[Editor’s note: This blog originally appeared with LSI. It was kept as part of the acquisition of the SandForce product line from Avago/LSI.]
Merging the working cultures of two different companies can be a very complex task. In my past experience with these situations I have not typically found the result to be highly positive for the employees of the incoming company.
As one example, the acquiring company may tell the employees they will be able to keep their startup environment and mentality, but within one or two quarters nearly all of those attributes are eliminated and the employees just become another cog in the bigger machine. After that the drive and creativity that was fostered with that startup mentality often disappears.
Year two and still happily married
In the first week of 2012, LSI completed the acquisition of SandForce, further expanding its growing coverage of flash memory technology IP. SandForce had grown significantly since its emergence from stealth mode in 2009 to become a leading provider of flash controllers for enterprise, cloud and client solid state storage solutions.
The SandForce team was kept in whole and created the Flash Components Division of LSI. The team even continues to reside in the same building it had occupied the prior year, further supporting the internal feeling of their original startup mentality. Most of the original culture of SandForce was kept intact and that enabled the transition into the larger LSI Corporation much easier for most people. Because those changes were spread out over a longer period of time it was easier for the team to digest with minimal disruption to their daily flow.
For the business side of the acquisition, there has been significant upside as a result of the merger. Over the last 14 months, both companies have invested significant time and resources to leverage the SandForce flash controller technology across the company. LSI had already designed a high-end enterprise solution using the SandForce technology in their PCIe based Nytro product line.With both companies now under one umbrella, the engineering teams are free to develop advanced capabilities between the products to enable deeper integration that will result in greater customer benefits.
Greater efficiency for the sake of customers
As a single larger company, LSI is now able to redistribute engineering and support resources as needed to better align with the quick expansion of flash memory storage solutions for its customers. It is also much easier to ensure a higher level of interoperability between related products and solutions. Many of the customers already purchasing LSI products can use the same sales and support teams already in place to access and incorporate a larger set of solutions from LSI.
Enterprise storage manufacturers have millions if not billions of dollars of revenue and their reputation at stake when they select new and emerging technologies like flash memory to provide storage for their customers. There is always a level of concern when these companies work with smaller startup organizations. The high-technology industry is full of company names that had a great technology, but for one reason or another they could not sustain the business and fell into oblivion. The acquisition of SandForce by LSI adds the support and confidence of a multi-billion dollar company to help assuage any possible concerns of those enterprise manufacturers.
Personally, as one of the early SandForce employees, I have found the acquisition to be very beneficial to everyone involved including employees, customers, and end users. I look forward to further advancements we will make to the flash industry as we continue to drive flash memory into the storage industry.
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