????作為應(yīng)對(duì)策略，程守宗將業(yè)務(wù)擴(kuò)展至當(dāng)時(shí)新興的細(xì)分領(lǐng)域，即甲骨文這類巨頭不會(huì)激烈爭(zhēng)搶的數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)市場(chǎng)地帶。例如，他創(chuàng)建了一個(gè)部門，致力于開發(fā)可以在筆記本電腦上運(yùn)行的數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)軟件，那時(shí)正值便攜式電腦流行期間。他還讓Sybase專注金融交易、保險(xiǎn)和政府等領(lǐng)域，將零售和制造業(yè)這類大型市場(chǎng)讓給競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。

????程守宗所采取的其他措施后來被證實(shí)頗具先見之明。他推動(dòng)Sybase為手機(jī)等移動(dòng)設(shè)備開發(fā)數(shù)據(jù)管理軟件，而一些分析師曾認(rèn)為這一市場(chǎng)對(duì)于Sybase來說過于邊緣化，不值得開拓。他鼓勵(lì)開發(fā)人員為Sybase的移動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)開發(fā)了幾百個(gè)移動(dòng)應(yīng)用。他還將客戶服務(wù)這類服務(wù)搬到了網(wǎng)絡(luò)上。

????接下來的10年中，Sybase默默地積累了在移動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)軟件領(lǐng)域的專長(zhǎng)。一開始，懷疑人士是正確的：移動(dòng)市場(chǎng)的增長(zhǎng)較為緩慢。這家公司的股價(jià)幾年內(nèi)一直停留在20-30美元之間。2009年，隨著智能手機(jī)開始成為消費(fèi)者和企業(yè)員工的主流之選，Sybase股價(jià)翻了一倍多，飆升到44美元。

????2010年5月，有意溢價(jià)收購(gòu)各大企業(yè)的德國(guó)軟件巨頭SAP以每股65美元，即總價(jià)58億美元的價(jià)格收購(gòu)了Sybase。而僅在幾天前，Sybase的股價(jià)還不到40美元。當(dāng)時(shí)，程守宗說Sybase在為40億手機(jī)打理著短信收發(fā)服務(wù)。

????程守宗將努力扭轉(zhuǎn)黑莓的業(yè)務(wù)，但他說需要6個(gè)季度的時(shí)間。至于如何實(shí)現(xiàn)這一點(diǎn)，他在Sybase的戰(zhàn)術(shù)或許能提供一些答案。在Sybase的任期將滿時(shí)，程守宗于采訪中表示，他迅速、大刀闊斧地削減了成本，尤其是業(yè)績(jī)不佳部門的成本。他爭(zhēng)分奪秒地組建了一支高管團(tuán)隊(duì)，其中一半是以前曾經(jīng)共事過的內(nèi)部人士，另一半是素未謀面、但卻能帶來新理念的外部人士。

????程守宗還與數(shù)百名Sybase客戶見了面，向他們保證公司將繼續(xù)為他們服務(wù)，并向他們解釋了他的公司計(jì)劃。之后，早期跡象表明，業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)型策略生效了。一年后，Sybase扭虧為盈。2000年，這家公司斬獲了有史以來的最高利潤(rùn)。

????程守宗能讓這種逆轉(zhuǎn)在黑莓重現(xiàn)嗎？有可能。人們也很難再推舉一個(gè)更合適的人選來?yè)?dān)此重任。程守宗對(duì)移動(dòng)市場(chǎng)有著深刻的了解，且在捕捉形成氣候之前的新興趨勢(shì)方面擁有有據(jù)可查的記錄。他能講中文、粵語以及其他亞洲語言，與那些智能手機(jī)需求不斷攀升的國(guó)家有著很深的淵源。

????假如程守宗是扭轉(zhuǎn)黑莓局勢(shì)首席執(zhí)行官的不二人選，那么唯一的問題在于，黑莓到底還有沒有救。企業(yè)軟件和消費(fèi)設(shè)備是兩頭截然不同的猛獸。程守宗帶領(lǐng)Sybase進(jìn)入了移動(dòng)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)領(lǐng)域，用他的話來說，是退著進(jìn)去的，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)已經(jīng)是走投無路了。然而在智能手機(jī)領(lǐng)域，這種可供退著進(jìn)入的細(xì)分市場(chǎng)并不多。

????如果黑莓復(fù)興這一撩人的目標(biāo)過于遙遠(yuǎn)，遙遠(yuǎn)到甚至連最有野心的超膽俠都難以企及的話，那么程守宗可能會(huì)多個(gè)心眼，效仿埃維爾?克尼維爾的做法，在他自己駕駛的那輛飛車上裝一個(gè)結(jié)實(shí)的降落傘。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：翔

????Chen responded by expanding into what were then emerging niches, corners of the database market where giants like Oracle might not compete as aggressively. For example, he created a division focused on making database software that could run on laptops, just as portable computers were in demand. He also kept Sybase focused on sectors like financial trading, insurance, and governments, ceding larger markets like retail and manufacturing to rivals.

????Other moves proved to be remarkably prescient. Chen pushed Sybase into developing data management for mobile devices like cell phones, a market that some analysts once considered too peripheral for Sybase to bother with. He encouraged developers to write hundreds of apps for Sybase's mobile database. And he moved services like customer service onto the web.

????For the next decade, Sybase quietly built up its expertise in mobile database software. At first, the skeptics were right: The mobile market was slow to take off. The stock price traded between $20 a share and $30 a share for several years. Through 2009, Sybase shares more than doubled to $44 as smartphones began to go mainstream among consumers and corporate workers.

????In May 2010, SAP, a German software giant with a penchant for overpaying for companies, bought Sybase for $5,8 billion, or $65 a share. Only a few days earlier, Sybase was trading below $40 a share. At the time, Chen said that Sybase handled SMS traffic for 4 billion mobile phones.

????Chen's playbook at Sybase may give some insight to how he'll try to turn BlackBerry around in the six quarters he says he'll need. According to interviews near the end of his tenure at Sybase, Chen said he quickly and aggressively cut costs, especially in underperforming areas. He wasted no time in building an executive team with an equal mix of insiders, people he's worked with before, and outsiders he didn't know but who could bring in new ideas.

????Chen also met with hundreds of Sybase customers to assure them the company would be around and to explain his plan for the company, then followed with early evidence the turnaround was working. After a year, Sybase had turned red ink into black and in 2000 had its most profitable year to date.

????Can Chen repeat that turnaround at BlackBerry? Maybe. It's hard to think of a better candidate for the position. Chen has a deep understanding of the mobile market and a track record for spotting emerging trends before they shape markets. He speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, and other Asian languages and has deep ties to countries where smartphone demand is growing.

????Assuming Chen is the right CEO to turn BlackBerry around, the only question remains whether BlackBerry can be saved at all. Enterprise software and consumer devices are two different beasts. Chen steered Sybase into mobile databases, he once said, by backing into it because there was little other choice. In smartphones, there aren't many niches to back into.

????If the tantalizing goal of a BlackBerry turnaround is just too far away for even the most ambitious daredevil to reach, then Chen might be smart to follow Evel Knievel example and secure a sturdy parachute to his own Skycycle.