Computer History Museum | Oral History of Grant Saviers, part 2 of 2 @ComputerHistory | Uploaded April 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2019-10-30 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum
Grant Saviers received his B.S. and M.S. in engineering (computing) from Case Western Reserve University in 1968 where he had his first computer experiences on Univac I & 1107 and Burroughs 220.
He then joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) starting in PDP-9 engineering, then a “task force” of 1 to rescue a troubled disk drive project. Over a 15 year career in storage, he advanced through management to where, as Corporate Vice President of Storage, he built an industry leading organization with a profitable $4 B in revenue. He was responsible for DEC’s for disk, tape, optical, system memories, controller, database, and hardware & subsystems businesses in five United States and three international locations as well as procurement of selected storage products on an original-equipment-manufactured basis (at one point the single largest purchaser in the world of such equipment).
As DEC’s Corporate Vice President of PC Systems and Peripherals from 1990 to 1992 Grant successfully restarted DEC’s PC business from a dormant state and grew revenues to $350M and break-even profitability in 18 months. Responsible for PC’s, networks, software, terminals and printers.
In 1992 He joined Adaptec, a SCSI/RAID products & software company, as a chief operating officer, and president in 1992, becoming CEO in 1995 and chairman in 1997. During his tenure Adaptec profitably grew from $200M to $1B.
Grant is a member of the museum’s Board of Trustees and a volunteer member of it’s IBM 1401 restoration team. He is active in Amateur Radio including “DXpeditions” to activate stations in remote parts of the world. After 20 years in Silicon Valley, Grant now resides in Seattle, WA.
Part 1 of this oral history covers Grant’s early years and his career to 1990 in storage at DEC.
Part 2 of this oral history then begins with his becoming responsible for PC’s at DEC.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102795787
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102795788
Acquisition Number: X6162.2011
Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2019-10-30 in Mountain View, CA
© Computer History Museum
Grant Saviers received his B.S. and M.S. in engineering (computing) from Case Western Reserve University in 1968 where he had his first computer experiences on Univac I & 1107 and Burroughs 220.
He then joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) starting in PDP-9 engineering, then a “task force” of 1 to rescue a troubled disk drive project. Over a 15 year career in storage, he advanced through management to where, as Corporate Vice President of Storage, he built an industry leading organization with a profitable $4 B in revenue. He was responsible for DEC’s for disk, tape, optical, system memories, controller, database, and hardware & subsystems businesses in five United States and three international locations as well as procurement of selected storage products on an original-equipment-manufactured basis (at one point the single largest purchaser in the world of such equipment).
As DEC’s Corporate Vice President of PC Systems and Peripherals from 1990 to 1992 Grant successfully restarted DEC’s PC business from a dormant state and grew revenues to $350M and break-even profitability in 18 months. Responsible for PC’s, networks, software, terminals and printers.
In 1992 He joined Adaptec, a SCSI/RAID products & software company, as a chief operating officer, and president in 1992, becoming CEO in 1995 and chairman in 1997. During his tenure Adaptec profitably grew from $200M to $1B.
Grant is a member of the museum’s Board of Trustees and a volunteer member of it’s IBM 1401 restoration team. He is active in Amateur Radio including “DXpeditions” to activate stations in remote parts of the world. After 20 years in Silicon Valley, Grant now resides in Seattle, WA.
Part 1 of this oral history covers Grant’s early years and his career to 1990 in storage at DEC.
Part 2 of this oral history then begins with his becoming responsible for PC’s at DEC.
* Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102795787
Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection.
Catalog Number: 102795788
Acquisition Number: X6162.2011
