ArsTechnica - Intel Announces Massive Restructuring Program
(You all know I work for Intel, right? I don’t have any more information that what’s available publicly, via the AP, etc. Just expressing some thoughts here.)
Intel CEO Paul Otellini has told the world that Intel has to change. He’s announced plans to undertake some pretty drastic measures to restructure the company, though at this point, no one knows what they are going to be. Basically, over the next 90 days, programs and processes are going to undergo some kind of review, and then any changes will be announced.
If you’ve ever worked at a big company, you know that the mere mention of the word “restructuring” scares the crap out of you. Because it usually brings along a reduction in the number of people that are employed at the company. No one wants to lose their job, including me.
But I have felt for a long time that something needs to be done at Intel. I don’t claim to know what it is, but it feels like we’ve been on this long slow slide into commodity and mediocrity. We’re like the electric company these days - everyone uses our products and services, but no one really cares much about the company delivering them. You just don’t see people behaving passionately towards Intel. Our stock price has reflected this, sliding steadily from the $30s to under $20 in recent months. Intel has become a commodity company.
Intel has been withering.
I really want to see that change, but I don’t know how to fix it all. If I did, maybe I should be the CEO. 
But I do know how to look for and go after passion and excitement in my little sphere in the world. I want to continue to find and do cool, useful things. I want to harness the things I’m excited about and good at (blogs, podcasting, wikis, etc.) and benefit Intel and the people that work there. I want to make their job easier, and more fun. Some philosophies I’d like to see following in the restructuring: the simplest thing that could possibly work. Small pieces loosely joined. Focusing on being remarkable, instead of being adequate.
What’s my biggest fear about the restructuring? It’s not that I’ll lose my job (though as I stated, I definitely don’t want that to happen! :-)). It’s that the people (in general, no one in particular) making the decisions will take more influence from politics and self interest (and self preservation) than from doing what’s right for Intel. I would really hate to see smart people that are working hard and doing great things for the company leave, either because their group or project was cut, or because they get so fed up with politics and bureaucracy.
So, Intel is going to prune.
Will it be enough to stop the withering process? We may not know for a while. I’m interested in what you think. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments, or email me. Remember, I’m not speaking officially for Intel here. I’m just a geek blogger, having a conversation.
TinyScreenfuls Feed (this blog)
Need to lighten up - I’m doing a "Twitter Boot Camp" with the ISN team in 1 hr. 
It’s funny. I’ve been pondering the opposite idea - actually being less than perfect. But I guess it depends on what part of the business you’re talking about. I think in some areas we strive to reach a quality level that isn’t required and in other areas, quality cannot be lessened.
Josh, good luck. I know that whatever happens, you’ll land on your feet.
(EDIT: I removed some information that G11 posted about his opinion of what’s going to happen to some Intel groups and product lines in the restructure. I don’t know if he was right or wrong, but it’s not appropriate here.
–Josh)
Josh, just judging from what I’ve seen of your posts internally and externally, and the seeming focus of your job (blogging, podcasting, wki, etc.) I have a very difficult time seeing how you add enduring value to the corporate bottom line.
I see all of these posts about all of these gadgets you have (I assume the company is paying for most, if not all of them), conferences you go to, all of these posts and comments that you are making during the day (I assume on company time), and I just have to wonder, honestly and truthfully, what value to intel’s mission all of this is adding.
Job functions such as yours are exactly the type of “luxurious” jobs/fat that we need to be cutting. Your salary and gadget costs could be better put to work in other areas of the company, and all of this blogging and other non-productive activity could be dispersed among many other people throughout the company.
Just my two cents.
- A concerned Grade 11 Corporate Manager.
Dear anonymous concerned Grade 11:
You make some assumptions that are incorrect, for the most part. With very few exceptions, Intel does NOT pay for my gadgets, unless you’re considering the fact that I buy them with the salary that Intel pays me. The exceptions? The Creative Zen Vision that I was given (unsolicited) by the guys in the Digital Home group, and the Mac mini that I’m using on my desk at work.
Also, Intel doesn’t pay for the blogging/podcast related conferences that I go to. Last year, I went to Gnomedex and Portable Media Expo on my own dime, even taking vacation days for the time I was gone. Intel did pay for my trip to PDC, but that was directly related to my job function at the time.
You’re also assuming that all I do is blog and podcast all day. I do sometimes post during the day, at work, but my manager is OK with that, because I also often do work at home, or “off hours”, and frankly, it doesn’t take up that much of my time. My job role is in developing and evangelizing collaboration tools for design engineers. Right now, that’s mostly wikis, and I get 5-6 requests per week to either set up a wiki for some Intel group to use for team collaboration, or to train them on how to use Intelpedia and wikis in general.
As to whether my job is “fat” that needs to be trimmed, I guess that’s for my management chain to decide. But I’m working directly on things that make people able to do their jobs more efficiently, and I’m getting substantial, concrete results.
Thanks for the comment - feel free to follow up with me internally if you’d like to talk about this some more.
I fail to see value in censorship. Blogs like this let us know that real humans work at these large corporations, not just marketing droids. I would rather read the opinions of someone on the inside of a company than a ton of PR junk, because it will be a lot less fat and more meat. By the way, it sounds like your job helps inner communications, so it may be more relevant than G11’s job.
G11, please have the confidence in your words to post your identity. Blogging and wikis etc are like the “open source” of communications. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and perhaps this could even kick open the doors to further discussion…except you are anonymous, an unknown, heck, I could even post as anonymous G11. Wouldn’t it be much more entertaining and productive to have some spirited conversation in the Cafe with Josh?
From down here on the bottom of the ladder, I often wonder where the fat actually needs to be trimmed as I work 50 hour weeks doing 140% of my job duties. Granted there are some programs that are wasted money, departments that post a loss year in/out, and people that are basically useless - but there is also a lot of beuracratic crap that needs to go. Just yesterday I was mandated to write a justification for second half spending that took over an hour … we were purchasing 2 LAPTOPS - and that spending has been justified twice already - this was just a poney show for managers. CUT IT!
Hmmm, got a little off topic … guess I needed to rank a minute.
Intel has simply been out innovated. When AMD announced 64 bit, Craig Barret was touting 30GHZ future CPUs. Paul Otellini definitely has a good case of blaming one’s predecessor.
Intel’s top management lacks the technical background to decide future technology roadmap, so the long term decision is left to the various engineering groups, and the ederly usually won the argument because of seniority. If you look at AMD, its President, CEO, CTO are all engineering type. There is no way Intel can challenge AMD’s technology superiority with a relatively amateurish engineering force. The result: AMD is always leading the way, and Intel plays catch up. For instance, if you look at the Bensley platform, it is merely an imitation of the discontinued Athlon MP, it is only good for 2P.
In the old days, Intel can use its monopoly power to thwart AMD and buy time. But after AMD’s lawsuit, the old tricks are tougher to carry out, and we see immediate Intel market share drop.
A quarter prior to announcing headcount reductions, Otellini had just finished a hiring spree where he added 10,000 employees to Intel’s roster. At the time, he confidently stated that he “would not grow the company (by headcount) faster than revenues would support.” As he embarked on his failed and costly re-branding campaign, Otellini stated that AMD would “never beat us on my watch.” Otellini and Intel’s board are woefully out of touch and asleep at the switch. In addition, Intel continues to condone poor biz practices, unethical supplier management, and poor tone at the top. They are killing a great company!