( ESNUG 385 Item 2 ) --------------------------------------------- [12/19/01]
From: [ Aart de Geus, Chairman & CEO of Synopsys ]
Subject: ( ESNUG 384 ) Aart Replies To The 100 Avanti Merger User Letters
Hi, John,
Although often tempted, I've never written to ESNUG, believing that it should
truly be a user forum, free of what you would call "executroid, marketing
droid, and Wall Street distractions." I plan to stick to this discipline,
with only today's exception, which I am making after reading the 100 or so
letters in ESNUG 384 about the pending Avanti merger.
Let me try to address some of the issues your readers raised. In general,
their questions fell into four categories:
First, "Is the merger good for the customer?" (ESNUG 384 #6, #8, #14)
We have found that customers want three things:
a.) Best flow: For many of you, the merger of Synopsys and Avanti occurred
in your design flow a long time ago. A rapid integration of our
front-end tools with the Avanti back end will immediately improve
this flow. (ESNUG 384 #14)
b.) Interoperability: There were a number of references to interoperability
issues in ESNUG 384 #6. Many of you use a Synopsys-Cadence flow and
have also produced impressive results. Whatever your choice of tools,
we will actively continue to support flows with competitors via
standard interfaces. We have always believed that providing strong
open interfaces is a must. (Note that we have been open with several
interfaces, including .lib, SystemC, SDC, and OpenVera.)
c.) Competition: No one wants any supplier to become too powerful. As of
today, there is one strong complete supplier of front-to-back
solutions and two smaller suppliers. When Synopsys and Avanti merge,
there will be two strong suppliers. Competition from both large and
small companies brings out the best in everyone: best design flows,
best support, best solutions, best pricing, and best ROI for customers.
(ESNUG 384 #8)
Second, "What about the legal stuff?" (ESNUG 384 #3 & #17)
Let me be very clear: We don't condone what happened in the past. But it's
important to remember that a huge price has already been paid. Some
individuals responsible are serving jail time. Avanti made a very large
restitution payment upon closure of the criminal case and has suffered for
years under a cloud of doubt and mistrust. This is especially unfortunate
in light of the outstanding new technology that their engineers have
produced over the years.
"What about Gerry Hsu?" some readers asked in ESNUG 384 #3. Neither he nor
any of the Avanti board members will be part of Synopsys going forward. None
of Avanti's severance and non-compete agreements were entered into as part of
the merger agreement; instead, all were pre-existing contractual obligations
between Avanti and the people in question.
Synopsys' focus is entirely on the future: Retain the best Avanti has to
offer and build a company that serves its customers well.
We believe that our acquisition of Avanti should remove any remaining doubts
that users have about the ethical integrity of today's Avanti products. We
have done our homework, and we are convinced that the products we will
acquire are clean. And going forward, we will run the merged business with
the same ethical standards under which Synopsys has always operated.
Third, "What about a potential culture clash?" (ESNUG 384 #7 & #13)
I have found that people have often made the mistake of attributing to all
of Avanti's employees the worst things that they have heard or believed
about some of their management. In my opinion, this is a mistake.
During our negotiations and since the announcement, I have met many Avanti
employees and have spent time with a number of their technical stars. If
there is one piece of DNA that is identical between Synopsys and Avanti, it
is their strong commitment to technology leadership. There is no question in
my mind that we both see a future in which product, people, and management
decisions are largely determined by the question: "How can we drive the state
of the art forward faster, now that we are together?"
Fourth, "What about the roadmap going forward?"
In the first two weeks since the acquisition announcement, many of you have
already asked us for our new roadmap, and I saw lots of questions along this
line throughout ESNUG 384. Please be patient; we will communicate much more
as soon as the merger closes. But rest assured that customers will not have
to worry about in-progress design projects. We will support those through
to completion with existing products. Going forward, we will choose the
best product features ("best" according to customers), whatever their
origin, for future releases.
Our desire to meet your technology and support needs has a long history,
which leads me to my next subject:
Synopsys' 15th Anniversary
--------------------------
This week, on December 18, Synopsys celebrates its 15th anniversary.
There is only one word that really matters on this subject: THANKS!
Thanks to our customers for having bet their chips (literally!) on Synopsys
when we were a small company with brand-new, unproven technology. Thanks
for sticking with us year after year as we introduced new products and
evolved old ones because you (sometimes relentlessly) pushed us to do better
in product features, runtime, quality of results, capacity, and support.
But above all, thanks to all of you who stuck with us when we did not always
live up to your expectations. We will never stop trying, because you're the
only judge that counts in assessing our performance.
Thanks also for the occasional user thank-you letter (they always make my
day!), describing your success on some really sophisticated design. I am
truly amazed at the complexity and sheer engineering ingenuity that goes
into our users' products, and then I realize: "Did they really do this with
our software? Wow!" Thanks.
For 15 years, we have had the privilege of being part of your chip designs.
We used to be proud of your 1,000-gate synthesis runs; now they're
million-gate runs. Simulation has sped up 110X over this timeframe, too.
With your continued input, prodding, and support, together we intend to give
Moore's law many more turns of the crank.
Thank you.
- Aart de Geus, Chairman & CEO
Synopsys, Inc. Mountain View, CA
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