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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

3323.0. "SCO now Digital Semiconductor" by MKOTS3::LANGLOIS (Which bridge to burn,which to cross) Fri Aug 12 1994 09:20

			(From Livewire (11-AUG))

        Semiconductor business announces new promotional campaign; 
               changes name from SCO to Digital Semiconductor 
                                     
    [Following is the text of message to employees of the semiconductor
   organization from Ed Caldwell, vice president, Digital Semiconductor]
 
 During the coming months, we will start to roll-out a comprehensive 
 promotional campaign designed to create awareness and build credibility 
 of Digital as a semiconductor merchant vendor. One of the first steps in 
 this awareness campaign is to establish a separate identity for the 
 semiconductor organization. 
 
 Effective immediately, SCO will be known as Digital Semiconductor. This 
 new organizational name allows us to start building our own identity in 
 the marketplace while retaining a strong link to the Digital name. This 
 is important to our target customers as Digital has an outstanding 
 reputation for engineering excellence.
 
 I would like to point out that this is a new organizational name, not a 
 separate legal entity. We are not a subsidiary or a separate company. We 
 are very much a part of Digital Equipment Corporation.
 
 The new name will be introduced this month and will be incorporated into 
 our business activities throughout the year. Using the new name will be 
 an evolutionary process. We are in the process of developing a rollout 
 plan that starts with the internal announcement of the new name, followed 
 by an announcement to the press and a new advertising campaign. We will 
 use the new name in all of our promotional materials and we will start to 
 develop guidelines for the use of the name on our signage and for new 
 business cards. These guidelines will be available in mid-September. For 
 the foreseeable future, we do not plan to change standard business 
 materials such as letterhead or business forms. 
 
 We will not use the Digital logo as part of the organizational name, 
 Digital Semiconductor. We will continue to use the Digital logo as a 
 standalone entity in accordance with corporate guidelines.
 
 If you have any questions regarding the name and its implementation, 
 contact Linda Sanders, Semiconductor Marketing Programs Manager.

                       FOR DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
3323.1		FILTON::ROBINSON_M	It's only a flesh wound!	`Fri Aug 12 1994 13:13`	6
	When I read the title, I immediately thought 'They can't do that!' How dare the biggest supplier of Unix(tm) systems for PC(tm) platforms try and copy us? Then I actually read it. Good, simple clear name without acronyms. Well done.
3323.2		DPDMAI::EYSTER	Still chasin' neon dreams	`Fri Aug 12 1994 16:58`	3
	Rings a bell. Seems they were trying to establish Digital Consulting as a separate entity a short time ago, apparently for sell-off. When that fell through, Digital Consulting ... is no more.
3323.3	Digital Consulting now Digital Semiconsulting?	HLDE01::VUURBOOM_R	Roelof Vuurboom @ APD, DTN 829 4066	`Sun Aug 14 1994 05:27`	1

3323.4	a world class org	ASDG::TREMBLAY		`Mon Aug 15 1994 16:40`	7
	There are good things happening in "Digital Semiconductor". SCO has always been a money pit for Digital and this change signifies the end of that scenario. Our extpertise at building the finest micro- processors in the world is now for hire and we will soon be a profitable organization while continuing to supply Digital with world class silicon products. JT
3323.5	Questions	TOOK::MORRISON	Bob M. LKG1-3/A11 226-7570	`Mon Aug 15 1994 17:25`	10
	This change is long overdue. People were continually getting confused be- tween Digital SCO and SCO Inc. It would have been foolhardy for us to try to market IC's under the name "Digital Semiconductor Operations". "Digital Semiconductor" is too long to be written or spoken in full at all times. What is the accepted abbreviation? DSC? Is the Semiconductor Business Operation (SBO), which was part of SCO, now part of Digital Semiconductor too? This is the corporate group for acquiring IC's from vendors and testing them. It doesn't surprise me that there was no mention of SBO in the Livewire posting; they are (and always have been) much smaller than the rest of SCO and have always had a low profile.
3323.6	Please be objective.	MILKWY::BLOMBERG		`Mon Aug 15 1994 17:51`	3
	re .4: You are kidding, right?
3323.7		AXEL::FOLEY	Rebel without a Clue	`Tue Aug 16 1994 00:14`	9
	RE: .4 I'd like to see how they are going to become profitable. Will making AMD 486 chips balance the cost of Alpha? Don't get me wrong, I wish them luck, but volume speaks louder than words. mike
3323.8	NOT kidding!	ASDG::TREMBLAY		`Tue Aug 16 1994 08:40`	19
	re .6 NO! re .7 I admit it's hard to be objective after working in the Fabs for 10 years. The changes in technology have been incredible. Fab6 is coming along nicely and it's exciting to think about what the potential is. We can produce Alpha in volume. What we need to do is sell Alpha products so we can use our capacity for ourselves. I also believe that making AMD 486's will be profitable although I'm not per- sonally involved in the effort. Overall, I will remain optimistic because I truly believe we are world class. We will continue to lead in IC technology. re .5 Sorry, I can't answer your questions. Acronyms will find a way of surfacing all by themselves and I'm not involved in the SBO. JT
3323.9	Digital Semi?	USHS01::HARDMAN	Massive action = Massive Results	`Tue Aug 16 1994 10:02`	8
	Friends of mine that work for Dallas Semiconductor refer to the company as Dallas Semi. My guess is that the 'short' version of Digital Semiconductor will become Digital Semi (sem-eye). How it will be referred to in memos remains to be seen. ;-) Harry
3323.10	We don't need more confusion	ROWLET::AINSLEY	Less than 150 kts. is TOO slow!	`Tue Aug 16 1994 11:42`	8
	re: .5 Hopefully not DSC. DSC is a telecommunications switch manufacturer. They used to be called Digital Switch. Here in Dallas, if you said you worked for "Digital", people thought you meant Digital Switch. Bob
3323.11		YIELD::HARRIS		`Tue Aug 16 1994 16:18`	14
	re: Note 3323.7 by AXEL::FOLEY > I'd like to see how they are going to become profitable. Will > making AMD 486 chips balance the cost of Alpha? Volume is the key, a big part of the expense in running a FAB are the building and manufacturing equipment (fixed costs). We have to produce at capacity to stand a chance of being profitable. Even if we only broke even on the AMD stuff, it would allow is to apply the fixed cost to a larger amount of product. We haven't done this to date, producing only for Digital. This is being addressed by Ed Caldwell and the AMD deal is just the beginning. -Bruce
3323.12	"Soon" is a relative term...	LADYM::TEASDALE		`Thu Sep 01 1994 18:11`	10
	I asked Ed Caldwell at his last State of the Business talk when semiconductors planned to reach profitability...the answer: FY97. Can we really hang on that long? The biggest hurdle may be for us to change our engineering mindset from R&D/captive market to one of a foundry/the open market, from prestige-driven to cost-driven. NT