Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mit-eddie!ll-xn!ames!amdcad!uport!chuck From: chuck@uport.UUCP (Chuck Hickey) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.unix.xenix Subject: Microport - Man or Myth? Message-ID: <163@uport.UUCP> Date: Thu, 15-Oct-87 17:43:56 EDT Article-I.D.: uport.163 Posted: Thu Oct 15 17:43:56 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Oct-87 09:54:53 EDT Lines: 90 Xref: mnetor comp.unix.wizards:4932 comp.unix.xenix:970 People's UNIX - Now More Than Ever Recently Microport received a few critical comments on the net about our policies. These comments are appreciated and have been used by us in shaping our new policys. In just the last few weeks we have made so many improvements in our products, and policys that I'd like to take the time here to fill you all in. The Microport philosophy from day one, has been to sell the high quality AT&T/Intel standard UNIX systems at a price that any software developer could afford. Just barely a year ago we were ten guys in a garage. Now we are over fifty people and we are shipping thousands of units a month world-wide. For the past six months or so this transition has been a real strain. We've added so many new products, and our installed base has grown so quickly that it would have been a real miracle if we hadn't gotten in over our head in shipments and support. We simply haven't been able to order phone lines, by product materials, and add support people fast enough. During the startup phase, our primary goal was to be first to market with the latest products. We are now passing out of the startup phase, into a more mature growth phase, where improving the quality of our products and services and the efficiency of our operation is the primary goal. To accelerate this process we are relying on a tried and true method: Top-notch management, lots of capital, and a dedicated and well trained work force. Starting just last month we've added three grey-haired veterans in key areas, and have begun a major upgrade of our operations. None of these guys know the C declaration for a pointer to a function that returns a pointer to a function, in fact they don't know C at all, but they know alot about running a software business. The most notable addition to our staff is Ted Ferguson as VP of marketing, with over twenty years of experience. Ted was one of the first real UNIX marketing people, being involved with Onyx on the very first commercial port of UNIX to a micro. He has quickly assembled a product marketing team to refine the quality and completeness of every product in our offering. In just the last two weeks, one of his new product managers has worked closely with engineering, support and shipping, to make sure that the product we ship contains the latest revision of the software, properly tested and packaged. We've never had this type of coordination before. Another new key player is Stan Phillips, also a twenty year veteran of this industry. Stan, with his military background, is whipping our shipping, support, and order taking operations in line. One of his recent accomplishments has been automating our inventory control system. For the first time we now are generating daily back order reports which we are using to dramatically decrease our back-order situation. To this team I've also added Don Fluken as CFO, a twenty five year veteran, and one of the top finance people in the Silicon Valley. Early in his career at Ford he ran entire factories. Don was responsible for straightening out many of the same problems when he was at Micropro as their staff increased from thirty to over five hundred people and sales increased twenty fold. The issue of support is a key one, and we are hustling to improve the quality of support. As the first step, 800 number toll-free support has been restored to support contract customers. We have added additional 800 telephone lines, and will be further expanding the Support Staff. More formal and comprehensive update policies are now in place as well. These changes are just the beginning of a new, more business-like Microport. The vision hasn't changed - real UNIX at a reasonable price. Turning this concept into a well run business just involves more hard work. I am interested in hearing your comments, particularly if in the past you have had problems with our products or our support. Since I am on the road a lot, and cannot always access the net, feel free to call me with your comments at 800/722-8649 or in California 800/822-8649. Charles Hickey President and Founder Microport Systems, Inc.