Blog: The summer is coming

Oh yes…the summer is on its way!
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FirstEDA are based in the UK, but depending on the products, our territory includes Ireland, the Nordics, The Netherlands and parts of central Europe including France and Spain too. I mentioned in a previous blog that I’d not done much travelling before joining FirstEDA, and I guess that’s a factor in why I still really enjoy speaking to people from different countries and cultures.

The Nordics, I find especially fascinating, particularly having now enjoyed several business trips to Norway. I’m always impressed that Scandinavians tend to speak better English than most Brits! Also, people from the Nordic region are generally very ‘straight talking’ and tend to know what they need, which can certainly make our jobs a bit easier… One cultural difference that really was a surprise to me is the summer holidays (I’m not jealous)!

In the UK, we do of course get a holiday allowance, and although it is very common to take some holiday in the summertime, it is not prescribed. But the Danes, Finns, Norwegians and Swedes take summertime very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that they spend much of it off work. Indeed, from mid-June until late August, businesses in the Nordic region effectively shut down, as employees take their generous holiday allowances and head off for long, uninterrupted summer breaks (I’m not jealous). Although we wish them well, this summer shutdown can cause issues for those that don’t get the privilege, as suddenly things start to get very quiet. It tends to be late May that we begin hearing “it’ll have to wait until after summer now” from many of our prospective customers. Which, despite being accustomed to long sales cycles, can be a little disheartening (I’m not jealous!).

Regardless of whether you will be out of the office over the coming months, at FirstEDA it will be business as usual (I swear I’m not jealous). And if like us, you will be continuing to work throughout the summer and find that things start to quieten down a little too, may I suggest that it might actually be the ideal opportunity to spend time reviewing and improving on your FPGA design and verification tool flow and methodology.

How can FirstEDA help you with this? We will always be delighted to discuss your design and verification challenges. We have a highly experienced team of in-house Applications Specialists, all of whom are seasoned hardware engineers themselves. Our team provides daily support to pre and post-sales customers, across a wide range of markets from mil-aero, Ai and machine learning, transport, nuclear, high frequency trading and everything in between. Through our experiences we have a lot of insight and through our suppliers and partners we offer a wide range of best-in-class tools and solutions, for every stage of the FPGA design and verification process. From design entry, to simulation and design rule checking, through to formal verification. If you have an issue, it is very likely that we have experienced it before and can recommend a solution.

You will also be aware that in response to the coronavirus situation, we have made all of our VHDL training courses available online and will continue to schedule dates throughout the second half of the year. So, it could also be a prime opportunity to hone your own skills too, from the comfort of your own desk.

So, if you are heading off for your summer break, we hope you have a great one. If not, please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss your design and verification challenges. We are here to help.