2008年，对于国人来说绝对是值得纪念的一年；对于Steven Yau来说，这也是充满挑战的一年。自这一年的2月18日起，他接受了新的工作挑战：他的身份从沃尔玛全球采购中心业务流程及系统总监，变成了沃尔玛中国首席信息官。
谈到这一职位变更对个人职业生涯的影响，Steven认为：“无论是新的商业环境还是新技术的革新，这始终都关乎学习。到沃尔玛中国之后，这使我能够参与到沃尔玛的另一层面并成为沃尔玛整体战略的一部分，得以让IT支持商业战略。对于IT而言，创造系统路标以支持商业战略是最基本的使命。”
一·、“天天平价”的秘密数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
分布在全球14个国家的超过7000家商场、每周1.76亿人次光临沃尔玛……沃尔玛1996年进入中国，在深圳开设了第一家沃尔玛购物广场和山姆会员商店。经过11年的发展，沃尔玛目前已经在全国共55个城市，开设了99家沃尔玛购物广场、3家山姆会员商店、两家沃尔玛社区店。
沃尔玛每天排长队的收银台证明：“天天平价”无疑是沃尔玛最深入人心的销售口号。在诱人价格的背后，到底什么才是制胜的关键?数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
诸多研究沃尔玛的专家都会发现：沃尔玛努力避开一切中间环节，直接从工厂进货，其雄厚的经济实力使之具有强大的议价能力，而信息技术则成为实现这一理想的重要手段。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
对于信息技术的重视，似乎可以追溯到沃尔玛公司的创始人山姆沃尔顿的技术情结。山姆早年服役于美国陆军情报部队，这被认为是他特别重视信息沟通和信息系统建设的重要原因。在沃尔玛的集团式购销网络中，以卫星通讯和计算机管理所代表的信息化高科技联络方式起着举足轻重的作用。
说起信息化为沃尔玛带来的价值，沃尔玛的发展过程本身就是最好的证明。该公司早在1983年就同休斯公司合作，将一颗耗资2400万美元的人造卫星发射升空，成为全球第一个发射物流通信卫星的企业。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
至上世纪90年代初，沃尔玛在电脑和卫星通信系统上就已经投资了7亿美元，而它自身不过是一家纯利润只有营业额2%～ 3%的折扣百货零售公司。此外，沃尔玛还制订了“企业核心竞争力，降低总体成本”的新经营策略和理念，把电子商务和企业信息资源管理(ERP)提升到提高企业核心竞争力的战略高度。
通过新型的信息应用，沃尔玛的经营效率得到了革命性的提升。在沃尔玛全球的4000多家门店，通过该公司的网络在1小时之内就可对每种商品的库存、上架、销售量全部盘点一遍。整个公司的计算机网络配置在1977年完成，可处理工资发放、顾客信息采集整理和订货-发货-送货流程，并实现了公司总部与各分店及配送中心之间的快速直接通信。
1981年，沃尔玛开始试验利用商品条码和电子扫描器实现存货自动控制，又走在了其他零售商前面。采用商品条码代替了大量手工劳动，大幅缩短了顾客结账时间，更便于利用计算机跟踪商品从进货到库存、配货、送货、上架、售出的全过程。在对商品的整个处置过程中，总计节约了60%的人工成本。
20世纪80年代，沃尔玛开始利用电子数据交换系统(EDI)与供应商建立自动订货系统。到1990年，沃尔玛已与它的5000余家供应商中的1800家实现了电子数据交换，成为EDI技术的全美最大用户。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
到上世纪80年代末，沃尔玛配送中心的运行已完全实现了自动化。每个配送中心约10万平方米面积。每种商品都有条码，由十几公里长的传送带传送商品，由激光扫描器和电脑追踪每件商品的储存位置及运送情况。
到90年代，整个公司销售的8万种商品中，85%由这些配送中心供应，而竞争对手只有大约50%～ 65%的商品集中配送。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
沃尔玛的各级营业人员运用企业信息系统，实时对这些数据进行分类、加工和比较，最终整合成企业经营信息，如什么商品畅销、在什么时间畅销、销售变化周期有何规律、存量情况如何、何时需要补货等，实时传达至决策层。沃尔玛还把其商业信息网与供货商实现共享。在此基础上，沃尔玛建立起全球实时采购、配送系统，商品库存风险和物流费用大大降低，市场应变能力大大提高。而这一庞大的系统仍然是商业领域信息管理的典范之作。
新技术的不断应用被认为是关键的一步。但任何一项即将被应用到沃尔玛的新技术，都会被人这样考问：“它能帮助我们降低价格吗？”“它能增进客户对我们的消费体验感觉吗？”数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
二、契合商业战略是CIO的使命
现在被奉为零售企业学习榜样的沃尔玛，信息化精髓也常被人归结为：业务创新和IT创新彼此融合、共同发展；敏锐地嗅到新技术的商业价值，并领先于竞争对手投入应用；用尽一切科技手段铸造企业核心竞争力。
Steven认为，担任沃尔玛中国首席信息官，最大的挑战在于：“作为CIO，我们需要从战略上保证信息系统架构契合商业，因此所有开发计划都要支撑这个目标，但同时在实际操作中，我们用7*24小时系统和信息，有效地支持商业发展以便及时地做出独立的商业决策。而挑战在于用一个有效的IT组织去确保战略、效用和执行优先性的平衡。这就需要强有力的沟通和变革管理技能，去推进支撑商业架构的变革议程。”数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
对于CIO而言，最常被提问的就是IT系统的价值何在？2008年，Steven的最主要工作成绩就是实施支持商业战略和成长的IT项目。“品质、时间、成本”被Steven认为是这些项目的特点及成功关键因素。
这一切都源自Steven所带领的IT团队。Steven认为：“整个团队的职责在于所有在这个部门工作的人们都在构建一个有能力的组织，该组织使IT成为商业战略驱动的一部分。IT是理解商业难点、使系统架构适应商业架构、构建激励人们充分发挥作用的组织的一种工具。而整个团队对商业驱动力的理解，以及对战略的执行，都需要持续地学习商业理论”。数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
翻译：
2008 is definitely a memorable year for Chinese people. It has also been a challenging year for Steven Yau. Since February 18 of this year, he accepted a new job challenge: his identity changed from the director of business process and system of Walmart Global Purchasing Center to the chief information officer of Walmart China.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
“Whether it’s a new business environment or a new technology, it’s always about learning,” Steven says of how this change will affect his career. When I got to Walmart China, IT allowed me to get involved in another level of Walmart and become part of the overall strategy of Walmart, enabling IT to support the business strategy. Creating a system roadmap to support business strategy is a fundamental mission for IT.”数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
“Every day parity” secret
More than 7,000 stores in 14 countries and 176 million people visit Wal-Mart every week… Wal-mart entered China in 1996 when it opened its first Walmart Mall and Sam’s Club store in Shenzhen. After 11 years of development, Walmart has opened 99 Walmart shopping plazas, 3 Sam’s Club stores and 2 Walmart Community stores in 55 cities across the country.
As evidenced by the long checkout lines at Walmart every day, “Everyday cheap price” is undoubtedly Walmart’s most popular sales slogan. Behind the attractive price, what exactly is the key to winning?数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
Many experts who study Wal-Mart will find that it tries to avoid all the middlemen and buy goods directly from factories. Its strong economic strength gives it strong bargaining power, and information technology becomes an important means to achieve this ideal.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
The emphasis on information technology seems to date back to the technological obsession of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. Sam’s early service in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps is believed to be an important reason for his special emphasis on information communication and information system construction. In Walmart’s group-type purchasing and marketing network, the information technology communication represented by satellite communication and computer management plays a decisive role.
Speaking of the value brought by informationalization to Walmart, the development process of Walmart itself is the best proof.
As early as 1983, the company cooperated with Hughes and launched a $24 million satellite into space, becoming the first company in the world to launch a logistics communications satellite.
By the early 1990s Walmart had invested $700m in computers and satellite-communications systems, and was a discount department-store retailer with net profits of only 2% to 3% of sales. In addition, Walmart also formulated the “enterprise core competitiveness, reduce the overall cost” of the new business strategy and concept, the e-commerce and enterprise information resource management (ERP) to improve the enterprise core competitiveness of the strategic height.
Through new information applications, Wal-Mart’s operating efficiency has been revolutionized. In more than 4,000 Wal-Mart stores worldwide, it takes less than an hour to check the inventory, availability and sales of every item on the company’s network. The entire company’s computer network configuration was completed in 1977, which can handle payroll, customer information collection and collation, orders-delivery-delivery process, and realize the company’s headquarters and branches and distribution center between the direct communication.
In 1981, Wal-Mart was ahead of other retailers when it began experimenting with automated inventory control using bar codes and electronic scanners.
The use of commodity bar code instead of a large number of manual labor, greatly shorten the customer checkout time, more convenient to use the computer tracking goods from purchase to inventory, distribution, delivery, shelf, sold the whole process. In the whole process of commodity disposal, a total of 60% labor cost is saved.数字化转型网szhzxw.cn
In the 1980s, Wal-Mart began to use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system to establish automatic ordering system with suppliers. By 1990, Wal-Mart had implemented electronic data interchange with 1,800 of its more than 5,000 suppliers, becoming the largest user of EDI technology in the United States.
By the end of the 1980s, Walmart’s distribution centres were fully automated. Each distribution center covers about 100,000 square meters.
Each item has a bar code and is transported on a conveyor belt more than a dozen kilometers long. Laser scanners and computers track where each item is stored and shipped.
By the 1990s, 85 percent of the 80,000 products sold by the company were supplied by these centers. Compared with about 50 to 65 percent of competitors’ products.
Sales personnel at all levels of Walmart use the enterprise information system to classify. Process and compare these data in real time, and finally integrate them into business information. Such as what commodities are popular, when they are popular. What is the law of sales change cycle, what is the stock situation, when they need replenishment, and so on. Which can be conveyed to the decision-making level in real time. Wal-mart also shares its business information network with its suppliers. On this basis, Wal-Mart established a global real-time procurement and distribution system. Which greatly reduced the risk of commodity inventory and logistics costs, and greatly improved the market resilience. And this massive system is still the model for information management in the business world.
The continued application of new technologies is considered a crucial step. But with any new technology that’s going to be introduced to Walmart, the question is. “Will it help us lower prices?” “Does it enhance the customer experience with us?”
Fit the business strategy is the mission of CIO
Now regarded as a model for retail enterprises to learn from. The essence of information technology of Wal-Mart is often summed up as:. Business innovation and IT innovation are integrated and developed together. A keen sense of the business value of new technology, and ahead of the competitors to implement. Exhaust all scientific and technological means to cast enterprise core competitiveness.
According to Steven, the biggest challenge of being the CIO of Walmart China is:. “As the CIO, we need to strategically ensure that the information systems architecture fits the business. So all development plans support this goal. But at the same time, we effectively support the business with 24/7 systems and information to make independent business decisions in a timely manner. The challenge is to ensure a balance of strategy, utility, and executive priorities with an effective IT organization. This requires strong communication and change management skills to drive the change agenda that underpins the business architecture.”
For CIOs, one of the most frequently asked questions is what is the value of IT systems?
In 2008, Steven’s major achievement was implementing IT projects that supported business strategy and growth. “Quality, time and cost” are considered by Steven to be the characteristics and key factors for the success of these projects.
IT all started with the IT team led by Steven. Steven says, “The responsibility of the entire team is that all the people working in this department are building a capable organization that makes IT part of the business strategy drive. IT is a tool for understanding business difficulties, adapting system architecture to business architecture. And building organizations that motivate people to make the most of themselves. The understanding of business drivers and the execution of strategy by the entire team requires continuous learning of business theory.”
本文由数字化转型网（www.szhzxw.cn）转载而成，来源：沃尔玛CIO；编辑/翻译：数字化转型网宁檬树。
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