IT and Globalization at Plantronics

1. IT and Globalization at Plantronics May 2005 Tom Gill

2. Agenda • Plantronics overview • Plantronics IT • Globalization at Plantronics • Q&A

3. Plantronics Overview • World leader in communications headsets • $560M annual revenue and growing • 6000+ employees • Headquartered in Santa Cruz • Offices in 26 countries

4. Plantronics Product Evolution 1962 - Introduced first product, a lightweight aviation headset 1964 - Continued with aviation market by providing air traffic control headsets 1969 - Went to the moon ’70s and ‘80s - Focused on call center and office products ’90s - Expanded product line to include mobile and computer headsets 2000s - Added USB, gaming (Xbox), residential and bluetooth headsets

5. Business Growth • It took twelve years to make our one-millionth headset • We now make over 1 Million headsets per month!

6. Product Development at Plantronics • Design / Engineering Centers • Santa Cruz • Tijuana Mexico • Swindon England • Suzhou China • Outsource to partners for special services and fast time to market • Increased emphasis on design • Products started in the cockpit and call center cubicles • Headsets are now ubiquitous – design matters • Quality is a differentiator • Very high levels of customer satisfaction • Very low return rates • Excellent audio quality

7. New Markets Present New Business Challenges

8. IT Makes it Happen • IT is ubiquitous • Virtually all associates use information technology throughout the day • Consider a day without IT! • IT solutions have enabled growth • Advanced supply chain solutions • Portals / knowledge management • Information warehouse / Business Intelligence • Wireless solutions • Workflow and approval applications • Shorten cycle time, increase collaboration, improve productivity reduce barriers of time and geography

9. Plantronics IT Organization • Worldwide team of 75 • IT teams at six largest sites • Other locations and SOHO sites serviced remotely • Enterprise applications, WAN and technology standards managed centrally • Local applications and infrastructure managed by remote sites • Payroll, customs, logistics… • Local LAN, voice systems, Exchange servers, etc. • Local intranets including direct labor kiosks • WW management team meets weekly • Communication is key to virtual team success • Annual offsites and regular travel also key to effective collaboration

10. Information Technology Footprint – Infrastructure • Dell / Microsoft desktop • Microsoft Exchange / Outlook messaging • Cisco networks including WiFi in all locations • WAN technologies include dedicated circuits, frame relay, MPLS, point to point VPNs and remote access • Avaya voice systems (PBX, voicemail, unified messaging) – migrating to VoIP worldwide • Mobility devices – phones, PDAs, smartphones • 120+ Windows servers • 40+ Sun Solaris (Unix) servers

11. Information Technology Footprint – Key Applications • Oracle eBusiness Suite • 11.5.8 / 9iR2 • Complete suite (finance, manufacturing, purchasing, HR, logistics, order management) • Self service (iProcurement, iExpense, iStore, etc.) • Single instance / multi org • Customizations include reports, some forms, alerts • Informatica / Business Objects Information Warehouse and Business Intelligence Suite • Saratoga Avenue CRM • ATG commerce applications / Interwoven contact management • Microsoft intranet and Sharepoint portals

12. Road to CIO • BS in Business Info Systems from SDSU • TRW Electronics and Space – started as a programmer analyst • Syntelligence – expert systems startup • Tandem computers – gained international business experience • Bay Networks – emphasis on CRM and web technologies • Plantronics – started as Director of Technical Services and promoted to CIO in January 2000

13. Key IT Management Competencies • Business enterprise knowledge • Client partnership • Business influence • Change management • Team leadership • Empowering others • Accountability • Systems thinking

14. IT Management Challenges • Hiring and retaining talented people • Exciting technologies help • Culture of learning and innovation is key • Management role is to provide direction and environment to succeed! • People challenges • Communication / style • Corporate vs. remote sites • Change management • Internal to IT • End user impact • Outages / downtime • Problems will occur • It’s all in the recovery

15. Globalization at Plantronics • The world is indeed flat • Started with manufacturing • Business process outsourcing • IT offshoring • Home workers • IT makes it happen • Fiber network and Internet break down the barriers of time and distance • Standards enable supply chain integration and the virtual corporation • Plantronics started in 1972!

16. First Wave of Globalization - Mexico • Established Plamex manufacturing facility in 1972 as a maquiladora • Moved all manufacturing from Santa Cruz to Mexico during the 80s • Innovative people oriented business culture includes: • On site family health care • Bank accounts with direct deposit • Transportation to and from work • Career pathing

17. Plamex Today • Grown from one building to five • Product design center • Contact center agents • Technical assistance • Inside sales • Connected to Santa Cruz voice and CRM systems via IP network • Winners of the 2004 Mexico Quality Award

18. Globalization – Europe • Started with sales offices • Expanded to product design center with emphasis on local product variants and regulatory compliance • Currently 25% of worldwide revenue • Contact center flattens Europe • Technical assistance • Inside sales • Customer service / order mgmt • All VoIP with clusters by region

19. Globalization - China • Started with parts sourcing and contract manufacturing • Design center and manufacturing facility under construction planned for March 2006 • Temporary factory established in April • Temporary design center established this month • IT makes it happen • Single instance ERP • Voice, video and data over IP LAN and WAN

20. Manufacturing by Location Plamex operations in Mexico • High quality • Highly variable product mix / many product variants • Just in time production / made to order China contract manufacturing and our future Suzhou operation • High volume products • Sub assemblies • Predictable demand due to longer lead times • Products for local markets

21. Globalization – IT Enablers • Standard platforms where appropriate • Consistent user experience • Lower support costs • Security • Interoperability • Single instance ERP • Lower TCO • Facilitates consolidations and rollups • Worldwide planning • Standard processes • Change control / change mgmt • Governance • Virtual teams / collaboration a must • Sharepoint portal • Video conferencing • Web meetings • IM and mobility

22. Lessons Learned • Globalization • Cultural awareness / training is a necessity • Communication • Preparation – key skills • Written and verbal communications • Collaboration and virtual teamwork • Job search advice • First opportunity may not be ideal but it’s a start • Consider consulting • Be patient!