Fort Collins startup snags Compaq deal

FORT COLLINS — Mirus Technologies Inc. has joined forces with Compaq Computer Corp.

Fort Collins-based Mirus has been awarded a three-year contract with the Houston-based computer manufacturer to provide and test software applications for Compaq tape-storage drives.

The program — Tape Storage Management Console, or TSMC — is sent with Compaq utility packages to every customer who purchases a tape drive or library system from the company. Compaq officials would not disclose the amount of the contract with Mirus, nor the number of customers to whom the utility packages have been sent.

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Mirus also would not disclose the amount of the contract. Mirus president Larry Chisesi would say only that the deal is worth between $1 million and $5 million.

TSMC is designed to test Compaq tape products. If a device fails the test, it can be returned to Compaq. If it passes, then the customer can look elsewhere for the problem.

TSMC draws upon the expertise of engineers, but presents it in an easy-to-use-format so that noncomputer scientists can test their own equipment, Chisesi said.

Robert Martin, a Compaq program manager, said TSMC is “targeted at improving customer satisfaction.

“It’s hopefully providing customers the diagnostic ability to reduce (the number of tape drives and libraries returned to Compaq with) no problems found … The win for Compaq is operator ability to test the product so they won’t send back devices that don’t actually have things wrong.”

TSMC also is capable of downloading firmware. In a computer system, firmware overlays software and allows users to program devices such as tape drives or libraries. For example, firmware can instruct devices to run at different speeds, Chisesi said.

As features are added to a device, or existing bugs are eliminated, new firmware gets loaded — essentially giving it a new brain. TSMC software allows users to download newer versions of software via the Internet at a protected Compaq Web site.

Electronically transmitting firmware makes for faster upgrades, Chisesi said. The process, which used to take five or more minutes, now can be done in seconds. Faster downloads are important because if a firmware download is interrupted, it renders tape drives and libraries and the like useless. “It turns your device into a brick,” he said.

TSMC grew out of Small Computer System Interface, or SCSI Pro. Small Computer System Interfaces are an industry standard way to connect peripheral devices to computer systems. SCSI Pro, which tests, de-bugs and reprograms SCSI devices, was developed by Chisesi and Mirus Secretary/Treasurer Brent Duckworth’s former company, Co Comp.

When Co Comp was sold in January to Parker-based Storage Area Networks Inc., Chisesi and Duckworth formed Mirus and took the Compaq contract with them. Howard Garron, creator of SCSI Pro, joined them as vice president of engineering.

In 1999, Co Comp earned $12 million in revenue, Chisesi said. He is projecting Mirus that will earn about $1 million in its first year.

Garron heads a Mirus office in Silver Springs, Md. Chisesi and Duckworth run the Fort Collins office. In all, Mirus has eight employees — four in Fort Collins and four in Silver Springs.