The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 50 Most Trustworthy Companies 2019 | Page 42

processors for PC motherboard
testing. Through the years, ASSET
acquired technology and products
from a host of companies worldwide,
such as Tektronix for a VXI
boundary-scan controller card, Saab
Test Systems for a test application,
and others. This helped ASSET
move faster to address customer
needs than if we had a not-
invented-here attitude that would
have precluded these technology
acquisitions resulting in a negative
impact on the company.
Recently, ASSET made a second
acquisition, purchasing a company
in California that was a leader in
Intel-based software debug. That
product line, SourcePoint, originally
supported Intel Xeon and Core x86
products for software debug focusing
on UEFI (BIOS in PCs and Servers).
ASSET has expanded SourcePoint
recently to support AMD EPYC server
processors.
Both ScanWorks and SourcePoint
are platforms with multiple
applications to give engineers
access to debug, validation
and test of complex electronic
boards and systems. The usage
of the tools is driven by advanced
packaging technology, sub-micron
semiconductor process technology
and lack of physical access. Both
tools are primarily software
communicating with silicon IP
to help address the engineering
challenges of today’s electronics
technology.
If you have to list five
factors that have been/
are the biggest asset to
your organization, what
would they be and why?
•
•
•
•
Close relationships with key
customers that lead their end
markets
Committing resources to
industry standards groups
and contributing significantly
to those, thus creating new
technology and business
opportunities
Highly technical, experienced
employees that establish
technical credibility and trust
with customers
Global resource deployment
that supported the market move
from vertically integrated to the
OEM-to-ODM/EMS model with
•
off-shoring production to Asia
Managing the company for
shareholder value with an
outside board of directors
from day one with experience
in the industry, finance, sales/
marketing, and technology
to advise and challenge the
management team
Where do you see your
company a couple of years
from now?
Our foundation for test and debug
is very strong and in the near-
term future, we will be working to
deploy the technology from a PC
to embedded in-system to address
the critical need of 24/7 uptime for
globally networked devices. A second
key focus of that embedded strategy
is to help the defense industry where
systems are in the field for 20-30
years–in terms of addressing the
billions of dollars it invests for “no
trouble found” in the repair process.
We’re also looking at the company’s
core competencies to find another
‘Blue Ocean’ opportunity for future
growth and longevity – that activity
is now under development.
“With more than 10,000 users worldwide,
ASSET’s two platforms – the ScanWorks®
platform for hardware validation and test,
and the SourcePoint™ platform for software
debug and trace – provide real insight from
code to silicon for engineers in design and
manufacturing who are working on the most
advanced Intel®, AMD and Arm® designs.”
42
SR