues.

However, having the headquarters in the port city is much more convenient. The acceptance of the port city abroad is still much higher than that of the mainland, since the power of discourse is still in the hands of America and old Europe.

In its previous life, the most important order that enabled Amazon's cloud computing to be promoted came from the American CIA. That order was not only a large one, but it also gave Amazon's cloud computing a CIA endorsement.

From then on, Amazon's cloud computing began to spread unimpeded, and it was promoted all over the world without any obstacles.

In the future, Dongling High-Tech's cloud computing business will not have the same ability as Amazon to secure orders from the CIA, the Pentagon, and other agencies.

On the contrary, we must be very careful during the promotion process, otherwise we will be labeled as unsafe or leaking secrets.

……

When Jiang Tao walked out of Li Dashanren's office, Wu Yaoguo saw that Jiang Tao's expression was very strange. He looked very worried, but also had a strange sense of excitement.

Upon seeing Wu Yaoguo, Jiang Tao nodded to him and then hurriedly left. The Dongke Software Department was about to get really busy, with a huge amount of work waiting for Jiang Tao to handle.

Dongke's software department will also begin to be divided into multiple teams. The first and largest team will naturally continue to optimize various software on Shenzhou computers, which is currently the most important business.

The second largest team was responsible for developing two major products: Shenzhou IT Community and Fetion.

The third team will be staffed to develop the Shenzhou mobile phone operating system, while the last team will be dedicated to developing industrial software and cloud computing.

Just thinking about the backlog of tasks currently accumulating in Dongke's software department makes Jiang Tao feel a chill run down his spine. The entire software department is probably going to be in a state where they don't even have enough time to eat.

However, the busier the software department is, the higher its status and the greater its influence within Dongling Hi-Tech. Sooner or later, this new department will likely be on par with the hardware-focused technology department!
(End of this chapter)