IOMEGA CORPORATION DATA STORA
IOMEGA CORPORATION: DATA STORAIOMEGA CORPORATION: DATA STORAGE FOR THE NEW MILLENIUM
Introduction
The purpose of this report is to examine the Iomega Corporation, based in Roy, Utah, for the BA 201 �V Survey of Business course at Birmingham-Southern College. The company manufactures computer storage devices: the ZipTM and JazTM drives, the Clik! Storage device, and the BuzTM audio and video drive. 1
The leading supplier of data storage devices in Europe, and the third largest supplier in the world, Iomega has now strengthened its line of products with the Ditto tape backup device.2 The industry��s enthusiasm and public satisfaction with which these products were received is unprecedented in the computer industry, making Iomega an innovator among innovators.
This report will discuss the following components of the Iomega Corporation:
�h History of the corporation and its products
�h Marketing strategies and product offerings
�h Management structure
�h Finances
History
Iomega was founded in 1980 with its flagship removable storage device, the Bernoulli drive. Though its original efforts are now more than antiquated, Bernoulli Optical Systems remains a subsidiary of Iomega. In 1983 Iomega was made public, and for the next twelve years, the company would see a period of experimentation and growth. While Iomega remained behind the major industry names of Apple and IBM, the late eighties and early nineties were integral to Iomega��s current success. The technical bases for the Zip and Jaz drives were built upon, leading to these products�� 1995 release.2
Public response to the release of the portable data storage devices was enormous. Orders clogged the production component of Iomega before the disks were even released to the public, and by April 1996, barely one year after its introduction, Sony Pictures Entertainment entered into an exclusive agreement with Iomega for use of its Jaz disks.3 June of that same year would bring even greater response; Iomega entered into marketing agreements with IBM, NEC Technologies, Gateway, and Unisys.4 By the end of the summer of 1996, Iomega had formed partnerships with every major computer manufacturer in the United States.
The media frenzy surrounding the release of the drives was further fueled by honors awarded by computing magazines PC Computing and Gadget Guru. The Jaz drive was named 1996��s ��Innovation of the Year�� and ��Most Valuable Product�� by PC. Gadget Guru named the Jaz drive the ��Best Computer Accessory of 1996.�� These and other accolades pushed public familiarity of Iomega products higher and higher, boosting production and sales.5
In response to this domestic success, Iomega began a complete expansion of its foreign production and marketing in early 1997. European headquarters were set up in both the Netherlands and Switzerland, and their production site in Malaysia was expanded and modified. While the base of the company remained in Roy, Utah, Iomega��s presence in both Europe and Asia was fortified with a larger number of production jobs for Asians and Europeans. Coupled with a greater concentration of foreign marketing and advertising,...
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