America's No. 1 financial conglomerate

Chapter 426 The New Official Takes Office

Three days later, Robert Davis stood at the entrance of Walmart's eCommerce Center.

This temporary office space is located on the west side of Walmart's headquarters campus. The exterior walls still bear the marks of old industrial buildings. At the entrance hangs a metal plaque for Walmart's eCommerce division, and on the wall are printed Sam Walton's famous quote in blue lettering: "The customer is always right."

Accompanied by his assistant, he toured the entire environment.

Throughout the journey, Robert's brow remained furrowed, and he kept jotting down information in his notebook.

Around 10 a.m., in the meeting room, Robert sat in the main seat and his first request upon taking office was to replace the current mainframe system.

"Not to mention that the servers in the technical area are all minicomputers, some of which are even discontinued."

E-commerce is the Internet, and the equipment is like the gun in the soldier's hand.

Robert's current feeling is that Walmart employees are taking spears and going up against enemy cannons.

"We need to reconstruct our core system architecture using the Linux open-source system, and we also need to upgrade our server equipment, build server clusters, and phase out these outdated products."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Thompson, the head of the technology department, immediately objected: "We have always used IBM's minicomputer system. This is not only a choice based on technical stability, but also a procurement regulation clearly issued by headquarters."

"Headquarters regulations?" Robert's lips curled into a slightly mocking smile. He leaned forward slightly, his tone uncompromising. "Then let headquarters' regulations go to hell."

"You..." Thompson suddenly stood up from his chair, placing his hands on the conference table.

As a long-time employee who witnessed Walmart's growth from a regional retailer to a global retail giant, he always regarded the company's traditions and rules as an inviolable bottom line. Robert's arrogant attitude undoubtedly touched his professional dignity.

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Robert met Thompson's gaze without backing down, his eyes sharp as knives. He knew very well that now was the best time for Walmart to reform; time was of the essence, and they had to act swiftly and decisively.

"President Glass said that I am in charge of the e-commerce department, and I can make all decisions. He will support me unconditionally."

Robert Davis was willing to give up his position at eBay and return to Walmart because of this power of life and death.

Of course, salary is also an important factor.

Compared to eBay's basic salary plus equity incentive model, Walmart's annual compensation package includes a fixed salary, performance bonuses, and long-term incentive plans, and does not require waiting for the equity vesting period.

This is clearly more tempting than eBay's pie, and it's safer to cash in.

However, Robert believed this was all justified, and he also gave up his future stake in eBay.

Seeing Thompson clench his fists before finally sitting heavily back in his chair, Robert continued to advance the meeting agenda: "In addition to upgrading the system equipment, there is also a serious shortage of technical personnel."

"I just checked, and the technology team only has 47 people. This number is far from enough to support the development needs of Walmart's online business. My requirement is to triple the number of technical staff within a week, to at least 150 people."

"Three times?" Mary, the finance manager, immediately questioned.

"Do you know how much this will increase our labor costs? Based on the current average annual salary of $5.5 for Walmart technicians, adding 100 technicians would increase our annual labor costs by $500 million, not even including other benefits expenses."

"Not to mention, the purchase and deployment of server clusters is also a significant capital expenditure."

"I don't think there's a problem with the current number of technical staff. Isn't our website well-maintained?"

Robert scoffed. "You only see the immediate costs, but you're ignoring the potential operational risks. With this limited technical staff, they can only handle routine maintenance. If a major system failure or cyberattack occurs, they simply won't be able to resolve it in a short time."

"What big deal could it be?" the other person said dismissively, scoffing.

"What if our website is attacked by competitors? Will our online business be paralyzed? Operations aren't everything; security is paramount. We must increase our technical staff to build our security firewall."

"Attacked by competitors?" Mary thought it was a fantasy. "That's illegal. You can sue them."

Robert looked at her and suddenly laughed, finding her adorably naive. "Do you think our competitors would take matters into their own hands? Even if they were that naive, they wouldn't have that much time."

The debate over the reforms lasted from 10 a.m. until evening. Robert, the new manager, was not exactly known for his ruthless approach; he almost completely overturned the previous operating model of the e-commerce division.

Even the suggestion of phased reforms, which aimed to reduce risks through gradual implementation, was rejected outright by Robert without hesitation.

The market waits for no one, and phased reforms have missed the best opportunity. Resources must be concentrated to complete a comprehensive transformation in the shortest possible time.

That evening, while he was still working overtime in his office to finalize the reform plan, he received a private phone call from Glass.

"Your arrival has affected the interests of quite a few people," Glass said on the other end of the phone, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hint of amusement.

Robert held his phone, leaned back in his office chair, and smiled slightly.

He could figure it out; for example, Thompson from the technical department, his opposition was driven by vested interests.

If Walmart's eCommerce division were to replace its equipment with IBM minicomputers, it would not only be a matter of equipment purchase costs, but also a significant annual expense in maintenance costs.

As the head of the technology department, Thompson naturally benefited from this. For example, he could participate in various IBM-organized activities under the guise of learning and exchange, but in reality, IBM would pay for his family to go on trips.

Robert's proposal to replace IBM minicomputers with Dell servers has undoubtedly cut off Thompson's source of income.

However, Robert did not respond to the complaints or accusations. Every business has these problems, and he knew that Glass had not called about something so trivial.

"I'll handle Thompson's problem. You'll appoint the new CTO directly, and all reforms in the e-commerce division will be implemented according to the plan you proposed at today's meeting. Remember, I'll take responsibility for any problems that arise." Glass reassured Robert, expressing his unconditional support.

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. President."

"You're welcome. I'm just investing in Walmart's future." Glass's tone relaxed a bit, but then he suddenly changed the subject, "By the way, I heard you plan to complete the server cluster deployment and put it into trial operation in five days? I'll bring a few executives over to take a look then, is that alright?"

I've spent so much money and supported you so much, I should at least see some results, right?

After all, Glass also needs to answer to the board of directors.

"No problem, I'll definitely surprise you." Robert was also very knowledgeable, but he was confident and not afraid at all.

"See you then."

After hanging up the phone, Robert continued to think about how to reform Walmart's online marketplace system.

.....

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Robert practically slept in his office every day, overseeing the entire deployment progress of the server cluster.

When Glass led a group from Walmart to visit the newly built server room, dozens of Dell PowerEdge R750 servers were neatly arranged in the racks, their indicator lights flashing a steady green glow, and the entire server room was filled with an atmosphere of technology.

"Davis, stop wasting time and get straight to the results." Glass looked around, showing little interest in the hardware; he was more concerned with whether the system could truly improve business efficiency.

Robert nodded, offering no further explanation or pleasantries, and led everyone directly to the technology research and development area, indicating to the engineers to turn on their terminals.

As the engineer rapidly typed a series of commands on the keyboard, a dense stream of code immediately appeared on the large screen, with green characters scrolling rapidly against a black background.

Glass and the others frowned, somewhat puzzled. However, when they saw the new server demonstration, showing that the system processed orders three times faster than the old minicomputer, no further explanation was needed.

Robert stood beside the screen and explained to everyone, "The server cluster uses a distributed architecture, so even if one server fails, the other servers can immediately take over the work to ensure that the system does not stop running."

"This means that our online store will achieve true 24/7 stable operation."

A satisfied smile appeared on Glass's face. As the head of Walmart, Glass might not fully understand the Internet, but he knew the words "efficiency" and "security" all too well.

"Very good, I am very satisfied." Glass was the first to applaud, and the others followed suit, instantly making the atmosphere in the conference room lively.

After the applause subsided, Glass looked at Robert and said, "It turns out that your reform approach was correct. Get the new system fully operational as soon as possible to replace the old IBM minicomputers."

The group then moved to the conference room. Glass sat down and pointed to two people next to him, introducing them to Robert: "This is Thomas, Vice President of Purchasing, who is responsible for the purchasing and supply chain management of all products in the group; this is Richard, Vice President of Logistics and Warehousing, who oversees the global warehousing and distribution network."

"I've brought both of them here today. You can talk to them directly if you have any questions."

Robert's problem was simple: he needed the purchasing department to provide complete product data. "The biggest problem facing the e-commerce division right now is the lack of complete product data support. We need the purchasing department to provide information on all inventory units (SKUs) of products on sale, including core data such as product specifications, prices, inventory quantities, and replenishment cycles."

"Without this data, our online store will not be able to accurately display the inventory status of goods. Are we going to have users place an order and then wait two days to tell them that the goods they bought are sold out? This will not only seriously affect the user experience, but also damage Walmart's brand image."

"These are all trade secrets." Thomas, the vice president in charge of purchasing, shook his head, indicating his refusal. "If we open up complete product data to the e-commerce division, Walmart's bargaining power over products will be completely lost in the event of a data breach."

He paused, a hint of disdain in his voice, "Moreover, Walmart has the world's largest inventory system; the stock in its physical stores alone is sufficient to meet current sales demands. Online orders currently account for a negligible portion of total orders, so how could there be a situation where orders cannot be fulfilled?"

"But what about the products we want to remove from the shelves? We sell online, and consumers can't directly determine whether a product is available or how many are in stock just by looking at the shelves. We have to use numbers to remind them of everything."

"You can't expect us to check the inventory against the data every day, can you? If the group is still worried, I think we can develop two systems, which would also solve the problem of warehousing and logistics."

Previously, when orders were received from the online store, they were first matched with the store's system, and then transferred to the warehouse through the store's system. The warehouse then allocated goods to the store based on the total demand of offline and online orders, and the store then shipped the goods by express delivery.

Such procedures are far too cumbersome. The reason given by the warehousing and logistics side is that "truck scheduling is all done manually. If online orders are suddenly inserted, the whole process will be thrown into chaos. Therefore, the warehousing side must complete the process first before issuing orders to the logistics department."

"Tell me your thoughts," Glass asked with interest.

"What I mean is, we'll develop two systems for e-commerce. We'll only keep the sales data here, and all the rest of the data will be integrated with the warehousing and logistics system." This is the solution Robert has come up with these past few days.

Procurement and warehousing are crucial; without complete product data, online store inventory management will fall into chaos.

If logistics and delivery efficiency cannot be improved, even the best online operations cannot translate into actual user satisfaction.

He knew very well that neither of them would support him, and that if they agreed to his request, he would be responsible for any problems that might arise. So Robert had prepared this plan.

"The warehousing department can not only update our inventory in real time based on our orders, but also eliminate the need for stores. They can directly arrange for goods to be shipped, with couriers sending them directly from the warehousing center. This solves the logistics problem and ensures data security."

Thomas and Richard exchanged a glance and thought it was a good idea, the only problem being that it would increase the workload on the warehouse side.

However, if there's more work, you can hire more people, which also represents an increase in power.

Richard, the vice president in charge of warehousing and logistics, readily agreed to this.