Selling speed, toast, and jamBased in Milipitas, California, Adaptec makes hardware and software that expedites data transfer between computers, networks and peripherals. It leads the market for SCSI technology. Pronounced "scuzzy," this technology connects peripheral devices to computers and is used by servers and workstations to move large files. The company's bandwidth management solutions increase the speed of data transfer, and its Fast Ethernet networking devices help direct information through computer systems. Its input/output software is compatible with all of the leading processor platforms and operating systems. Adaptec also makes the award-winning CD-recording software, Easy CD Creator Deluxe, which allows the home-PC user to record music, images and videos onto CDs. The company also offers a similar product for Mac users called Jam for Macintosh and a DVD software application called DVD Toast.
SCSI-Wuzzy was a success
The company was formed in 1981 and sold its first SCSI products in 1983. It went public three years later. In 1989, Adaptec developed the advanced SCSO programming interface (ASPI). In 1991, Novell adopted the technology for its NetWare Networking software, and IBM followed a year later using it for its OS/2 operating system.
Adaptec goes gobble-gobble
Like many successful high-tech enterprises, Adaptec grew largely by acquiring other software companies. In 1995, it purchased Future Domain, which makes CD-ROM connection devices, and Trillium Research, which makes Apple-compatible connection devices. In 1996, the company bought Western Digital's Connectivity Systems Group and Corel's CD creator software. It also purchased software maker Data Kinesis and Cogent Data Technologies, which makes networking devices. In early 1998, Adaptec tried to acquire Symbios, but abandoned those efforts after the Federal regulators opposed the deal because it would give Adeptec a monopoly over the production of SCSI adapters.
Slippery sales, slippery employees
For most of the recent past, Adaptec's stock price and earnings had grown steadily, but the company hit a wall in 1998 and was forced to lay off 250 U.S. employees in April. Declining income and revenue figures were attributed to excess inventory and price instability. Two months later, Adaptec eliminated 350 jobs, or 10 percent of the company's overall workforce, at its Singapore manufacturing facility. Company execs say they intend to further trim operating expenses by cutting R&D and marketing expenses. Singapore still accounts for over 50 percent of Adaptec's sales.
On the mend
Adaptec has experienced a rebound since 1998 through some strategic restructuring. It shed its non-core operations (selling its Peripheral Technology Solutions (PTS) and Fiber Channel divisions) and introduced a successful new product, the 64-bit RAID adapter, which has already been included in some of Dell's latest products. That year, co-founder and interim-CEO Larry Boucher named President and COO Bob Stephens as the new CEO. In November 1999, the company acquired Distributed Processing Technology in an effort to lead the RAID (redundant array of independent disks) adapter market. And in March 2000, in keeping with its theme of moving, managing, and protecting data, Adaptec bought Plymouth-based software company Wild File, makers of the acclaimed GoBack line of software. GoBack allows users to rescue data after system crashes and software failures. In a sign that the firm is well on the rebound, it has started hiring again in its Singapore factories and has expressed interest in increasing its Asian presence with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
