Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

EMC: Linda Connly, VP and GM, SMB Division & Inside Sales, Americas

Linda Connly recalls being a part of EMC's first acquisition in 1999 and how very different the two companies— styles were, although headquartered only five miles apart.

“EMC was more entrepreneurial and agile, and Data General more business-plan focused. Our decision-making process was long, but EMC was able to move quickly and take advantage of market opportunities—time to market for EMC was focused on getting 80 percent of the answer quickly and then adapting instead of waiting for 100 percent of the answer and losing time,” Connly explains.

“We were perceived as a negative by the EMC community because we were failing financially, and it was the time when EMC was having such great success,” she says.

Today, EMC has a solid track record for the integration of new people, technologies, and processes following an acquisition, but like everything in business, it often takes practice to get it right.

“Since then, We've gotten a lot wiser and smarter, learning how to be better at acquisitions,” Connly says, laughing.

Everything Changes

“We've been known as an innovator in our industry for years. Mike Ruettgers, our CEO for nine years before Joe Tucci, instilled in the company early on the importance of reinventing ourselves and being able to react quickly to market conditions and customer conditions,” says Connly.

“I instill the same vision of innovation with my team—I want us to acknowledge that we won't get to 100 ...