Company: SonicWALL
Company Description: SonicWALL, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures comprehensive Internet security solutions used by companies of all sizes to protect their networks and to provide secure remote access connectivity. SonicWALL security solutions are deployed across a variety of markets, including SOHO, SMB, enterprise VPN, service providers, retail/point-of-sale, education, healthcare, and government.
Nomination Category: Company, Office & Product Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Business Turnaround

Nomination Title: SonicWALL

Tell the story about what this nominated company achieved in 2003 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

About a year ago, SonicWALL (NASDAQ:SNWL), a provider of Internet
security solutions for small to medium networks, was suffering from a bad case of
lagging revenues and depressed stock prices, while its competitors’ businesses
were taking off. 

In March 2003, a major event happened at SonicWALL that changed its course in
history; Matt Medeiros, former CEO of Philips Components, joined as
SonicWALL’s CEO, bringing with him great ambitions and unfaltering energy. 

In less than a year, Medeiros achieved what many thought was impossible – he
has positioned the company for a turnaround.

As CEO, Medeiros implemented sweeping changes in the organization focused on
revitalizing people, products and processes. He hired a new executive staff,
refreshed the company’s line of firewall appliances with a new “value innovation”
strategy that brings Ferrari functionality to a Camry clientele, and reenergized
employee morale.  

Even financial analysts agree that Medeiros is taking huge steps in turning
SonicWALL around.

According to Gene Munster, analyst at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, "SonicWALL is
back on its feet. That hasn't happened in almost two years." 

Israel Hernandez of Lehman Brothers agrees, “With an entirely new management
team and product refresh underway, we believe SonicWALL is in the early stages
of (a) turnaround which should gain speed in 2004."

Over the last ten months, Medeiros’ accomplishments include:

- A dramatically improved product line of security solutions that are more than just
firewall/VPN solutions but include a platform that integrates security, productivity
and mobility solutions with a focus on value innovation – a philosophy that
delivers “state-of-the-market,” not “state-of-the-art,” security solutions. Customers
pay for the features they really need -– at a price that doesn’t eat the lion’s share
of their IT budget.

- Successful launches of new products that exceeded SonicWALL’s goal of 75
percent of revenue coming from new products by the end of 2003.

- Changing SonicWALL’s manufacturing process to bring additional cost savings
to customers – without sacrificing features. The company moved away from
custom ASICs to the cost-effective merchant silicon, via a partnership with
Cavium. SonicWALL is now able to provide customers twice the performance for
40 percent less than their competitors.

- Committed to international expansion with the addition of new executives and
offices.

- Doubling the stock price from March 2003 to October 2003.

- Spurred 6 financial analyst firms such as AG Edwards, CE Unterberg, Towbin,
and JP Morgan to upgrade stock to "buy" or "overweight".

- Brought SonicWALL’s install base to more than 400,000 units.

Medeiros has a knack for successfully leading companies through huge changes. 
Prior to joining SonicWALL, Medeiros served as president and CEO of Philips
Components. As the chief architect of the liquid crystal display (LCD) joint venture
between Philips Electronics and LG Electronics, Medeiros established Philips as
a leader in flat displays.

Medeiros has proven over the last eight months that he is a man of his word and is
the right guy to lead SonicWALL to continued success in 2004.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: List each link on a separate line, begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.website.com]:

"SonicWALL Boomed at The Comdex Show..."
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2003/0,4814,87919,00.html

"PC Magazine Names Best of Comdex Winners"
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1390756,00.asp

"Matt Medeiros, CEO of SonicWALL on CNNfn"
http://www.sonicwall.com/img/cnn_comdex.wmv

"SonicWALL Aims at Enterprise Security"
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1405733,00.asp

SonicWALL Launches Premium Editions of Content Filtering Service
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=197

SonicWALL Combines Ease of Use with Advanced Features in New TZ 170
Security Platform
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=191

SonicWALL Receives Technology & Learning 2003 Award of Excellence
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=189

Rent-A-Center Deploys SonicWALL SOHO TZW to Create Secure Wireless
Network of Over 2500 Stores
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=187

SonicWALL Unveils Next Generation Operating System for the SOHO TZW
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=184

SonicWALL Announces New High Performance, Low Cost PRO Series Platforms
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=178

SonicWALL Global Management System 2.5 Extends Remote Management
Capabilities to Secure Wireless Appliances and VPN Clients
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=168

Technology Veteran Matt Medeiros Joins SonicWALL as President and CEO
http://www.sonicwall.com/General/DisplayDetails.asp?id=155

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated company:

Prior to joining SonicWALL, Matt Medeiros served as president and CEO of
Philips Components. As the chief architect of the liquid crystal display (LCD) joint
venture between Philips Electronics and LG Electronics, Medeiros established
Philips as a leader in flat displays.  Before Philips, Medeiros was vice president
and general manager for the Optical Polymers Group, and vice president of
business development for the Electronic Materials division of AlliedSignal.
Medeiros also has extensive background in PC manufacturing, operations and
materials management following executive positions at Radius, NeXT Computer
and Apple Computer.  Medeiros graduated from the University of San Francisco
with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in management science.