How I Beat Bill Gates
How I beat Bill Gates
By Joyce Li
Ricardo Chan's China 2000
Technology beat Microsoft to
gain a Beijing municipal
government contract.
CHINA 2000 Technology mastermind Ricardo Chan last night revealed
how his SAR company took on US giant Microsoft and beat it to secure
a million-dollar deal.
Chan said the Beijing municipal government decided to award his
company, a fully-owned subsidiary of Culturecom, the contract as its
software system was safer and cheaper than Microsoft's.
``The price is a crucial element. Our product manages to cater to the
needs of the market,'' the 40-year-old general manager said.
The company secured a contract in a joint venture with the Chinese
Academy of Sciences to provide the Beijing government with 2,000-plus
sets of Red Flag Office 2000 software at 398 yuan (HK$375) apiece.
Compared to this, Chan said, Microsoft was asking for 2,650 yuan for
its Office XP software.
Chan said his company had been developing software applications based
on the Linux operating system, which had been favoured by the Central
Government for security reasons.
``Microsoft could penetrate into or even control its users' system. Many
departments of the Central Government may not want to see that,'' Chan
said, adding that Linux users had no such worries.
He believed that other municipal governments would also choose Linux
ahead of Microsoft in the near future after the Beijing municipal
government deal, preventing Microsoft from dominating the industry.
Red Flag Chinese 2000 is a virtual clone of Microsoft's Windows 2000
except for the grinning Penguin mascot on the background screen, and
the Linux foundation that it is created on.
Chinese 2000 Technology is part of Culturecom's attempt to transform
itself from comic book king to China's technology leader.
Culturecom president Jack Chu earlier said price was a major factor for
Chinese who earned an average of 1,000 yuan a month on the mainland.
``In China the entry-level user doesn't care if it's Windows or Chinese
2000,'' said Chu, who spent the past six years hammering out the details
of the SNIIC (Secure Numeric Internetwork Information Centre)
network that Chinese 2000 rides on.
Chu said that, unlike other companies, his had Beijing's trust and backing.
The company is currently building a secure network for the People's
Liberation Army and the Ministry of Information Industry.
Culturecom Holdings surged 9.33 per cent from $0.035 to $0.41
following the report of the Beijing municipal government deal.
Although China 2000 Technology has been operating in different areas of
the mainland, it has remained very low-profile.
The company has been operating as an Internet service provider in
Guangzhou as well as offering Chinese e-book services and publications
on Chinese culture in Beijing.
Chan said his firm was now faced with the task of hastening up its
penetration of the China market.
``This is not a time to relax or to be laid-back,'' he said.
A graduate of computer science from the University of Western Ontario
in London, Canada, Chan has been in the IT industry for four years.
He remained optimistic that the development of information technology
on the mainland would not be a tough task.
``The growth is better in China than in Hong Kong. Apart from its huge
market, there are many information technology talents on the mainland.
They have maintained a very high standard as well,'' Chan said.
Most of the software production was done on the mainland, such as
writing of programmes and packaging.
Following his first success, Chan said his next step was to penetrate the
mainland market for computer games.
``We have the experience of working with comics. And it is very possible
that we can penetrate into the industry where there remains huge room
for development,'' Chan said, adding that computer games could be
sensitive in the eyes of the Central Government.
Microsoft general manager Mark Phibbs said IT was a very competitive
industry.
``We've always said that many places we win, sometimes we lose,'' he
said.
9 January 2002 / 02:16 AM