--- description: Violin, which trades under the symbol VMEM, has been largely under fire since it went public in September, 2013 at $9 per share. Shortly after the company... title: Embattled Violin Responds To Investors image: https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/SR-Violin.png --- [![Storage Review]()](https://storagereview.com/) --- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [![StorageReview.com](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Storage-Review-2x.png)](https://www.storagereview.com) ≡ Menu - [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) - [Storage Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/review) - [End User Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/consumer) - [Enterprise Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) - [Ubiquiti Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/best/ubiquiti-reviews) - [SR Merch](https://store.storagereview.com) - [Leaderboards](https://www.storagereview.com/best) - [Best Storage Arrays](https://www.storagereview.com/best/storage-arrays) - [Best Enterprise SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-ssds) - [Best Servers](https://www.storagereview.com/best/servers) - [Best Enterprise GPUs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-gpus) - [Best Desktops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktops-local-ai) - [Best Laptops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptops-local-ai) - [Best Local LLM Tools](https://www.storagereview.com/best/local-llm-tools) - [Agentic AI Hardware](https://www.storagereview.com/best/agentic-ai-hardware) - [Best SSDs & Hard Drives](https://www.storagereview.com/best_drives) - [Best Portable SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/portable-ssds) - [Best Business Laptops](https://www.storagereview.com/best/business-laptops) - [Best Mobile Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mobile-workstations) - [Best Desktop Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktop-workstations) - [Best Mini PCs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mini-pcs) - [Best Laptop Battery Life](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptop-battery-life) - [Storage Reference Guide](https://www.storagereview.com/storage-reference-guide) - [About SR](https://www.storagereview.com/about-storagereview) - [StorageReview.com Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations](https://www.storagereview.com/storagereview-com-sweepstakes-rules-and-regulations) Search [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) » [News](https://www.storagereview.com/news) » Embattled Violin Responds To Investors # Embattled Violin Responds To Investors by Brian Beeler on January 11, 2016 [Enterprise](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) ​Violin, which trades under the symbol  [VMEM](https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AVMEM&ei=w8qTVrH1J8u0mAH05b_wCA), has been largely under fire since it went public in September, 2013 at $9 per share. Shortly after the company found itself battling a potential class action lawsuit over disclosure of sales data regarding government contracts that were cancelled. Things haven't improved for the company as investor Clinton Group Inc.  [last summer](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clinton-group-sends-letter-to-violin-memory-board-of-directors-300121239.html) launched an effort to engage with the company on how best to go forward. Apparently Violin didn't align with the Clinton Group and now both the Clinton Group and shareholder Imation are trying to do something about it by  [nominating three new board members](http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clinton-group-and-imation-corp-to-provide-notice-of-its-intention-to-nominate-three-candidates-for-the-board-of-violin-memory-300201693.html) at the company's 2016 annual meeting to address the sub $1 stock price and market capitalization of just $70 million. The duo have proposed three industry veterans to help: - Ralph Schmitt, veteran chief executive of innovative technology companies and a turnaround expert, most recently leading the sale of OCZ Technology Group to Toshiba  - Michael Wall, veteran chief executive in the technology space with extensive storage industry experience and a turnaround expert, who most recently lead the sale of Amplidata, N.V to Western Digital Corporation  - Alex Spiro, an attorney at Brafman and Associates, faculty member of Harvard Law School, and member of the board of directors of Imation, a publicly-traded global data storage and information security company The Clinton Group and Imation are hoping the company will be sold ahead of that meeting to a strategic buyer, supplanting the need for the board battle. "We continue to believe that the Company's technology is exceptional and essential to a number of potential large strategic buyers." This is where it gets tricky for Violin though. While the Clinton group goes on to cite all of the recent good events surrounding flash vendors, Violin is very different from Pure Storage, Solidfire and so on, Violin's technologies are extraordinarily specific. Their bread and butter VIMM flash modules are highly specialized and not something that are of immediate value to others in the space. While Pure for instance can benefit in advances in SSD technologies with little capital investment of their own, Violin has to create their own solutions, which is expensive regardless of the intellectual property they create along the way. Violin does offer some of the best performance in the industry as we saw even with [their older Windows array](https://www.storagereview.com/violin_wfa64_windows_flash_array_review), but looking around at the likely acquirers, it's hard to see where Violin would be a good fit in each one's portfolio.  ![](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/StorageReview-Violin-WFA-64-Windows-Flash-Array-Top.jpg) Violin was bound to make a public response as a result of the Clinton Group/Imation letter and they've done so today: “Violin’s management team and board collectively own six percent of the company and are aligned with our shareholders in our desire to create value for the company’” said Kevin DeNuccio, President and CEO Violin Memory. "We are focused on improving our execution and completing our product transition to the Flash Storage Platform, while also pursuing strategic alternatives to accelerate our opportunity. Our BOD currently consist of 6 current or former CEO/COO’s and senior executives from storage industry legacy leaders from IBM, NetApp, and 3Par, which provide critical leadership to create value for all of our stakeholders.” It remains to be seen if DeNuccio can orchestrate the turn around he wants, the way he wants, without shareholders getting involved. Violin's fiscal fourth quarter concludes this month.  [Discuss This Story](http://forums.storagereview.com/index.php/topic/38428-embattled-violin-responds-to-investors-discussion/) **Engage with StorageReview** [Newsletter](https://www.storagereview.com/storage_newsletter) |  [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/StorageReview "Opens in a new window") | Podcast  [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/storagereview-com-storage-reviews/id1060681115 "Opens in a new window")/ [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0 "Opens in a new window") |  [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/ "Opens in a new window") |  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/storagereview "Opens in a new window") |  [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview? "Opens in a new window") |  [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) ![]() ### Brian Beeler Brian is located in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the chief analyst and President of StorageReview.com. Previous post: [Dell Introduces Two Additions To Its Cloud Client-Computing Portfolio](https://www.storagereview.com/news/dell-introduces-two-additions-to-its-cloud-client-computing-portfolio) Next post: [Citrix Acquires Comtrade Management Packs SCOM-user Customers](https://www.storagereview.com/news/citrix-acquires-comtrade-management-packs-scom-user-customers) Trusted Vendors Products and solutions from our affiliate partners: - [ ![Ubiquiti Logo](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2-1.webp) Ubiquiti ](https://store.ui.com/us/en?a_aid=StorageReview "Opens in a new window") - [ ![Newegg Logo](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/newegg.webp) Newegg ](https://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=g5terNMDhz0&offerid=1207190.18&subid=0&type=4 "Opens in a new window") - [ ![Amazon Logo](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/amazon.webp) Amazon ](https://amzn.to/4fLJUEW "Opens in a new window") Newsletter Subscribe to the StorageReview newsletter to stay up to date on the latest news and reviews. We promise no spam! 1 Leave this field empty if you’re human: ## Advertisement Content Categories [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X](https://twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) Copyright © 1998-2025 Flying Pig Ventures, LLC Cincinnati, Ohio. All rights reserved. Manage your privacy To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen. Functional Functional Always active The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Preferences Preferences The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Statistics Statistics The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Marketing Marketing The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. Statistics Marketing Features Always active Special features Special purposes Always active - Manage options - Manage services - Manage {vendor\_count} vendors - [Read more about these purposes](https://cookiedatabase.org/tcf/purposes/) Accept Deny Manage options Save preferences Manage options - {title} - {title} - {title} Manage your privacy To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. Functional Functional Always active The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Preferences Preferences The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Statistics Statistics The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Marketing Marketing The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. Statistics Marketing Features Always active Special features Special purposes Always active - Manage options - Manage services - Manage {vendor\_count} vendors - [Read more about these purposes](https://cookiedatabase.org/tcf/purposes/) Accept Deny Manage options Save preferences Manage options - {title} - {title} - {title} Manage consent Manage consent ```json {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors","url":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors","name":"Embattled Violin Responds To Investors - StorageReview.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SR-Violin.png","datePublished":"2016-01-11T16:20:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SR-Violin.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SR-Violin.png","width":100,"height":100},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news\/embattled-violin-responds-to-investors#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Embattled Violin Responds To Investors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/","name":"StorageReview.com","description":"StorageReview.com is a leading provider of news and reviews throughout the entire IT stack - from the datacenter to the edge, and all points in between.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#organization","name":"StorageReview.com","url":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Storage-Reviews-2-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Storage-Reviews-2-2.png","width":344,"height":61,"caption":"StorageReview.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.storagereview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/storagereview","http:\/\/youtube.com\/user\/storagereview"]}]} ```