On Tuesday networking equipment provider QLogic announced a company-wide restructuring initiative designed to “streamline business operations with the goal of driving long-term profitable growth.” The plan includes R&D cutbacks and a major round of layoffs scheduled for the first half of fiscal year 2014.

QLogic didn’t disclose how many employees will be issued pink slips, but a release specified that the goal is to save roughly $20 million a year going forward. The company estimates that the restricting plan will cost between $20 million and $23 million, not including taxes. Interim chief executive officer and CFO Jean Hu stated that “these restructuring activities represent decisive steps designed to maximize engineering efficiencies, optimize business operations and align our investments with customer requirements.”

Hu assumed the role of interim CEO late last month after the abrupt resignation of former CEO and president Simon Biddiscombe. QLogic’s official stance is that Biddiscombe left to “pursue other opportunities,” but Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers interpreted his departure as a gesture towards investors. The way he sees it, someone had to be held accountable for the 18 percent revenue decline that QLogic reported in the fourth quarter.

The company is going through hard times, but management is determined to make a comeback. Wikibon analyst Stu Miniman believes that QLogic’s future hangs on Mt. Rainer, a homegrown flash caching technology that has been implemented as a Fibre Channel HBA called FabricCache.

“QLogic is an arms supplier to the storage world. It makes adapters, and this is really another adapter. While it is related to flash QLogic is not making flash, not getting into the flash business. What this is today is a bundle of their adapters with flash on it, so that the channel can sell the solution.”

For Miniman’s full analysis of Mt. Rainier, check out the video below.