The Pure Storage operations team raised the company’s

(L to R) Michele Ardizzone, Director Legal Marketing and Operations; Joe FitzGerald, Vice President and General Counsel; Judy Shie, Product Legal Counsel and Michael Moore, Vice President, Products and IP. Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM

patent filings by almost 25%, while staying within 0.27% of target on a several million-dollar budget. The team adopted a cooperative approach with engineers and outside counsel to optimize the disclosure-drafting process and used predictive budget modeling to support needs generated by the acquisition of a 2,000 patent and application portfolio, all while keeping the company’s internal head count steady. The team’s efforts earned Pure Storage the title of Most Innovative In-House Operations Team of the Year as part of The Recorder’s California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The Recorder caught up with Pure Storage’s Michael Moore and Niki Armstrong to discuss the operations team’s ongoing efficiency efforts.