Wit & Wisdom of Greg Reyes

"It’s not about whose ASICs are bigger or how many ports you can jam into a chassis. It's about being able to scale."
— Fourth-quarter earnings conference call, November 2000 (Brocade Sews Up a Good Quarter)

"We are virtually unassailable. Our position has never been better. Our 2-Gbit/s products are a technology tour de force, and nothing stands in our way!"
— Salomon Smith Barney conference, September 2001 (Brocade CEO in Tick-Top Form)

"I find it curious that we would read about the suit in a press release. It is clearly a publicity stunt, as it was announced just days before they announced they would miss their quarter... And they don't even support this patent they allegedly developed! They are trying to freeze the market because they don't have 2-Gbit/s technology."
— Comments on McData patent lawsuit, March 2002 (Reyes Lashes Out at McData)

"And the innuendo about the capitalization of switch sales to customers is nothing short of absurd. There is no secret to our gross margins... In terms of revenue recognition... there is no technology company that is more conservative or thoughtful on how we manage our company fiscally."
— Second-quarter earnings conference call, May 2002 (Brocade Breezes Through Q2)

"Cisco has endorsed Fibre Channel... and Cisco has also validated that this is an enormous market. The fact of the matter is, Brocade is the clear leader in Fibre Channel. Heck, we invented it, for all practical purposes."
— Salomon Smith Barney conference, September 2002 (Brocade CEO: What, Me Worry?)

"I'm trying to motivate the troops to make their numbers and not preannounce, like McData, and embarrass themselves."
— Transcript of court proceedings during McData patent infringement case, October 2002 (Brocade Eats Crow)

"The bottom line is we reorganized the organization, and we concluded we didn't need the additional layer of management we added over the last year or so. It's not like the first-line team of vice presidents isn't battle-tested. The fact of the matter is, these are actions we took, it was in the best interests of the company, and we appreciate the contributions that the affected individuals made."
— On a management layoff, November 2002 (Brocade Cleans House)

"It was supposed to be available in December; we are already in February, which tells me it's late and there are issues with it."
— On Cisco's first switch release, February 2003. (Brocade Puts Up Q1 Loss)

"[This is] the most comprehensive software release in Brocade's history."
— On Brocade's high availability software, March 2003. (Brocade Loads Code, Signs EMC)

"All enterprise data will be networked. Why? Why would I want to have my data captive to a single set of servers? It's crazy. And its death will be accelerated by the emergence of blade servers.”
— SNW keynote, October 2004. (Reyes: DAS Is Dead)

"I didn't know there was another company. I'm pretty pumped about my new role."
— On being asked whether he'd join another company after leaving as Brocade's CEO and becoming a Brocade consultant, January 2005. (Brocade Switches CEOs, Restates )

— Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD)

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO)

McData Corp.