Storage Technology Corporation

Infobox_Company
company_name = Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek)
company_type = Subsidiary of Sun Microsystems
company_
company_vision = Be the storage experts who deliver easy-to-use, industry-leading, innovative storage solutions to manage and protect business critical information.
foundation = 1969
location = Louisville, Colorado
key_people = Patrick J. Martin, Chairman, President & CEO
Eula Adams, Vice President, Global Services
Jon Benson, Vice President and General Manager, Automated Tape Solutions
Pierre Cousin, Corporate Vice President, Research, Development and Engineering
Nigel Dessau, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Angel Garcia, Corporate Vice President, International Operations
Roger Gaston, Corporate Vice President, Human Resources
Robert Kocol,Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Roy G. Perry, Corporate Vice President, Global Supply Chain Management
Brenda Zawatski, Vice President and General Manager, Information Lifecycle Management Solutions
num_employees = ~7000 (2004)| revenue = $2.2 billion USD (2004)
industry = Computer hardware, software
products = data storage hardware and software, professional and support services| homepage = [http://www.sun.com/storagetek/ http://www.sun.com/storagetek/]

Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek or STK) is a worldwide technology company that delivers a broad range of data storage offerings. StorageTek is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, United States with manufacturing facilities in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is now a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and referred to as Sun StorageTek.

Brief history

StorageTek was founded in 1969 by four former IBM engineers: Jesse Awieda, Juan Rodriguez, Thomas Kavanagh, Zoltan Herger and has become a major force in data storage management. Storage Technology Corporation, which officially became known as StorageTek in 1983, originally challenged IBM's dominance in tape storage, expanded to compete in the printer business for more than a dozen years, introduced the automated tape library in 1987, and most recently has defined information lifecycle management as the framework for cost-effective and efficient storage early in the 21st century.

StorageTek entered global markets as early as 1971, by signing an agreement with Promodata of France, and by opening an office in Hamburg, Germany, in 1972. StorageTek entered the Japanese market in the early 1970s, and, within ten years of the company's creation, had expanded to Australia and other international markets. By the late 1970s, StorageTek had developed both OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and reseller partnerships to further its reach, and launched the Disk Products division.

Plagued by a series of missteps that drained the company's cash, including a failed attempt to develop an IBM compatible mainframe, and an optical disk product line, the company filed for Chapter 11 in 1984. New management was inserted under the direction of Ryal Poppa, a visionary yet dogmatic leader who steered the company out of disaster and led one of the most notable turnarounds in the history of the computer industry. Poppa chose to invest in a seemingly risky automated tape library system that 'picked' tapes with a robot arm and stored them in a silo-like contraption. The gamble paid off and StorageTek emerged as the dominant player in what became a lucrative market with little competition.

In 1990, StorageTek introduced a corporate-wide quality initiative called "Excellence Through Quality", which was based on Xerox's "Leadership Through Quality". The corporation focused on process improvement, which helped improve customer satisfaction, efficiency, and the life-cycle costs to the customer. In the mid-90s, ISO9001 certification was achieved, as well as initiatives on the 4C's and then the Core Values, which focused on improving the business culture, cooperation, and collaboration.

When Pat Martin took over as CEO, he had a customer-focused and process-focused workforce that just needed the discipline to manage the bottom line. Under Pat's leadership, years of continuous profitable quarters returned to StorageTek. The creativity and innovation of StorageTek's engineers have been the source of more than 600 U.S. and 135 patents in other countries. StorageTek has acquired a number of companies along the way, including Documation (1980), Aspen Peripherals Corporation (1989), Network Systems (1995), and Storability (2005). These and other activities allowed StorageTek to expand operations in Ponce, Puerto Rico and Toulouse, France.

StorageTek's customer focus also resulted in various forms of recognition. In 2005, StorageTek's Modular Disk (the D-Series and FlexLine product line) ranked #1 in all categories, and provided the best quarter yet for its disk business. Since then revenue from the Disk products portfolio has continue to grow, and it now represents the majority of storage revenue. This recognition was due in part to StorageTek's highly-trained and dedicated field force, a legacy of Howard Derby.

On June 2, 2005, Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced it would purchase Storage Technology Corporation ("StorageTek") for US$4.1 billion in cash, or $37.00 per share. On August 31, 2005, the acquisition was completed.

Technology Milestones for StorageTek

* 1970 - StorageTek releases its first product, the 2450/2470 tape drive.
* 1971 - StorageTek introduces the 3400 tape storage device.
* 1973 - StorageTek’s disk division is founded.
* 1974 - StorageTek’s first 3600 tape drive ships.
* 1975 - StorageTek ships the first 8000 Super Disk and announces the 8350 disk subsystem.
* 1978 - StorageTek develops a solid-state disk.
* 1984 - StorageTek files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and focuses R&D on automated tape.
* 1986 - StorageTek develops the first cached disk.
* 1987 - StorageTek develops tape automation and emerges from Chapter 11.
* 1994 - StorageTek introduces virtual disk.
* 1998 - StorageTek introduces Flexline disk arrays.
* 2001 - StorageTek introduces virtual networking.
* 2002 - StorageTek introduces BladeStore, a disk array based on ATA disk technology.
* 2003 - StorageTek introduces the EchoView data protection appliance, a disk-based appliance that eliminates the backup window.
* 2003 - StorageTek introduces the StreamLine SL8500 modular library system.

Products

*Tape libraries: L700, L700e, L180, L5500, SL8500
*Tape drives: StorageTek 9940, 9840, T10000
* Tape drives (rebranded): LTO, SDLT, DLT
*Disk array: ST9990, ST9985, ST6540, ST6140
* Fibre Channel, SAS, RAID and SCSI HBAs.

External links

* [http://www.sun.com/storagetek/ StorageTek Homepage]
* [http://www.sun.com Sun Microsystems Homepage]