NetApp

Existing culture is still OK. That's the people culture, not the corporate culture.

Corporate wants the "Best Place To Work" and touts the culture. But it used to promote that first, knowing that company performance followed. Now that the company has lost its way, every other sentence in All Hands seems to be about culture, but there's no corporate backing for it. Corporate wants it all, but is sacking people like EMC – numbers.

NetApp USED to have one layoff for an entire recession, re-strategize the products, and come out running with good products – and no fear of further layoffs.

This is the third layoff in a row. The first was "the one for the recession," but it showed they no longer understood the market (hint: it's NOT CDOT – too myopic on that one). Last year, they sacked most of the few cloud projects while saying, "we don't understand cloud." It was obvious by who got laid off they "gave up" on a fiscal deadline for re-slotting people.

So, for most, last year in particular was a wake-up call for employees. This year's – including appropriate corporate sacking – showed no further understanding of the market or vision. Sure, they patched up a hybrid-cloud strategy; that's good for NOW, but what's the strategy? CDOT is, what, 90% of revenue, and they've not acquisitions in sight either way.

Kurian is a bean counter, and his main advice at all hands was "execute faster." Execute a market-indicated failed strategy faster?

Put CDOT in sustaining and focus on current markets. Stop being so myopic.

Start innovating.

Stop ruining companies you acquire. Take lessons from EMC and IBM, amongst others. Leverage their qualities, let them run with what they're doing, and don't try to jam them into ONTAP.

Start treating your employees better.

• Micro cubes being built out aren't suitable for a Florida call center droid, much less an engineer.
• Stop deferring raises and bonuses. You've essentially institutionalized the quarterly delay and seem to want to extend it further.
• So many things "for the market" don't support the "Culture" that seems so precious (and was), and it's shallow talk.
• Shake up CEO/COO and the board, including finding a replacement for Kurian.