INtheInternetera,withtheemergenceofnewbusinessmodels,manynewjobshavebeencreated.WiththeinitiativeofbuildingadigitalChinainfullswing,cloudservicesforgovernments,enterprisesandfinancialinstitutionshavetouchedeveryaspectofourlives.
AsaveteranoftheChineseITindustry,YanLiang,generalmanagerofInspurCloudoftheInspurGroupCo.,Ltd.,upholdsthe“spiritofthecraftsman”bypursuinginnovationandperfectionforthepasttwodecades,leadinghisteamtobuildInspurCloud,aleadingcloudcomputingsolutionandcloudservicessupplier.
GreetingtheCloudEra
Inspur,asoneoftheearliestITcompaniesinChina,hasledthedevelopmentoftheChineseITindustrybydevelopingthecountry’sfirstmicrocomputer,thefirstChinesecharacterpagerintheworld,China’sfirstmicro-server,thefirst32-wayhigh-endfault-tolerantcomputer,thefirstPB(petabyte)levelmassstorage,andtheTiansuoK1system,whichisakeyapplicationmainframe.
In2010,InspurannounceditsIn-CloudstrategyinChina.YanLiangledateamof50-oddtalentedandhard-workingmemberstobuildthebusinessfromscratch.Today,histeamisabletoprovideawiderangeofcloudproductsandservices,withcloudcomputingdatacentersbeingestablishedaroundthecountry.“Wespentthefirstthreeyearsworkingtounderstandwhatthecloudisandwhatitcando,”explainedYan.
In2011,InspursignedanagreementforstrategiccooperationwiththelocalgovernmentofJinanCity,thecapitalofShandongProvince.Withoutstandards,lawsandregulationstofollow,Yanandhisteam,throughtrialanderror,establishedthelargestfourthgenerationcloudcomputingdatacenterofAsiainJinanCityin2014.
Today,inthisdatacenterwhichoccupiesanareaof21,600squaremeters,features24-hoursecuritymonitoringandninesecuritydoors,Yan’steamisprovidingsafeandreliablecloudservicestolocalgovernmentsandenterprisesinShandong.
Thecloudcomputingdatacenterisnotjustaserverroomorasimpledatacenter,butratherthenewinfrastructureofsociety.Becauseaclouddatacenterhousesinformationanddataofgovernments,enterprises,andindividuals,itpotentiallyexertsahugeimpactonsocietyifanythinggoeswrong.Therefore,itisarequirementandchallengeforYan’steamtokeeptheoperationoftheclouddatacentersceaseless,seamless,andconsistentallthetime.AglimpseoftheInspur’sclassleadingfourthgenerationcloudcomputingdatacenter.“Forthepastfewyears,Ihavebeenfocusedondevelopingcloudproductsandservices,whichconstituteacompleteproductline,”saidYan.Toprovidebettercloudservices,heneedstoestablishanetworkofclouddatacentersnationwide,withdifferentsitesprovidingsupport,thusensuringbettercustomerexperience.
Theestablishmentandlayoutofdatacenters,aswellasresourceacquisitionisjustthefirststep.Itisthecapabilityindevelopingintegratedproductsandservicesthatdecideacompany’scompetitivenessinthecloudsector.ThatiswhyYanhaspaidheedtothedevelopmentofcloudplatformsandcloud-poweredproducts,especiallythecloudservicesprovidedtoenterprises.Hesaidthatenterpriseshavehigherrequirementsforavailabilityofcloudservices.
Forthepastfewyears,Yanhasledhisteamtofinishsoftwaredevelopmentintermsofgovernmentcloudservicesandpubliccloudservices.Toguaranteethequalityoftheirservices,hesetverystrictstandardsforhisteam,whichhaszerotoleranceforbugsandotherproblems.TheyadoptedContinuousIntegrationandContinuousDeployment(CI/CD),aswellasGrayRelease,sotheservicestoenterprisecustomerswon’tbeinterruptedwhenthecloudplatformisupdating.Yanexplaineditwithametaphor:“Itislikechangingthewheelsofacarwhilethecarisstillrunning.”
Yansaidthatthroughyearsofresearchandpractice,Inspurhasestablished50cloudcomputingdatacentersaroundthecountry.Tosolveproblemsthatcropupintermsofdevelopmentandteamoperationinatimelymanner,Yanisverybusyandmakesalotofbusinesstrips.Hesaidhehasgottenusedtoworkinglonghours,oftentalkingtostaffviaphonewhilehavinglunchordinnerathotels.
“Ithinkoneshouldlovethejobhetakesonandtrytodoitwell.Thatmeansoneshouldsethighrequirementsforhimselfandkeepinnovatingandfocusingonwhatheisdoing,”saidYan.TheITindustryseesrapidgrowthwithnewtechnologiesemergingeachpassingday.Itrequirescontinuousendeavorandinnovationoftheteamtokeeppacewiththeupdateandupgradeinthesector.
UnremittingEfforts
Today,Yan’steamhasevolvedintoInspurCloud,withservicescoveringsuchareasascomputation,storage,securityservices,AI,andmanagementservices.InspurCloudhasachievedtopmarketshareinprovidingcloudservicestogovernmentsinChinaforfourconsecutiveyears.
YansaidthatthefeatureproductsofInspurCloudaresecurityservices,AI,andmanagementservices.Besidesrobustsecuritysystemsandawiderangeofsecurityproducts,InspurCloudtailormakessecuritysolutionsforgovernmentcustomers,suchasreliableandsafecloudserversandsecuritytestingforusers’accounts.Thesafecloudserverisanupgradedversionofthetraditionalcloudservertomeettheneedofgovernmentcustomersbyinternallyinstallingasecuritymodule,soastoenhanceitssecuritycapabilities.Theusers’accountssecuritytestingsystemisthefirstofitskindnationwide,whichcandetectiftheusers’accountsinformationhasbeenstolenandremindthemintimetochangetheirpasswords.
“IntermsofAI,InspurCloudreliesontheInspurGroup’scapacityinbigdataanalysis,developsproductswithself-learningcapabilities,improvingthehuman-computercooperationwhileworking.Intermsofmanagement,Inspurprovidesservicescoveringtheentireprocess,includingplanning,construction,operation,andmaintenance.Inaddition,itoffersvariousmanagementsystemsandserviceproceduresbasedonitspreviousexperience,sotobetterhelpgovernmentcustomersunderstandandadapttoinformation-basedmanagement,”saidYan.Headdedthatabunchofpatentshavebeenapprovedandinnovationsbeenmadeindevelopingtheirproductsandservices.
“Thecloudproductcanberegardedasaninfrastructureoftheneweraandisthemainbattlefieldforinnovation,”saidYan.Sincetheclouddatacentersarescatteredallaroundthecountry,theteamhastomakefrequentbusinesstrips,workovertime,andhavemeetingsfrequently.Theirgoalistokeepthecloudservicesrunning.Asthesuperintendentoftheteam,Yanoftentravelstodifferentcitiestoconductnegotiationsforprojectcooperation.Hejokesthathisworkislikebeingonanon-stopflight.
Hesaidthatinthefaceofrapiddevelopmentofthecloudsectorandfiercecompetition,nooneshouldgetslack.Underhisinfluence,histeammembersshoulderdifferentresponsibilitiesandcarryouttheirroleswelltojointlyimprovetheproductsandservicesofInspurCloud.
Long-termServicesandSupport
Yanpointedoutthatakeydifferencefromthepreviousproductsorprojectshedidisthatofferingcloudservicesrequireslong-termeffort.Headmittedthattheirservicesstartassoonastheydelivertheproducts.
Hepayscloseattentiontocustomerfollow-up.Yansaidthatonceanenterprisecustomerboughtacloudproduct,themostexperiencedteamdevisedtheimplementationstrategy.Aftertheproductwasdelivered,Yanthoughttheycouldstillimprovetheservice,sohesentsometeammemberstofollowup,understandingcustomers’futureneedsandimprovingthefunctionsoftheirproducts,makinghisproductsmorecompetitive.Thesecurityproducts,suchasthesafecloudserver,weredevelopedthisway.
“Itislikeaperpetualmotionmachine,”Yansaid.Theoperationofclouddatacentersandcloudserviceswillneverstop,soitdemandsunremittingeffortsofourstaff,evenduringholidaysandfestivals.
Yanandhisteam’seffortshavebeenrewardedwithvariousmedals,certificates,andpatents.WithunswervingeffortsofprofessionalslikeYan,InspurCloudandthewholeChineseITindustryisexpectedtoachievemoreinthefuture.
QIUXIAOQINisajournalistwithgmw.cn.