ONE STOP SYSTEMS, INC. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from _________ to _______

Commission File Number 001-38371

One Stop Systems, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

2235 Enterprise Street #110

Escondido, California 92029

(Address of principal executive offices, including Zip Code)

(877) 438-2724

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company.  See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of June 28, 2019, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $18,973,168, based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market of $1.71 per share.  

As of February 29, 2020, the registrant had 16,459,457  shares of common stock (par value $0.0001) outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:  None

One Stop Systems, Inc.

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2019

Table of Contents

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding our future operating results, financial position and cash flows, our business strategy and plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. This Annual Report also contains estimates and other statistical data made by independent parties and by us relating to market size and growth and other data about our industry. This data involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the markets in which we operate are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions.  The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, operating results, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives. These forward- looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors and uncertainties. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of any new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

One Stop Systems, the One Stop Systems logo, and other trademarks or service marks of One Stop Systems appearing in this Annual Report are the property of One Stop Systems, Inc. This Annual Report also includes trademarks, tradenames and service marks that are the property of other organizations. Solely for convenience, trademarks and tradenames referred to in this Annual Report appear without the ® and ™ symbols, but those references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights, or that the applicable owner will not assert its rights, to these trademarks and tradenames.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information required by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).  You may read and copy any document we file with the SEC at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E. Washington D.C. 20549, U.S.A.  Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC0330 for further information on the public reference room.  Our SEC filings are also available to the public from the SEC’s internet site at http://www.sec.gov.

On our internet website, http://www.onestopsystems.com, we post the following recent filings as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC: our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q our current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act.  The information in or accessible through the SEC and our website are not incorporated into, and are not considered part of, this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Overview

One Stop Systems (OSS) designs, manufactures and markets specialized high-performance computing modules and systems targeting edge deployments.  These specialized computers incorporate state-of-the art components and allow our customers to offer high-end computing capabilities (often embed within their equipment) to their target markets. Edge computing is when data is processed/analyzed on devices, that is, at the edge of the network, rather than in the cloud itself.  Factors such as increase in load on the cloud infrastructure globally and rise in number of intelligent applications are the major factors driving the growth of the edge computing market.  Our customer applications often require connection to a wide array of data sources and sensors, ultra-fast processing power and the ability to quickly access and store large and ever-growing data sets at their location not in the cloud. This equipment requires datacenter class performance optimized for deployment at the edge. We are uniquely positioned as a specialized provider for the high-end of this marketplace providing custom servers, data acquisition platforms, compute accelerators, solid-state storage arrays, system IO expansion systems as well as edge optimized industrial and panel PCs, tablets and handheld compute-devices. We deliver this high-end technology to our customers through the sale of equipment and embedded software.

The worldwide high-performance computing (HPC) market is expected to grow from $39 billion in 2019 to $50 billion by 2023, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% while the overall edge computing market is forecasted to grow to $28.8 billion by 2025 with a compound annual growth rate of over 50% (Grandview research, “Edge Computing Market Size,” June 2019). We are establishing a leading position as a provider of specialized servers, compute accelerators and flash storage arrays to the high-end of this growing marketplace targeting edge deployments.  OSS estimates the high-performance specialized segment at the intersection of HPC and the edge computing market will be greater than $2 billion in 2023.  It is OSS’s objective to be the leading vendor and technology innovator in this targeted market segment.

Through our AI on the Fly ® initiative, we are delivering innovative specialized high-performance edge computing building blocks and platforms used by our customers to develop products for scientists, engineers, creators and other professionals.  These professional’s mission critical applications capture and store data and quickly, securely, and cost effectively transform it into actionable intelligence at the edge.

High-performance computing applications are moving beyond the traditional academic and scientific realms to broad application across the spectrum of vertical markets. These applications include computationally intense areas like artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, media and entertainment, test and measurement, medical imaging, genomics, cyber security, automotive, aerospace and defense. We are well positioned to leverage these market trends and capitalize on our unique core competencies in high speed system design and edge system optimization. We have a proven track record of delivering first-to-market advanced technologies and have continued to do so with next generation PCI Express (PCIe) based input/output expansion systems, compute acceleration systems and high-performance flash array storage systems. PCIe offers the highest performance and lowest latency which is critical for our target applications.  Edge optimizations include rugged chassis design with light-weight removable high-capacity canisters. These products fit solidly into the emerging markets for specialized high-performance computing at the edge.

The more data input, GPU compute acceleration and flash-based storage resources available to a server, the faster it can acquire, process, store, and retrieve data. In cases where the amount of these resources does not fit within the constraints of a conventional server, PCIe is used to disaggregate the resources into a multi-chassis solution. We have built leading edge expertise in PCIe expansion technology and leverage it to design and build systems that offer a high quantity and density of GPU compute acceleration, flash storage and data I/O interfaces.

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A key element of our product strategy is technological leadership. We believe a first-to-market strategy is key to our ability to continue to win significant OEM design wins. As a result, we continue to develop new state-of-the-art products providing first to market next-generation PCIe based building blocks and systems. Our ability to drive the leading edge of technology is enabled by our strong relationships with strategic component manufactures, including NVIDIA (for GPUs), Western Digital and Micron (for flash memory); Broadcom (for PCIe switch components), Mellanox (for networking) and Intel, AMD and Marvel (for CPUs). In each of these cases, OSS has access to product roadmaps and other technical information relating to future technology. Access to this information allows us to begin our design process well before the future components we are designing for even exist. This accelerates our time-to-market and allows us to produce and release state-of-the-art designs well ahead of our competitors.

OSS sells its products worldwide to industry leading customers.  We service over 1,800 customers per year worldwide, with major repeat customers including disguise, National Instruments, Raytheon, Thales, and Alcon. We anticipate continued market growth in our target markets and sustaining the ability to increase market share through our leading technology, engineering expertise, supply chain management and go-to-market innovation.

We were originally organized as One Stop Systems, LLC, a California limited liability company in 1998 before converting into One Stop Systems, Inc., a California corporation in 1999. On July 6, 2016, we entered into a Merger Agreement and Plan of Reorganization with Mission Technology Group, Inc. (“Magma”) whereby Magma merged with and into OSS with OSS continuing as the surviving corporation. We reincorporated as a Delaware corporation on December 14, 2017 and began trading as a public company on the Nasdaq Capital Markets on February 1, 2018. On August 31, 2018, we acquired Concept Development Inc., a provider of specialty in-flight entertainment, networking and other aerospace technology located in Irvine, California.  On October 31, 2018, we acquired Bressner Technology GmbH located near Munich, Germany.  Bressner is a valued-added reseller of high technology hardware which expanded the company’s high-performance computing product lines to include industrial and panel PCs, tablets and handheld compute-devices while also opening up new markets in Europe.  Our principal executive offices are located at 2235 Enterprise Street, Suite 110, Escondido, California 92029 and our telephone number is (760) 745-9883. Our website address is www.onestopsystems.com. Information contained in, or accessible through, our website is for reference purposes only.

Industry Background

High performance computing refers to computing solutions capable of ingesting and processing large amounts of data and storing and retrieving that data at speeds 10-1,000 times faster than a typical corporate computer. Increasingly, commercial companies, financial entities, governmental agencies, including the Department of Defense and academic institutions are turning to high-performance computing solutions to analyze vast amounts of data to obtain meaningful and actionable insights. Three technologies are fundamental: GPU compute accelerators, flash memory based storage, and high speed data acquisition I/O.  These technologies enable systems to ingest, process and store data at significantly higher rates than traditional systems. By harnessing large quantities of these components, companies can receive necessary data analyses much more quickly, turning raw data to actionable intelligence. Industry experts typically divide the high-performance computing market into the following categories:

Intersect360 Research categorizes and projects sales in the total high-performance computing market, as follows:

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High Performance Computing Market by Product Category — Total Market Forecast by Economic Sectors ($M)

Source:

Intersect360 Research, High Performance Computing (HPC) Revenue: Worldwide Market and Forecast Series, June 7, 2019.

The markets for these products are large and growing. The industry sectors that are currently or anticipated to require high-performance computing systems include:

These industry sectors expect to deploy increasingly faster computing systems to meet industry and competitive goals. GPU computer acceleration, high-performance flash storage and data acquisition are key subsets of the high-performance computing market.

GPU Compute Acceleration

The capabilities and speed of GPU accelerated computers are driving significant advances in AI and machine learning. Massive amounts of data are being collected, stored and analyzed by today’s sophisticated algorithms.   AI and machine learning are poised to transform worldwide business, as advances in computing speed and storage come together to enable businesses to solve complex problems. OSS is enabling the move of this AI capability from centralized datacenters to deployments closer to the data sources at the edge.

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High Density Solid-State Storage

The market for flash memory based on solid-state storage systems is large and growing. According to a study by Markets and Markets, the all-flash storage server market is growing at 25% per year, and is expected to reach $18 billion by 2023. The proliferation of larger and larger data sets used in HPC and AI are feeding the need for higher capacity and higher performance storage devices.

Traditionally, companies have used hard disk drives for their primary storage.  Hard drive based systems are being replaced by flash memory based systems which offer higher capacity, performance, reliability and ruggedness.  Flash-based storage systems also consume significantly less power.

Flash-based storage systems are especially useful for high performance computing applications, which deal with large amounts of data and the need for complex calculations to be completed in real time. In these applications, speed and efficiency are paramount. Military systems, for example, collect vast amounts of data using sensor systems, cameras, radar systems, and a myriad of other real-world inputs. This data needs to be collected, stored, analyzed and acted upon in a real-time environment.

High Speed Data Acquisition

At the front end of these systems is high speed data acquisition technology. Depending on the application, the data can be generated from a wide array of sensors. In the case of autonomous vehicles, data is generated through arrays of video, LIDAR and radar sensors. In battlefield applications cameras, radar, sonar, FLIR (infrared), and RF sensors are deployed. Medical applications use MRI or CT sensors. In security applications, networks of security cameras produce high volumes of video data. Industrial automation includes telemetry data from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and video feeds at a wide spectrum of frame rates.

Although data rates vary for all of these applications based on the sensors or array of sensors deployed, the fundamental requirements for the ingest subsystem is that it supports high speed data rates, does not allow loss of data, and does not impose flow control on the sensor data stream. For many AI on the Fly applications, local data rates can be extremely high, requiring specialized PCIe data capture hardware. As part of the capture process, the data is often processed in real time to be formatted in a useable form prior to movement to the storage devices. Capture hardware can be in the form of PCIe FPGAs, video capture, frame grabbers, or smart NICs performing a range of functions including: tagging, encoding, sorting, and analog to digital conversion, filtering, time stamping, and channel synchronization. 

Key Components of Our Business

Product Development

Our systems are built using the latest GPU and flash storage technologies and draw upon years of expertise in designing and manufacturing semi-custom systems for OEMs. We have a history of being first to market with many solutions for emerging technologies. When PCIe was introduced in 2005, we were the first company to produce PCIe over cable adapters allowing system-to-system communication at same speed as internal I/O expansion. Similarly in 2018, we introduced the first PCIe Gen 4.0 cable adapters and in 2019 introduced the first PCIe Gen 4.0 system building blocks and platforms. PCIe Gen 4.0’s ultra-high performance 16.0 GT/s (gigatransfers/second) and signal integrity challenges limits the number of players in this market and creates barriers of entry.  Today, we are one of the largest providers of PCIe adapters and expansion components used worldwide.

When GPU technology and solid-state flash were first introduced, we began designing systems that maximized the effectiveness of these technologies. We now produce compute systems with large numbers of GPUs and flash memory communicating over PCIe to allow faster processing and data storage and retrieval. The more GPUs and flash devices available to a server, the faster that system can process and store data.

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We use leading edge, state-of-the art components from major technology providers to design purpose-built systems that solve customer problems in an efficient, cost-effective manner. We apply the component technology provided by Intel, NVIDIA, Western Digital, Broadcom and others to deliver customer driven designs to provide true value to our customers.

Worldwide Sales

We provide our products on a worldwide basis and are supported through a network of reseller and distribution partners. Sales in North America and Europe are predominately driven by our direct sales force whereas Asian sales are driven through distributors.

On October 31, 2018, OSS GmbH acquired 100% of the outstanding stock of Bressner Technology GmbH, (Bressner) located in Gröbenzell, Germany Limited Liability Company.  This acquisition provided the basis of our European operations with sales, marketing, engineering, manufacturing and support capabilities.

Recent Business Initiatives

On August 31, 2018, the OSS acquired 100% of the outstanding common stock of Concept Development Inc. (“CDI”) from CDI’s former stockholder (“CDI Stockholder”) pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”).  CDI specializes in the design and manufacturing of custom high-performance computing systems for airborne and automotive applications including in-flight entertainment systems.  CDI is located in Irvine, California.  The acquisition increased the Company’s access to the aerospace and automotive edge markets including autonomous vehicle applications and added technical expertise in the design and manufacturing of automotive and airborne equipment.  

The Company paid cash of $646,759 and issued 1,266,364 shares of the Company’s common stock to the CDI Stockholder for 100% of CDI outstanding common stock. The fair value assigned to the shares of common stock was $4,194,673 which was based upon the closing price of OSS’s stock on August 31, 2018 of $3.63 less a discount of 8.75% for lack of marketability for a one year period.

On October 31, 2018, OSS GmbH, our wholly owned subsidiary, acquired 100% of the outstanding stock of Bressner Technology GmbH, a Germany limited liability company located near Munich, Germany, from its principal owners for cash consideration of €4,725,000 (US$5,374,582) and stock consideration of 106,463 newly-issued restricted shares of the Company’s common stock. The fair value assigned to the shares of common stock was $228,779 which was based upon the closing price of OSS’s stock on October 31, 2018 of $2.47 less a discount of 13.0% for lack of marketability for a two year period.  This acquisition provided the basis of our European operations with sales, marketing, engineering, manufacturing and support capabilities.

What Sets OSS Apart

Several factors differentiate OSS from other suppliers of high-performance computing solutions:

Our business model consists of developing specialized computing solutions that our customers utilize as a key component of the equipment that they sell to end users.

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Our niche is to provide reliable purpose-built platforms with the latest high-performance computing technology focused on edge deployments.

Business Strategy

We have traditionally followed a strategy of being first-to-market in leading edge technologies by designing and developing products that are delivered before our competitors. This market leadership strategy is accomplished through what we term a “Catch the Wave” approach to the market. We currently have products spanning the spectrum of high-performance computing including servers, flash storage, GPU acceleration, networking and PCIe data acquisition I/O expansion. Within these product areas the OSS “Catch the Wave” approach implies that we:

Earnings Growth Strategy

OSS intends to continue its growth with a focus on growing earnings.  The earnings growth will be accomplished by:

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Our Opportunity

The worldwide high-performance computing market is expected to grow from $39 billion in 2019 to $50 billion by 2023. Within this market, OSS is positioned in the highest performance and fastest growing portions of the edge computing market including the customer server, GPU accelerators, storage (flash arrays) and PCIe data acquisition and expansion sectors.

Custom Built Servers

Within the server sector, OSS has secured a niche position of building purpose-built specialty servers, which the major server suppliers choose not to supply as they require custom tuning and special features that major OEMs cannot easily provide. Such flexibility is difficult to maintain for major suppliers because their systems are not designed to reflect specific customer specifications. OSS on the other hand has continued to find efficient ways service this market.  For example, OSS designs and builds a custom server with custom connectors and 16 high definition video media outputs that are used in the entertainment industry to provide multimedia at live performances.

We believe the custom server segment on the edge growing at a greater rate than the standard server segment. Intersect360 Research estimates that the market for high-performance servers is expected to be approximately $18 billion by 2023, with corporate market share in 2019 as follows:

It is our experience that OSS is increasingly competitive in the “Others” category, where customers require their systems to meet specific operational specifications, power requirements, speed, latency, or other requirements not covered by traditional designs. We estimate that our addressable market for HPC computers is approximately 20% of the “Others” category in the above chart. This translates to an addressable market size of approximately $500 million with our current engineering capability and product set.

GPU Compute Accelerators

GPU computing uses hardware components that are optimized to perform mathematical calculations in a rapid fashion. NVIDIA is the market leader in the design and manufacturing of these components.  OSS works closely with NVIDIA to design and build systems which use multiple GPUs to accelerate applications.

Markets and applications such as artificial intelligence, image rendering and processing, autonomous vehicles, deep learning, molecular modeling, genomics, advanced visualization, machine learning, and image processing, all benefit from the ability to use GPUs to accelerate the application. OSS builds specialized compute accelerators, using the latest GPU technology, to attach to traditional servers used in these emerging growth markets. We estimate these markets to be

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very large and growing.  Because our strategy has been to be first-to-market with the fastest and densest compute accelerator appliances, we anticipate our addressable market here to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

We also have a strong position in the government market which, according to Intersect360, constitutes 25% of the market resulting in projected revenue of $13B by 2023. OSS products can form a basis for companies who wish to participate in the hyper-scale market, which includes deep learning and AI. This is a major technology trend that OSS is addressing. Intersect360 estimates the deep learning market was worth more than $8 billion in 2018 with projections to grow to over $28B by 2023, according to Kenneth Research dated August 2019.

All Flash Arrays

We build standard and custom flash storage arrays to customer specifications utilizing our unique know-how in PCIe device fan-out, packaging, cooling, and PCIe-over-cable. We deliver dense, high-performance systems that provide customers with high value and utility in the most demanding, data-intensive operations.

Through a strategic agreement with Western Digital, we acquired the software engineering team several years back and the appropriate source code license for the Ion flash array software.  This provides OSS flash arrays with a high level of differentiation relating to storage management, latency and throughput. We provide standard flash array products and have the in-house hardware and software expertise to provide customized systems for demanding applications that are not suitable for standard offerings.

For example, we provide products to a large military contractor for integration into military aircraft that required us to design and manufacture a highly ruggedized mil-spec flash array. The resulting product provides high data density with low weight and a high degree of portability and security for the data. We believe our experience and capability in high speed, low-latency, digital signaling via PCIe gives us an edge in providing these custom designs to OEMs, military programs and other special purpose applications.

The overall market for flash arrays is growing rapidly. According to Markets and Markets All-Flash Array Market – Global Forecast to 2023 published in February 2019, the flash storage market totaled $6 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to reach $18 billion by 2023. According to Intersect360 about 80% of the total sales in 2018 were attributed to traditional large OEMs, like Dell EMC, NetApp, HPE, Hitachi, Lenovo, DDN and IBM. The remaining 20% is addressed by many smaller flash storage providers, including OSS. We believe that because our products are positively differentiated by speed, density, and management features, our offerings compete favorably in this market and provide a substantial growth opportunity.

OSS participates in the broader market for dense, high-performance flash storage systems that may or may not be deployed into data center environments. Since we develop custom flash storage arrays, we work closely with both OEMs and end users to insure they receive the product they want in the specific configuration, size and weight required for their application. We believe this gives OSS an advantageous position in a market that is growing rapidly and allows us to favorably compete in the market.

PCIe Data Acquisition Expansion and Adaptors

PCIe is a high-speed computer expansion standard. This standard defines the signals and connectors (i.e. slots) that are used for computer add-in cards (such as Ethernet or graphics). PCIe signaling can also be routed over a cable, allowing expansion input/output slots to be physically located in a separate chassis. This provides for the high performance and low latency which are essential in this market.

Being able to separate the server from the I/O expansion, using PCIe over a cable, facilitates disaggregation of server functionality. That is, with PCIe, server I/O functions no longer need to be contained in the physical server chassis, but can instead be separated into a separate chassis and continue to operate at full speed. This offers many advantages over higher latency and power consuming traditional networking communications like Ethernet.  From a practical perspective, servers can be connected directly to larger storage arrays or other peripheral devices, with the resulting group of chassis operating as if they were all in the same physical chassis.

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We began developing our first PCIe-over-cable adaptor in 2006, and were one of the early providers of PCIe adaptors. We recognized this as prime opportunity to utilize our core strengths, such as:

This technology has now become a standard within the computer industry, and OSS customers have used our adaptors to connect their custom input/output chassis and achieve performance equivalence as if the input/output was integrated into the server box. This gives designers and integrators a degree of flexibility and utility in architecting computer systems that is unprecedented. For example, one of our customers has utilized PCIe-over-cable to connect its high-performance video editing systems to a host computer, providing a system that is optimized for an application using standard servers. We have expanded our PCIe adaptor market in breadth and depth, including making adaptors for many OEM customers. To date, we have shipped more than 100,000 PCIe adaptor cards to customers globally.

With our expertise developed in designing adaptor cards, the logical extension of our capability led us to develop a method for expanding the PCIe bus into an external chassis containing one or many expansion slots. This allowed a customer to install multiple standard PCIe boards into a chassis and expand their system without having to add additional servers. A user could now connect a multiplicity of PCIe devices to a single server, and achieve performance throughput and low latency that was not possible prior to the introduction of PCIe.

We have been a leader in PCIe expansion backplanes and chassis through generations 1, 2, 3 and 4. As PCIe evolves through generations 5 and 6, we are uniquely positioned to continue our leadership role in this market. We have introduced a full line of PCIe Gen 4.0 products and will once again take a leadership role with PCIe Gen 5.0 when the specification is complete which is anticipated in 2021. We currently offer what we believe to be the largest PCIe expansion product line breadth, with chassis and backplanes that offer expansion from one to 64 slots. Due to its greater data throughput and flexibility of design, we believe this is a growing market, and we intend to maintain our leadership role.

Our Technology

We design and manufacture high performance computing systems that increase compute performance while reducing cost and impact to the infrastructure. Our high-density compute accelerators connect directly to a server’s PCIe bus, delivering substantial compute performance. Our flash storage arrays support hundreds of terabytes of high-speed storage that can also be accessed by multiple servers.

Technology Drivers for OSS High-Performance Computing Business

OSS has developed expertise and core competencies in the three fundamental technology drivers of today’s high-performance computing market. Namely, high-speed serial interconnect technology, compute acceleration utilizing GPUs, and low latency flash storage. In combination, these technologies are changing the economics of computing, bringing high-performance computing within the grasp of a wide range of new industries and commercial applications. Simultaneously the emergence of massive data being generated in each of these industries is pushing the requirement for state-of-the-art technology. OSS is enabling this technology to be deployed at the edge by merging these fundamental technologies with our expertise in providing the system level customization for meeting requirements for ruggedization and SWAP constraints (space, weight and power).

The opportunity is not only to provide competitive advantage for corporations, but also address some of the most fundamental challenges in life science, energy and security. OSS is well situated to leverage these major industry forces. By exploiting its unique set of expertise in the underpinning technologies of high-performance computing, OSS will continue to deliver world leading solutions, with the opportunity to capture a growing market share of this rapidly expanding marketplace.

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Switched Serial Interconnect

Switched serial interconnects are the data highways connecting many elements of today’s high-performance computing platforms. At ever increasing speeds, these pathways move data between system’s processing units, storage, networking, and peripheral elements. For high performance computing the primary processing, storage and peripheral interconnect is PCIe Gen 4.0. PCIe Gen 4.0 has an ability to run up to 16 lanes in parallel, which allows up to 64 gigabytes (full duplex) per second bandwidth between system elements.

Serial switches incorporated in system design allow many system elements to be connected together in a non-blocking interconnect fabric at PCIe Gen 4 speeds. This allows systems to scale internally avoiding bottlenecks. The serial interconnect can be embedded directly in the computer printed circuit boards, across connectors board-to-board, or traverse across copper or optical cables for chassis-to-chassis connection. Due to the extremely high speeds, the design considerations around signal integrity are rigorous and with unforgiving tolerances. PCIe Gen 5 will begin deployment in 2021, doubling the interconnect speed once again.

Compute Acceleration with GPUs.

GPUs have evolved from graphics display acceleration to becoming general-purpose processing workhorses for high-performance computing systems. Today, the majority of the fastest supercomputers in the world utilize GPUs as their primary compute engines. GPUs are ideal for high-performance computing workloads because of their ability to do massively parallel processing. While traditional CPUs today may have dozens of processing cores, GPUs have thousands of cores that are able to execute calculations simultaneously.

For many high-performance applications, fundamental pieces of the code can be optimized to run in parallel and therefore experience significant performance enhancements. NVIDIA, a key supplier of GPUs to the market, has done extensive benchmarking showing the ability of single GPU based machines to exceed the performance of dozens or even thousands of traditional CPU-only computers. NVIDIA has worked extensively with the software development community, and hundreds of applications have been tuned and developed to run on GPUs.

The current NVIDIA GPU Applications catalog lists more than 400 such applications across a broad set of market spaces including:

Many of these applications also scale performance based on the number of GPU components utilized. OSS has designed multi-GPU systems including up to 16 GPUs in a single system. Current state-of-the art GPUs provide over 7 teraflops of performance, with future products set to dramatically increase overall processing capabilities in the years to come.

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GPUs also pose significant system design challenges due to their high power requirements. High-end GPUs can require as much as 350 watts of power, which generates a tremendous amount of heat. Sophisticated power distribution and cooling designs are required, especially for large scale systems with multiple GPUs per chassis.

PCI Express Flash Storage – NVMe protocol

The use of flash memory technology for system storage has gained traction over the last several years, as the cost per gigabyte has continued to drop. Flash memory is now becoming the ubiquitous storage technology in high-performance systems.

Combined with the move away from traditional rotating hard drive technology has been the trend toward eliminating traditional storage protocols in favor of low latency flash memory protocols. Newer flash memory modules utilize a protocol known as NVMe, which connects the flash memory directly to the system’s PCIe interconnect. This direct connection allows for very high bandwidth between the storage and the other system elements and eliminates the need for protocol translation as data is moved from storage subsystems to and from the compute complex.

Today, flash memory modules with capacities up to 8 terabytes and PCIe Gen 4 interfaces are becoming available. OSS flash storage arrays with hundreds of terabytes of capacity are available, enabling the scaling of high-speed storage to meet the full range of high-performance application requirements.

Core Technical Capabilities

OSS has developed unique expertise and core competency across the fundamental technologies of today’s rapidly expanding specialized high-performance computing marketplace. These valuable assets are embedded in the leading-edge engineering capabilities of our engineers, the proprietary intellectual property residing in our vast library of designs, and our brand equity based on our reputation as a high-quality producer of state-of-the-art custom and standard solutions across a broad array of markets.

High Speed System Interconnect Design

Our electrical engineers are experts in high speed digital signaling design. They have continually designed at the leading edge of the state-of-the-art signaling speeds, as semiconductor technology has driven up the clock rate of digital transmission. We have consistently been among a small handful of companies able to come to market first with the latest technology. In fact, we delivered the industry’s first PCIe over cable solutions for PCIe Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3 and Gen 4 and are currently on track to accomplish this again in Gen 5. The expertise required includes circuit design, PCB (printed circuit board) layout and routing optimizations all with a focus on achieving the highest levels of signal integrity. In our current systems, PCIe Gen 4 signals are propagated across multiple PCBs, connectors, and copper cabling while maintaining the ability to recognize digital signal transitions at 16 billion times per second.

In high-performance computing systems, especially on the edge, the trajectory of ever increasing signaling speeds is continuing.   An ever-shrinking set of companies have the capability to design robust, highly-reliable systems at these speeds. We believe our core competency in large-scale, high-speed design and layout will allow us to remain on the forefront of this growing industry.

Complex System Design

In addition to low-level signal integrity design expertise, we have amassed expertise and intellectual property in high-performance system architecture design. This expertise allows us to develop extremely sophisticated systems with massive scaling, while meeting customer demands for reliability, cost, and flexibility.

We have developed the deep knowledge for high-capacity input/output systems and operating system adjustments and configuration tuning required. Our engineers are often called upon to co-design with OEM designers to create the perfect fit solution for their customers.

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For highly scalable systems, a deep understanding and experience with switching topologies and interconnect fabric design is required. We have worked with serial switching technology starting with the first generation of PCIe and have been an innovator in creating unique and flexible topologies to meet the specific needs of the customers. Creating custom solutions for unique customer solutions is a core competency and relies on this deep knowledge of switch capabilities and limitations.

For maximum system performance, design for optimizing data transfer speeds is also an important consideration. OSS has developed expertise in system design to leverage peer-to-peer data flows between GPUs and pioneering techniques for optimized data flows between flash storage and GPU compute engines. Our systems optimize switch and GPU configuration topologies to optimize GPU-to-GPU communication without requiring latency-inducing data transfer between host dual processors. Our platforms feature RDMA (remote direct memory access) across compute nodes, which support data transfer without burdening the host CPU.

OSS has pioneered the ability to extend the PCIe bus beyond the confines of a single enclosure, opening the possibility of flexible system expansion options. We believe we are one of the leading designers and suppliers of PCIe host bus adapters that extend PCIe signals from the host motherboard across copper or optical cables to expansion enclosures. OSS adapters provide both ends of the external cable connection. Our expertise in high-speed signal design in printed circuit boards, connectors and cables is essential to successful expansion designs. We also hold expertise in incorporating clustering and rack scale expansion into our system designs, including 100/200 gigabit Ethernet, 100/200 gigabit Infiniband, and emerging PCIe top-of-rack switch technology.

Expertise in power, cooling and mechanical design are required to address the requirements of the high-performance computing customers especially while meeting the constrained time requirements of edge deployments. We have developed leadership design capability in high-power design and distribution within large rack enclosures as well as edge optimized configurations. High-end GPUs today require 350 watts or above, and in our high-end systems up to 16 of these can reside in a single chassis. Thousands of kilowatts of redundant power are required. Power stability and huge thermal loads are some of the critical design issues that must be addressed.

We have expertise in power distribution, redundant power and complex chassis cooling design, including materials selection, airflow simulation, fan technology and cable routing. We have also developed extensive intellectual property in regulatory compliance of complex high-performance computing system design across emission, shock, vibration, thermal, humidity and other environmental requirements that are required for highly reliable and highly available solutions. OSS engineers are experts in design for regulatory testing for FCC (Federal Communications Commission), CE (European Conformity), UL (Underwriters Laboratories), and Mil-Spec (Military Standard) standards. Additionally, we have expertise in rapid prototyping, design for manufacturability, and design for serviceability.

Storage Management Software

Given our hardware design and integration expertise, we see the next natural step is to add a robust software capability that will allow us to offer more optimized and customized systems. Our Ion software design team provides the expertise to deliver full server and storage solutions that produce the highest performance from today’s leading-edge flash storage devices.

The Ion software allows flash-based modules to be put into a variety of storage and network configurations which can then be accessed by multiple servers. The Ion software can do this cost-effectively, while preserving the low latency that is vital for many business and mission-critical enterprise applications, from database and transaction processing to massive data collection programs. Ion also has a full high-availability option to ensure complete data integrity.

In-house mature and established foundational storage software allows OSS to add new products and capabilities to its product portfolio. Possibilities range from increasing data efficiency with snapshot, de-duplication and compression, to improving system manageability and adding NVMe over Fabrics storage scale out capabilities to our products.

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Benefits of Technology and Core Capabilities to our Customers

Due to our core capabilities, we can provide our high-performance computing customers with platforms possessing high reliability and cost effectiveness. Such performance allows our customers to solve bigger problems faster, and save the cost and time of highly-paid engineers, data scientists, and other human resources. Our technology enhances innovation by allowing more ‘what-if’ analysis in a finite amount of time. Our price/performance leadership enhances our customers’ competitiveness, and lowers capital expense and total cost of ownership. We work with our OEM customers to develop custom ‘perfect fit solutions’ for their unique requirements.

Our Products

OSS has developed a complete line of products that have been customized for the benefit of its customers.

GPU Appliances – high-density, fully integrated computer clusters that are purpose-built for user applications. They provide thousands of cores and hundreds of teraflops of computing performance.

GPU Expansion – expansion units can add hundreds or thousands of computing cores with hundreds of teraflops of computing performance to virtually any OEM server.

Flash Storage and Network Appliances – networked storage appliances optimized for the environment and system software of our customers. These offer flexible and powerful turnkey, customer-driven solutions for the HPC market.

Flash Storage Arrays – arrays that provide hundreds of terabytes of storage and millions of input/output operations per second with flash memory. They are flexible, powerful, and configurable for customers in the HPC market.

Servers – OSS designs servers optimized for PCIe-over-cable expansion. Available in various turn-key and custom configurations, they provide simple, reliable and cost-effective server solutions. These servers are optimized to work seamlessly with other OSS systems and appliances.

Desktop Computing Appliances – OSS designs and builds desktop expansion appliances in many configurations that add input/output flexibility to any user’s desktop system. These appliances come pre-configured with many combinations of flash memory, GPUs, and other add-in boards.

PCIe Expansion – PCIe is the standard for high speed connectivity from a server to a PCIe device. It provides vastly faster throughput compared to USB or Ethernet in a simple, cost-effective connection. It requires no special software, which adds no overhead to the system, and improves latency of throughput. OSS provides cables, kits, backplanes, enclosures, switches, and adaptor cards for this market.

Industrial and Panel PCs – OSS provides small form factor high performance compute platforms customizable to meet needs in industrial applications on the edge where space constraint is a fundamental consideration.

Tablets and Handhelds – OSS provides ruggedized mobile high-performance compute devices that meet the specialized requirement for devices deployed at the edge in a diverse set of environmental conditions.  

Customers

We serve a global clientele consisting of multinational companies, governmental agencies, and leading technology providers. Some of our key customers are set forth below, including case studies illustrating how we provide custom solutions.

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Raytheon – OSS worked closely with Raytheon to build a customized flash storage array, with flash drives installed in removable canisters. Raytheon has installed these storage arrays on a current military aircraft equipped with multiple sensors, encryption devices and data recorders. These devices are fully compliant with appropriate military specifications, including shock and vibration. Each canister has the capacity to save 100 terabytes of data and weighs only 6.5 pounds, a fraction of the weight of the previous spinning hard drive design. Data is captured onto the compact OSS flash array canisters, which can be easily removed at the end of the mission for analysis. Our expertise in designing and manufacturing high-density flash arrays in the lightest, most compact package allow military aircraft to realize faster turn-arounds during critical missions. These systems are intended to be incorporated into new aircraft and retrofitted into the existing fleet.

disguise– disguise is the leading provider of hardware and software that allows their customers to produce live events, television broadcasts, theater effects, and special effects for concert tours. OSS has worked with disguise to design purpose-built, custom servers that act as video controllers for special effects at these events. These edge servers work seamlessly with disguise software applications, providing up to 16 simultaneous video outputs that supports a rich array of special effects and extended reality experiences. Events like the Super Bowl halftime show, sporting events, feature films and numerous musical concerts rely upon disguise controllers, designed and produced by OSS to deliver a lasting impression on audiences.

National Instruments – National Instruments is a market leader and multinational company that produces automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. OSS provides several PXI/PXIe/PCIe interface cards that are branded by National Instruments. OSS acts as an extension to National Instruments’ engineering group, allowing National Instruments to complete their product roadmap in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Sales and Marketing

Our sales and marketing efforts are focused on promoting sales, producing expert content and brand awareness.

Sales

Our sales efforts entail three main areas:

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Marketing

Our marketing department is responsible for defining our vision and product road map.  They primarily focus on positioning OSS as an expert and visionary in the field of high-performance computing in edge applications utilizing PCI Express. We generate expert content to support our market leading products while also building cost effective brand/product awareness in several ways. We use traditional and non-traditional marketing as well as partnerships and word of mouth to convey the uniqueness and compelling value of our products and services. The markets and applications we target include machine learning, deep learning, finance, medical equipment, in-flight entertainment, manufacturing automation, defense/government, oil and gas exploration, media and entertainment. Among the many channels utilized are:

As we grow, it is anticipated our marketing efforts will likewise continue to increase in size and diversity.

Competition

One Stop Systems (OSS) core business is to provide specialized high-performance edge computing building blocks and platforms to OEMs who incorporate these products in their complete solutions which they sell to end users in specific vertical markets.  Due to the nature of OSS’s business there are a number of categories of potential competitors for its products.

Customer in-house design resources

Many of OSS’s target OEM customers have in-house engineering design resources which could be used as an alternative to engaging with OSS.  Examples of current OSS customers who have significant in-house resources include National Instruments, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. This potential competition is mitigated by the technical specialization OSS has especially in high end and large scale PCI Express switch fabrics and PCI Express over cable capabilities.  OEMs can invest their in-house resources on value-add capabilities within their specific vertical market and outsource these horizontal technology capabilities to OSS.  OSS has also developed a trusted partner relationship with many of these OEMs and has established a market reputation for technical expertise and a responsive and cost effective engagement model. We win when our customers realize that together we can produce better products faster and more

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cost-effectively than they can themselves. This has proven to be particularly evident when customers require state-of-the-art products that are constructed of parts available commercially. This has resulted in several design wins that demonstrate our flexibility and how we can work closely with large OEM and government customers.

Major Tier 1 & 2 Mainstream Computer and Storage Vendors

These vendors offer mainstream high-performance computing platforms including servers and storage systems that can address some applications at the edge in OSS target markets. They do not however over ‘specialized’ platforms or customization capabilities that OSS specializes in to meet unique form factor or ruggedization or scale out requirements sought by OEM customers.  OSS’s strategy is specifically designed to avoid head-to-head competition with this class of vendors.  In some scenarios OSS can provide a complementary specialized component or building block which interface to one of these vendors mainstream products. Examples of companies in this space include HP, Dell/EMC, IBM, Pure Storage, and NetApp.

Chip Vendors with vertical integration offerings

Third party competitive products include cases where the manufacturers of the underlying chip or board-level products decide to also offer system-level products. This is the case with Intel, NVIDIA, Western Digital and others. These offerings tend to be tactical, short-term products that are intended to demonstrate a new technology, rather than long-term forays into the systems business. In addition,  these “technology demonstration systems” tend to be priced at high levels, making them less competitive once the newness factor wears off.

Specialized Horizontal HPC Vendors

There are a handful of competitors who offer specialized products in the same categories as OSS.  These companies are small and tend to focus in specific geographic area or with an established set of long-term customers.  They have limited bandwidth to take on many simultaneous projects and are rarely seen in direct competitive situations. Examples of companies in this space include Trenton and Cyclone.

Multi GPU Platform Vendors

A significant area of focus for OSS is in specialized multi-GPU platforms for edge applications.  Due to the tremendous interest in AI solutions using GPUs there are many vendors offering products in this space.  Similar to the mainstream computer and storage vendors mentioned above these vendors offer standard solutions without the options for specialization and customization that OSS offers. As the primary GPU vendor, NVIDIA is a safe choice as a system provider for many customers who do not need or desire a level of specialization in their products.  OSS has a strong and positive relationship with NVIDIA which includes receiving leads from them for specialized solutions not addressed by their mainstream system offering.  Other companies such as SuperMicro and Tyan who offer their own system products directly are also happy to work with OSS to resell their products when customers need a combination of standard and specialized products.  OSS offers its EOS server based on SuperMicro motherboards. Examples of companies in this space include NVIDIA, SuperMicro and Tyan.

Vertical HPC Vendors – Military/Aerospace

In certain vertical markets there are competitors who focus primarily in that market. The military and aerospace markets are prime examples.  These vendors often provide complete solutions including both hardware and software and some specialization in terms of form factor and ruggedization.  In these markets, OSS provides unique capability in terms of scaling of PCI Express components over cable (copper and fiber) that can address unique requirements of specific military or government programs.  OSS has also established good relationships with prime contractors or agencies (Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing, NASA, ONR, and others) which can be important influencers or decision makers on technology selection.  Competitors in this space include companies such as Mercury, Crystal, Curtiss Wright, and Systel.

Vertical Vendors – M&E/Visualization

Another vertical market with different competitors is the media and entertainment and visualization markets.  These companies focus on understanding and tuning their hardware systems to the specific application and data types of these markets.  This focus provides them benefits in terms of brand awareness in the vertical, but often they are limited in

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ability to meet specialized and customized requirements of OEMs in this space.  Examples of companies in this space include Boxx, Cubix and Sonnet.

Manufacturing and Operations

OSS is certified under ISO 9001-2015 for “design, manufacture, and supply of industrial computers.” This means OSS has demonstrated its ability to consistently provide products that meet both customer requirements and applicable regulatory or statutory requirements. It also indicates that we have programs and processes in place to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, as well as a continuous improvement program that ensures OSS gets better over time.

We utilize lean principles to drive our manufacturing and assembly process. One of the key aspects of this is our application of just-in-time principles that ensure effective ordering and utilization of inventory, and this helps optimize cash flow throughout the manufacturing cycle. Within the manufacturing process, our operations encompass three categories of “builds:”

OSS is dedicated to quality and customer satisfaction. Within the manufacturing operations function at OSS, our processes begin with the end goal in mind. This means we start with the customer. All our business processes begin with the idea that the customer is the essence of why we exist. Our continuous improvement efforts require us to review products, services, and processes with the idea that minor changes can lead to greater outcomes for our customers.

While we are cognizant of the additive nature of small improvements, we believe a disciplined approach to improvement sometime leads to extraordinary, large, and positive advances in our products and services. This is extremely important to OSS, as our goal is to bring the most advanced leading-edge technologies to our customers before our competitors can. Our operations strategy supports our overall mission of being first to market with customized, leading-edge products that are best-in-market in terms of speed and overall performance.

Research and Development

Research and development at OSS is centered on the exploitation of key technologies as they evolve in the marketplace. Our product roadmap reflects new technologies for CPUs, GPUs, flash storage, and advanced PCIe switches. We design first-to-market, custom implementations utilizing market leading component technologies. Accordingly, our focus lies not in the capital-intensive development of silicon implementations of technologies (i.e., chips, processors, GPUs, or storage devices), but rather leverages leading-edge technologies and building first-to-market products that fully exploit those technologies for solving customer problems.

The OSS research and development strategy can be summarized as follows: OSS drives design wins by utilizing key new technologies to develop products that are leading edge and first to market.

Some examples of OSS developments:

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Intellectual Property

The primary intellectual property value of OSS emanates from the more than 600 individual design projects we have undertaken over the decades since our founding. These designs are archived and cataloged, so we rarely begin a new design from scratch.  In general, we maintain the rights to the product to use elsewhere.

Over the years, our team has developed and maintained expertise in high-speed signal design and analysis, electronic and mechanical packaging, PCIe-over-cable, fiber optics transmission, high-speed/density flash arrays, and integration and deployment of GPUs in compute accelerators and servers. This extensive expertise positions us to expand and rationalize our product line to meet the growing and ever-changing HPC market.

Employees

As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately 118 employees of which 116 are full-time and 2 are part-time employees.  Ninety-two of our employees are domestic and 26 are international. Our employees include highly skilled engineers, technicians, assemblers, and support staff. They are housed in multiple facilities, and are led by a management team that is supportive but expects a lot. We are proud of our low turnover of personnel where we keep the team challenged and encourage input and creative thinking by all.  The management team provides transparency to its employees through regular communication meetings designed to update employees on current metric driven results and future expectations. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement or represented by a labor union. We consider our relationship with our employees to be strong.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we may be a party to legal proceedings and subject to claims incident in the ordinary course of business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that the final outcome of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or business. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors.

Environmental Matters

We believe we are in compliance in all material respects with all applicable environmental laws.  Presently, we do not anticipate that such compliance will have a material effect on capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position with respect to any of our operations.

Government Approval and Effect of Government Regulations

Because our core business is to provide specialized high performance edge computing building blocks and platforms to OEMs who incorporate these products in their complete solutions which they sell to end users in specific vertical markets, we do not believe that any government agency approval is required for the products and services that we provide to our customers.

However, governmental regulations, including but not limited to import and export law, customer, and trade regulations, may affect our business.  For more information, see the section titled, “Risk Factors” found on Part I, Item1A, to this Annual Report.

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ITEM 1A.  RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, and growth prospects. In such an event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

A reversal of the U.S. economic recovery and a return to volatile or recessionary conditions in the United States or abroad could adversely affect our business or our access to capital markets in a material manner.

Worsening economic and market conditions, downside shocks, or a return to recessionary economic conditions could severely reduce demand for our products and adversely affect our operating results. These economic conditions may also impact the financial condition of one or more of our key suppliers, which could affect our ability to secure product to meet our customers’ demand.  Our results of operations and the implementation of our business strategy could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy.  An economic downturn may cause uncertainty in the capital and credit markets and could have a material adverse effect on us. We could also be adversely affected by such factors as changes in foreign currency rates, weak economies, and political conditions in each of the countries in which we sell our products.

The market for our products is developing and may not develop as we expect.

The market for cutting-edge, high performance computing products is characterized by rapid advances in technologies. We believe our future success will depend in large part on our ability to develop products, new business initiatives and creating innovative and custom designs for our customers. The growth of server clusters, specialized or high-performance applications, and hosted software solutions which require fast and efficient data processing, is crucial to our success. It is difficult to predict the development of the demand for high performance computing, supercomputers, and related hardware solutions, the size and growth rate for this market, the entry of competitive products, or the success of existing competitive products. Any expansion in our market depends on several factors, including the demand, cost, performance, and perceived value associated with our products. If our products are not adopted or there is a reduction in demand for our products caused by a lack of customer acceptance, a slowdown in demand for computational power, an overabundance of unused computational power, technological challenges, competing technologies and products, decreases in corporate spending, weakening economic conditions, or otherwise, it could result in reduced customer orders, early order cancellations, the loss of customers, or decreased sales, any of which would adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations or our guidance.

Our quarterly and annual operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate significantly in the future, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. The timing and size of sales of our products are variable and difficult to predict and can result in fluctuations in our net sales from period to period. In addition, our budgeted expense levels depend in part on our expectation of future sales. Any substantial adjustment to expenses to account for lower levels of sales is difficult and takes time, thus we may not be able to reduce our costs sufficiently to compensate for a shortfall in net sales, and even a small shortfall in net sales could disproportionately and adversely affect our operating margin and operating results for a given quarter.

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Our operating results may also fluctuate due to a variety of other factors, many of which are outside our control, including the changing and volatile local, national, and international economic environments, any of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate. Besides the other risks in this “Risk Factors” section, factors that may affect our operations include:

Each of these factors individually, or the cumulative effect of two or more of these factors, could result in large fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. You should not rely on our past results as an indication of future performance.

Our products are subject to competition, including competition from the customers to whom we sell.

Servers, computer accelerators, flash storage arrays, PCIe expansion products, and other products that we design, manufacture, and sell or license are subject to competition. The computer hardware and technology fields are well established with limited, and in many cases no, intellectual property and technological barriers to entry. The markets in which we operate are competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future from established competitors and new market entrants. The markets are influenced by, among others, brand awareness and reputation, price, strength and scale of sales and marketing efforts, professional services and customer support, product features, reliability and performance, scalability of products, and breadth of product offerings. Due to the nature of our products, competition occurs at the design, performance, and sales stages. A design or sales win by us does not limit further competition and our customers may purchase competitive products from third parties at any time. This competition could result in increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses and failure to increase, or the loss of, market share, any of which would likely seriously harm our business, operating results or financial condition. From a cost and control perspective, our products are specialized and thus generally cost more than our competitors’ products. If our ability to design specialized solutions is deemed to be on par or of lesser value than competing solutions, we could lose our customers and prospects.

Many of our customers and competitors, often with substantially more resources or larger economies of scale, produce products that are competitive with our products. Many of these third parties mass-produce hardware solutions and have not heavily invested in or allocated resources to the smaller scale specialized products and solutions we design. A decrease in the cost of general mass-produced hardware solutions, which can serve as a substitute for our products, or the entrance of or additional allocation of resources by one of these customers or competitors into the production of specialized systems which compete with our products could create increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses, or the loss of market share or expected market share, any of which may significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

New entrants and the introduction of other distribution models in our markets may harm our competitive position.

The markets for development, distribution, and sale of our high-performance computing solutions are rapidly evolving. New entrants seeking to gain market share by introducing new technology, new products and new server configurations may make it more difficult for us to sell our products and earn design wins which could create increased

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pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses, or the loss of market share or expected market share, any of which may significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Large computer hardware and equipment manufacturers and suppliers have traditionally designed, produced, and sold general purpose servers, and storage arrays and related products and equipment. Our customers supplement these general purpose systems by purchasing our specialized or customized systems or supplemental products which improve the speed, efficiency, or performance of such systems. If the speed, efficiency, or computational power of such general purpose systems increases such that supplemental or specialized products become unnecessary, or the cost of such general purpose systems declines such that it is more cost effective for prospective customers to add general-purpose equipment rather than specialized or supplemental equipment, we could experience a significant decline in demand for the products which may significantly harm to our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our products compete with and supplement general purpose servers, storage systems and related equipment. If the producers of general purpose equipment implement proprietary standards, software, interfaces, or other interoperability restrictions, including controls which restrict the equipment’s compatibility with third party systems, we could experience a significant decline in sales because our products would not be interoperable with such systems, resulting in significant harm to our business, operating results and financial condition.

In our marketplace, general-purpose equipment is traditionally mass-produced and available to order while specialized equipment and custom bulk-order equipment is subject to a bid-based purchase system. If one or more large manufacturers of general or standard servers storage arrays, or related products and equipment provide specialized, customized, or supplementary equipment on a made-to-order or generally available basis, we could be forced to reduce our prices or change our selling model to remain competitive which would significantly harm to our business, operating results and financial condition.

If we are unable to manage our growth and expand our operations successfully, our business and operating results will be harmed and our reputation may be damaged.

We have expanded our operations significantly since inception and anticipate that further significant expansion will be required to achieve our business objectives. The growth and expansion of our business and product offerings places a continuous and significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. Any such future growth would also add complexity to and require effective coordination throughout our organization. To manage any future growth effectively, we must continue to improve and expand our information technology and financial infrastructure, our operating and administrative systems and controls, and our ability to manage headcount, capital and processes in an efficient manner. We may not be able to successfully implement improvements to these systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner, which could result in additional operating inefficiencies and could cause our costs to increase more than planned. If we do increase our operating expenses in anticipation of the growth of our business and this growth does not meet our expectations, our operating results may be negatively impacted. If we are unable to manage future expansion, our ability to provide high quality products and services could be harmed, which could damage our reputation and brand, and may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

A limited number of customers represent a significant portion of our sales. If we were to lose any of these customers, our sales could decrease significantly.

In the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, approximately 35%, and 53% of net sales represent customers which are greater than 10% of our consolidated annual revenue.  This concentration is with two customers, disguise and Raytheon.

In addition, a few products comprise a significant amount of our sales, and the discontinuation, modification, or obsolescence of such products may materially and adversely affect our sales and results of operations. Any loss of, or a significant reduction in purchases by, these other significant customers or a decrease in the high performance applications that drive the use of our products, or the modification, discontinuation, or obsolescence of a device which constitutes a significant portion of our sales could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

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Some of our contracts allow our customers to have access to the design drawings for products which we have designed and manufacture for them.

Some of our contracts allow our customers to have access to the design drawings for products which we have designed and manufactured for them.  In some cases, these drawings are included as a deliverable in conjunction with their non-recurring engineering fee, and in other cases, an additional fee is required to obtain the drawings package.  Since these customers have access to the drawings, there is no guarantee that they will continue to purchase the manufactured products from OSS.  This arrangement applies to our large media and entertainment customer, several of the customers within the recently acquired CDI business and other customers.  Neither our media and entertainment customer, nor our current CDI customers have had any of the OSS-designed products manufactured by anyone other than OSS, but they may have the capability to do so in the future.

We rely on a limited number of parts suppliers to support our manufacturing and design processes.

We rely on a limited number of suppliers to provide us with the necessary devices, parts and systems to allow us to build, design and manufacture our products, and the failure to manage our relationships with these parties successfully could adversely affect our ability to market and sell our products. In the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, suppliers for which purchases represent greater than 10% of our total parts purchases accounted for approximately 11%, and 37%, respectively, of materials purchased.  This concentration is with two suppliers, Concisys Inc., and Exact Computers.

Although we do believe we could locate additional suppliers to fulfill our needs, any significant change in our relationship with these suppliers could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition unless and until we are able to find suitable replacements. We make substantially all of our purchases from our contract suppliers on a purchase order basis. Our suppliers are not required to supply our raw materials for any specific period or in any specific quantity or price.

Global pandemics or other disasters or public health concerns in regions of the world where we have operations or source material or sell products, such as outbreaks of novel coronavirus or H1N1 flu could result in the disruption of our business. Specifically, the ongoing coronavirus outbreak emanating from China at the beginning of 2020 has resulted in increased travel restrictions and extended shutdowns of certain businesses in the region. These or any governmental developments or health concerns in China or other countries in which we operate could result in social, economic, or labor instability. Although we are monitoring the situation regularly, it is currently unknown whether the outbreak will continue to disrupt our product shipments or impact manufacturing in the region over a prolonged period. If such disruption were to extend over a prolonged period, it could have a material adverse impact on our business and our financial results. Any disruption resulting from similar events could also cause significant delays in shipments of our products until we are able to resume normalized operations and this could have a material negative impact on our results of operations and cash flows.

Our future success depends on our ability to develop and successfully introduce new and enhanced products that meet the needs of our customers.

Our sales depend on our ability to anticipate our existing and prospective customers’ needs and develop products that address those needs. Our future success will depend on our ability to design new products, anticipate technological improvements and enhancements, and to develop products that are competitive in the rapidly changing computer hardware and software industry. Introduction of new products and product enhancements will require coordination of our efforts with those of our customers, suppliers, and manufacturers to develop products that offer performance features desired by our customers and performance and functionality superior or more cost effective than solutions offered by our competitors. If we fail to coordinate these efforts, develop product enhancements or introduce new products that meet the needs of our customers as scheduled, our operating results will be materially and adversely affected, and our business and prospects will be harmed. We cannot assure that product introductions will meet our anticipated release schedules or that our products will be competitive in the market. Furthermore, given the rapidly changing nature of the computer equipment market, there can be no assurance our products and technology will not be rendered obsolete by alternative or competing technologies.

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Delays in our production cycle could result in outdated equipment or decreased purchases of our products.

The design and manufacture of our products can take several months to several years. The length of such process depends on the complexity and purpose of the system or equipment being designed, and may be affected by factors such as: the development and design of unique or specialized systems, the fabrication, availability, and supply of parts, the customization of parts as applicable, the manufacture and/or assembly of the units, quality control testing, and the development and incorporation of new technologies. If our products are outdated upon completion of this process our sales could materially decline and it may be necessary to sell products at a loss.

Unsuccessful government programs or OEM contracts could lead to reduced revenues.

We design and manufacture certain products to fit the specifications of government programs or OEM contracts. These programs may take months or years to complete and involve significant investment of our time, money and resources. We generally receive upfront fees for these programs but there is often no or little obligation on the part of our customer to purchase large volumes of products at the time of final product launch. Unsuccessful product launches could lead to reduced revenues, potential returns of products and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results. We may be forced to sell products at a loss or spend a significant amount of resources to find additional customers for these products if these programs do not fit the future needs of our intended customers.

Our inventory may rapidly become obsolete.

Sales cycles for some of our products can take several months or longer. In addition, it can take time from the bid to the development and manufacture of the equipment. We maintain inventory based in large part on our forecasts of the volume and timing of orders. The varying length of the sales cycles makes accurate forecasting difficult. The delays inherent in our sales cycles raise the risk that the inventory we have on hand will become obsolete or impaired prior to its use or sale. If our forecasted demand does not materialize into purchase orders, we may be required to write off our inventory balances or reduce the value of our inventory, based on a reduced sales price. A write off of the inventory, or a reduction in the inventory value due to a sales price reduction, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

We offer an extended product warranty to cover defective products at no cost to the customer. An unexpected change in failure rates of our products could have a material adverse impact on our business.

We offer product warranties that generally extend for one year from date of sale that requires us to repair or replace defective products returned by the customer during the warranty period at no cost to the customer. Our product warranties are in addition to warranties we receive from our vendors. We record an estimate for anticipated warranty-related costs at the time of sale based on historical and estimated future product return rates and expected repair or replacement costs. While such costs have historically been within management’s expectations and the provisions established and we receive warranty coverage from our vendors, unexpected changes in failure rates could have a material adverse impact on our business requiring additional warranty reserves. These failures could adversely impact our operating results.

If we fail to achieve design wins for our products, our business will be harmed.

Achieving design wins is an important success factor for our business. We work closely with OEM’s and end users to ensure the customer gets the product they want in the specific configuration, size and weight required for the application. We have participated in many design wins based upon our ability to interpret technical specifications and proceed rapidly through prototyping, development, and delivery. This approach and expertise are two of the factors driving our growth. Failure to maintain our expertise and ability to deliver custom, specific design systems could harm our business. In order to achieve design wins, we must:

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Unanticipated changes in industry standards could render our products incompatible with products developed by major hardware manufacturers and software developers. Further, if our products are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards, our customers may not incorporate our products into their design strategies.

If we cannot retain, attract and motivate key personnel, we may be unable to effectively implement our business plan.

Our success depends in large part upon our ability to retain, attract and motivate highly skilled management, development, marketing, sales and service personnel. The loss of and failure to replace key technical management and personnel could adversely affect multiple development efforts. Recruitment and retention of senior management and skilled technical, sales and other personnel is very competitive, and we may not be successful in either attracting or retaining such personnel. We have lost key personnel to other high technology companies, and many larger companies with significantly greater resources than us having aggressively recruited, and continue to aggressively recruit, key personnel. As part of our strategy to attract and retain key personnel, we may offer equity compensation through grants of stock options, restricted stock awards or restricted stock units. Potential employees, however, may not perceive our equity incentives as attractive enough. In addition, due to the intense competition for qualified employees, we may be required to, and have had to, increase the level of compensation paid to existing and new employees, which could materially increase our operating expenses.

We have made in the past, and may make in the future, acquisitions which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, result in dilution to our stockholders, deplete our cash reserves and adversely affect our financial results.

Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the following:

Acquisitions may also cause us to:

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Acquisitions of high-technology companies and assets are inherently risky and subject to many factors outside of our control and no assurance can be given that our recently completed or future acquisitions will be successful and will not materially adversely affect our business, operating results, or financial condition. Failure to manage and successfully integrate acquisitions could materially harm our business and operating results.

The continuing commoditization of HPC hardware and software has resulted in increased pricing pressure and may adversely affect our operating results.

The continuing commoditization of HPC hardware, such as processors, interconnects, flash storage and other infrastructure, and the growing commoditization of software, including plentiful building blocks and more capable open source software, as well as the potential for integration of differentiated technology into already-commoditized components, has resulted in, and may result in increased pricing pressure that may cause us to reduce our pricing in order to remain competitive, which can negatively impact our gross margins and adversely affect our operating results.

Our election to not opt out of the extended accounting transition period under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, may make our financial statements difficult to compare to other companies.

Under the JOBS Act, as an emerging growth company, we can elect to opt out of the extended transition period for any new or revised accounting standards that may be issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period. This means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, are permitted to use any extended transition period for adoption that is provided in the new or revised accounting standard having different application dates for public and private companies. Thus, the comparison of our financial statements with any other public company, which is not either an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period, difficult or impossible as possible different or revised standards may be used.

Risks Relating to Intellectual Property

If we are unable to protect our proprietary design and intellectual property rights, our competitive position could be harmed or we could be required to incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.

Our ability to compete effectively is dependent in part upon our ability to protect our proprietary technology. We rely on patents, trademarks, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance these protections will be available in all cases or will be adequate to prevent our competitors from copying, reverse engineering or otherwise obtaining and using our technology, proprietary rights or products. For example, the laws of certain countries in which our products are manufactured or licensed do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. In addition, third parties may seek to challenge, invalidate or circumvent our patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, or applications for any of the foregoing. There can be no assurance that our competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our technology or design around our proprietary rights. In each case, our ability to compete could be significantly impaired. To prevent substantial unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, it may be necessary to prosecute actions for infringement and/or misappropriation of our trade secrets and/or proprietary rights against third parties. Any such action could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and management’s attention, and there can be no assurance we will be successful in such action. Furthermore, many of our current and potential competitors have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights than we do. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our trade secrets and/or intellectual property.

Many of our proprietary designs are in digital form and the breach of our computer systems could result in these designs being stolen.

If our cybersecurity measures are breached or unauthorized access to private or proprietary data is otherwise obtained, our proprietary designs could be stolen. Because we hold many of these designs in digital form on our servers, there exists an inherent risk that an unauthorized third party could conduct a cybersecurity breach resulting in the theft of our proprietary information. While we have taken cybersecurity steps to protect our proprietary information, because

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techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively impact our competitive edge and our ability to obtain new customers thereby adversely affecting our financial results.

Our proprietary designs are susceptible to reverse engineering by our competitors.

Much of the value of our proprietary rights is derived from our vast library of design specifications. While we consider our design specifications to be protected by various proprietary, trade secret and intellectual property laws, such information is susceptible to reverse engineering by our competitors. We may not be able to prevent our competitors from developing competing design specifications and the cost of enforcing these rights may be significant. If we are unable to adequately protect our proprietary designs our financial condition and operating results could suffer.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

We consider trade secrets, including confidential and unpatented know-how and designs important to the maintenance of our competitive position. We protect trade secrets and confidential and unpatented know-how, in part, by customarily entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to such knowledge, such as our employees, outside technical and commercial collaborators, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants that obligate them to maintain confidentiality and assign their inventions to us. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches.

Claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property or trade secret rights could harm our business.

Our industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights, which has resulted in protracted and expensive litigation for many companies. Third parties may in the future assert claims of infringement of intellectual property rights against us or against our customers or channel partners for which we may be liable. As the number of products and competitors in our market increases and overlaps occur, infringement claims may increase.

Intellectual property or trade secret claims against us, and any resulting lawsuits, may result in our incurring significant expenses and could subject us to significant liability for damages and invalidate what we currently believe are our proprietary rights. Our involvement in any patent dispute or other intellectual property dispute or action to protect trade secrets and know-how could have a material adverse effect on our business. Adverse determinations in any litigation could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, require us to seek licenses from third parties and prevent us from manufacturing and selling our products. Any of these situations could have a material adverse effect on our business. These claims, regardless of their merits or outcome, would likely be time consuming and expensive to resolve and could divert management’s time and attention.

We are generally obligated to indemnify our channel partners and end-customers for certain expenses and liabilities resulting from intellectual property infringement claims regarding our products, which could force us to incur substantial costs.

We have agreed, and expect to continue to agree, to indemnify our channel partners and end-customers for certain intellectual property infringement claims regarding our products. As a result, in the case of infringement claims against these channel partners and end-customers, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us. Our channel partners and other end-customers in the future may seek indemnification from us in connection with infringement claims brought.

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Risks Related to Our International Operations

Our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Our international operations subject us to a variety of risks and challenges, including: exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, increased management, travel, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with having international operations; reliance on channel partners; increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities; compliance with foreign laws and regulations; compliance with U.S. laws and regulations for foreign operations; and reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries and practical difficulties of enforcing rights abroad. Any of these risks could adversely affect our international operations, reduce our international sales or increase our operating costs, adversely affecting our business, operating results and financial condition and growth prospects.

We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets due to licensing requirements and subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.

Our products are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls. Exports of our products must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. If we violate these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges, fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers. In addition, if our channel partners, agents or consultants fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or authorizations, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm and penalties. Obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required license, for a particular sale may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Changes in our products or changes in applicable export or import laws and regulations may also create delays in the introduction and sale of our products in international markets, prevent our end-customers with international operations from deploying our products or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import laws and regulations, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing laws and regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our products, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to existing or potential end-customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

New regulations or standards or changes in existing regulations or standards in the United States or internationally related to our suppliers products may result in unanticipated costs or liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and future sales, and could place additional burdens on the operations of our business.

Our suppliers’ products are subject to governmental regulations in many jurisdictions. To achieve and maintain market acceptance, our suppliers’ products must continue to comply with these regulations and many industry standards. As these regulations and standards evolve, and if new regulations or standards are implemented, our suppliers may have to modify their products. The failure of their products to comply, or delays in compliance, with the existing and evolving industry regulations and standards could prevent or delay introduction of our products, which could harm our business. Supplier uncertainty regarding future policies may also affect demand for HPC products, including our products. Moreover, channel partners or customers may require us, or we may otherwise deem it necessary or advisable, to alter our products to address actual or anticipated changes in the regulatory environment. Our inability to alter our products to address these requirements and any regulatory changes may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.

We have international operations. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the

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purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Practices in the local business communities of many countries outside the United States have a level of government corruption that is greater than that found in the developed world. Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws and we have established policies and procedures designed to monitor compliance with these anti-bribery law requirements; however, we cannot assure that our policies and procedures will protect us from potential reckless or criminal acts committed by individual employees or agents. If we are found to be liable for anti-bribery law violations, we could suffer from criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

The price of our common stock may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially. The trading price of our common stock will depend on several factors, including those described in this “Risk Factors” section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. These fluctuations could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our common stock since you might be unable to sell your shares at or above the price you paid.  Factors that could cause fluctuations in the trading price of our common stock include:

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In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions or interest rate changes, may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

In the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market prices of particular companies’ securities, securities class action litigations have often been instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Any adverse determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle any such actual or threatened litigation could require that we make significant payments.

Our directors and principal stockholders own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders have substantial control over the Company and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control. Our directors, executive officers and holders of more than 5% of our common stock, together with their affiliates, beneficially own, in the aggregate, 25.1% of our outstanding common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of February 29, 2020. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might adversely affect the market price of our common stock by:

If securities or industry analysts issue an adverse opinion regarding our stock or do not publish research or reports about our company, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. We anticipate having limited analyst coverage and we may continue to have inadequate analyst coverage in the future. Even if we obtain adequate analyst coverage, we would have no control over such analysts or the content and opinions in their reports. Securities analysts may elect not to provide research coverage of our company and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. The price of our common stock could also decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrade our common stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary or cease publishing reports about us or our business. If one or more equity research analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.

Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

The market price of shares of our common stock could decline as a result of substantial sales of our common stock, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders, a large number of shares of our common stock becoming available for sale or the perception in the market that holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares. As of February 29, 2020, we have 16,459,457 shares of our common stock outstanding.

Moreover, certain holders of our common stock will have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or our stockholders.

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Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Some of these provisions:

In addition, we are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock to merge or combine with us. Furthermore, our certificate of incorporation specifies that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for most legal actions involving actions brought against us by stockholders. We believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law by chancellors particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes, efficient administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. However, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.

These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirers to obtain control of our board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by the then-current board of directors and could also delay or impede a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing or cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in our board of directors could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.  In addition, we may also enter into credit agreements or other borrowing arrangements in the future that will restrict our ability to declare or pay cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the growth of our business. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

Our inability to raise additional capital on acceptable terms in the future may limit our ability to develop and commercialize new solutions and technologies and expand our operations.

If our available cash balances and anticipated cash flow from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, due to lower demand for our products as a result of other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, we may seek to raise additional capital through equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations or licensing arrangements.

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We may also consider raising additional capital in the future to expand our business, pursue strategic investments, take advantage of financing opportunities, or other reasons.

Additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, dilution to our stockholders could result. Any equity securities issued also may provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. The terms of debt securities issued or borrowings could impose significant restrictions on our operations. The incurrence of indebtedness or the issuance of certain equity securities could result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt or issue additional equity, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights, and other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business. In addition, the issuance of additional equity securities by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. If we do not have, or are not able to obtain, sufficient funds, we may have to delay development or commercialization of our products or license to third parties the rights to commercialize products or technologies that we would otherwise seek to commercialize. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish some rights to our technologies or our products, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we are unable to raise adequate funds, we may have to liquidate some or all of our assets, or delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate some or all of our development programs. We also may have to reduce marketing, customer support or other resources devoted to our products or cease operations. Any of these actions could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, which includes, among other things:

We could be an emerging growth company until the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary after our initial public offering, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more, (ii) the date on which we have, during the previous three year period, issued more than $1.07 billion in non-convertible debt or (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the federal securities laws. We will qualify as a large accelerated filer as of the first day of the first fiscal year after we have (i) more than $700 million in outstanding common equity held by our non-affiliates and (ii) been public for at least 12 months. The value of our outstanding common equity will be measured each year on the last day of our second fiscal quarter.

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

Not applicable.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

Our corporate headquarters are in a leased space comprising approximately 29,342 square feet in Escondido, California under a lease that was modified in February 2020 and expires in August 2024.  We also lease a 3,208 square foot facility in Salt Lake City, Utah that houses our Ion software development team that expires in August 2020. CDI is the lessee of approximately 12,000 square feet located in Irvine, California with the lease expiring in June 2021.  Bressner Technology, which was acquired in October 2018, leases space comprising 8,073 square feet on a month-to-month lease.  

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

We are subject to litigation, claims, investigations and audits arising from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. However, at this time, we are not aware of any material pending, threatened or unasserted claims.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not Applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Information

Our common stock, par value $0.0001, has been publicly traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “OSS” since our initial public offering on February 1, 2018, which was completed at an offering price to the public of $5.00 per share.  Prior to our initial public offering, there was no public market for our common stock.  Due to the fact that our common stock has only been traded on a public market since February 1, 2018, we have only set forth quarterly information with respect to the high and low sale prices for our common stock for such time period.

Holders

As of February 29, 2020, there were 16,459,457 shares of our common stock outstanding held by approximately   2,750 holders of record of our common stock.  This number was derived from our stockholder records and does not include beneficial holders of our common stock whose shares are held in “street name” with various dealers, clearing agencies, banks, brokers and other fiduciaries.

Dividend Policy

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.  We may enter into credit agreements or other borrowing arrangements in the future that will restrict our ability to declare or pay cash dividends on our common stock. Any future determination to declare dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

See Part III, Item 12, “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters” for information regarding securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

None.

Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

None.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

Not Applicable.

ITEM 7.  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and operating results together with our financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” or in other parts of this Annual Report.

Overview

OSS designs, manufactures and markets custom high-speed computing systems for high-performance edge computing (HPC) applications. These applications require ultra-fast processing power and the ability to quickly access and store ever-growing data sets.  Systems are built using the latest GPU (graphical processing unit) and solid-state flash (memory) technologies.  We are a niche provider of HPC custom servers, compute accelerators, and flash storage arrays.  We deliver this technology to customers through sale of equipment and software to customers.  Concept Development Inc., (CDI) which was acquired on August 31, 2018, specializes in the design and manufacture of specialized high-performance in-flight entertainment systems for commercial aircraft.  CDI’s capabilities include electrical, mechanical and software design as well as extensive experience in test and certifications required for airborne systems.  Bressner Technology GmbH, (Bressner) which was acquired on October 31, 2018, provides standard and customized servers, panel PCs, and PCIe expansion systems. Bressner provides manufacturing, test, sales and marketing services for customers throughout Europe.

Business Developments

On July 15, 2016, we acquired 100% of the outstanding common shares of Mission Technology Group, Inc. (“Magma”). Magma designs, manufactures, and markets industrial grade computer systems and components and operates out of our main facility in Escondido, California.

On April 6, 2017, we formed SkyScale, LLC (“SkyScale”), a High-Performance Computing as a Service (HPCaaS) provider to offer customers world-class, ultra-fast, multi-GPU hardware platforms in the cloud.  SkyScale was jointly owned with Jacoma Investments, LLC, an entity controlled by our board member Jack Harrison.  In accordance with the terms of the operating agreement, Jacoma Investments, LLC agreed to contribute $750,000 in capital and we agreed to contribute $750,000 in the form of credits to purchase equipment, personnel or support services. Each of us received a 50% membership interest.  On December 31, 2018, as a result of changes in the competitive landscape and downward pressure on pricing from large competitors, the members to the joint venture agreement agreed to begin the dissolution of SkyScale.

On May 9, 2017, we entered into an agreement to acquire the source code license to the Ion flash array software from Western Digital.  We plan to continue to develop and sell Ion software with our high-density storage arrays, as well as servicing existing Western Digital software users.  OSS Ion software works with our all-flash storage systems, and provides them with a critical point of differentiation with respect to speed and throughput.  The OSS Ion software leverages flash storage and open server hardware to accelerate applications and SAN performance through sharing or clustering high-speed all-flash storage arrays.  The software supports many major OEM servers and provides an intuitive interface for system users to manage its many features.  Having the Ion software source code and engineering team on-board allows us to strategically grow our all-flash storage business in the many “Big Data” and HPC markets going forward.

On July 1, 2017, we entered in to a Service Agreement with Western Digital to service their existing customer base that utilizes Ion flash storage software.  Additionally, we purchased certain equipment from Western Digital and hired selected employees to assist in the servicing of these existing customers.  

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On December 18, 2017, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the SEC related to a firm commitment underwritten initial public offering of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. The initial public offering was declared effective by the SEC on January 31, 2018.  The Company commenced trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “OSS” on February 1, 2018.  On February 5, 2018, the Company closed the initial public offering selling an aggregate of 3,800,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $5.00 for total gross proceeds to the Company of $19,000,000, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $1,330,000 and underwriter offering-related transaction costs of $185,000, the Company received net proceeds of $17,485,000.

On February 1, 2018, the Company issued warrants to purchase 380,000 shares of common stock at a price of $6.00 to Roth Capital Partners LLC.

Subsequent to completion of the Company’s initial public offering in February 2018, the Company used proceeds to pay down the outstanding standing balance of our line of credit of $2,758,517 and other debt obligations $1,096,343.

On February 9, 2018, the underwriters exercised their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 200,000 shares of common stock at the public offering price of $5.00 per share of which 100,000 newly issued shares of common stock were purchased directly from the Company and 100,000 shares were sold by our former CEO’s family trust as selling stockholder.  The Company received gross proceeds of $500,000, which resulted in net proceeds of $465,000 to the Company, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $35,000.

On August 31, 2018, the Company acquired Concept Development Inc. (CDI) located in Irvine, California for cash of $646,759, and common stock of $4,194,673 (Note 3).  CDI specializes in the design and manufacture of custom high-performance computing systems for airborne in-flight entertainment systems.  

On October 31, 2018, the Company’s wholly-owned German subsidiary, OSS GmbH, acquired 100% of the outstanding stock of Bressner Technology GmbH, a Germany limited liability company located near Munich, Germany, from its principal owners for cash consideration of €4,725,000 (US$5,374,582) and stock consideration of 106,463 newly-issued restricted shares of the Company’s common stock.

In April 2019, certain members of the Company’s Board of Directors executed definitive agreements to commit funds of up to $4,000,000 as a credit facility. The Company initially borrowed $1,150,000 from members of the Board of Directors and $350,000 from other shareholders for a two year period at an interest rate of 9.5% which requires the Company to make monthly principal and interest payment of $69,000 per month. In connection with these loans, the Company issued the note holders warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock equal to 10% of the original principal as a price per share equal to $2.15 per share.  Accordingly, the Company issued to the note holders warrants to purchase 69,766 share of the Company’s common stock.  The relative fair value of the warrants issued was $60,158.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company sold 1,554,832 shares of common stock through this offering for total gross proceeds of $2,700,714, which resulted in net proceeds to the company of $2,488,148, after deducting compensation payable to Noble of $55,127 and other expenses of $157,439.  The Equity Distribution Agreement was terminated on August 26, 2019.

In December 2019, a strain of coronavirus surfaced in China. As a result, there have been numerous factory closures. While many factories were closed for a few days because of the Chinese New Year holiday, the Chinese government ordered that businesses in various areas extend the Chinese New Year holiday due to the coronavirus outbreak and it is possible that the Chinese government will announce new closures in the future. Some of our suppliers in China as well as other locations throughout the world have similarly been affected and experienced closures and risks of labor shortages. If our suppliers experience additional closures in the future, we may have difficulty sourcing materials necessary to fulfill production requirements and meet scheduled shipments, which will negatively affect our revenues. Even if we are able to find alternate sources for such materials, they may cost more, which will affect our profitability. If our suppliers in China and other Asian markets experience additional closures in the future and are not able to accept orders or if they delay or cancel such orders, our revenues will be negatively affected. At this point in time, there is significant uncertainty relating to the potential effect of the coronavirus on our business. Infections may become more widespread and there might be additional factory closures in the future, all of which will have a negative impact on our

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business, financial condition and operating results.  Additionally, as a result of significant changes in the worldwide capital markets and general business climate, the impact on the future demand for our products is unknown at this time.

On February 15, 2020, Steve Cooper was terminated as President and CEO of One Stop Systems, Inc., and was replaced by David Raun who has become interim CEO of the Company.

Our Business Model

OSS designs, manufactures and sells specialized high-performance edge computing (HPC) systems to customers world-wide.  We differentiate ourselves from other suppliers of HPC solutions by utilizing our high-performance expertise in custom systems design and PCIe expansion to build systems with a greater quantity of PCIe add-in slots, GPU-based compute cards and/or flash cards. Our systems offer industry leading capabilities that occupy less physical space and power consumption.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the new accounting standard update ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which superseded nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under GAAP, to all contracts using the modified retrospective method. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.  

The Company’s performance obligations are satisfied over time as work is performed or at a point in time. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized at a point in time when products ship and control is transferred to the customer. The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps: (1) identification of the contract with a customer; (2) identification of the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determination of the transaction price; (4) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognition of revenue when, or as, a performance obligation is satisfied.

The Company’s contracts are executed through a combination of written agreements along with purchase orders with all customers including certain general terms and conditions. Generally, purchase orders entail products, quantities and prices, which define the performance obligations of each party and are approved and accepted by the Company. The Company’s contracts with customers do not include extended payment terms. Payment terms vary by contract type and type of customer and generally range from 30 to 60 days from invoice. Additionally, taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction, that are collected by the Company from a customer and deposited with the relevant government authority, are excluded from revenue.

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company will be entitled in exchange for transferring goods or services to the customer adjusted for estimated variable consideration, if any.  Variable consideration may include discounts, rights of return, refunds, and other similar obligations. The Company allocates the transaction price to each distinct product and service based on its relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling price for products primarily involves the cost to produce the deliverable plus the anticipated margin and for services is estimated based on the Company’s approved list price.

In the normal course of business, the Company does not accept product returns unless the items are defective as manufactured. The Company establishes provisions for estimated returns and warranties. In addition, the Company does not typically provide customers with the right to a refund and does not transact for noncash consideration.

Customer agreements include one vendor managed inventory program. The Company recognizes revenue under this arrangement when all of the following criteria are met: (i) the goods have been identified separately as belonging to the customer; (ii) the goods are ready for physical shipment to the customer; (iii) the Company does not have the ability to direct the goods to another customer; and (iv) the arrangement was requested by the customer and that the customer has sufficiently explained a substantial business purpose for the arrangement.  Management also considers whether the customer's custodial risks are insured and whether modifications to the Company's normal billing and credit terms were required.

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Revenues on certain fixed-price contracts where we provide engineering services, prototypes and completed products are recognized over the contract term based upon percentage of completion or based upon milestones delivered that are provided during the period and compared to milestone goals to be provided over the entire contract. These services require that we perform significant, extensive and complex design, development, modification or implementation of our customers’ systems. Performance will often extend over long periods of time, and our right to receive future payment depends on our future performance in accordance with the agreement.     

The percentage-of-completion methodology involves recognizing probable and reasonably estimable revenue using the percentage of services completed, on a current cumulative cost to estimated total cost basis, using a reasonably consistent profit margin over the period. Due to the long-term nature of these projects, developing the estimates of costs often requires significant judgment. Factors that must be considered in estimating the progress of work completed and ultimate cost of the projects include, but are not limited to, the availability of labor and labor productivity, the nature and complexity of the work to be performed and the impact of delayed performance. If changes occur in delivery, productivity or other factors used in developing the estimates of costs or revenues, we revise our cost and revenue estimates, which may result in increases or decreases in revenues and costs, and such revisions are reflected in earnings in the period in which the revision becomes known.

On certain contracts with several of the Company’s significant customers, the Company receives payments in advance of manufacturing. Advanced payments are recorded as deferred revenue until the revenue recognition criteria described above has been met.

Related billings that are in excess of revenue earned are deferred and recorded as a liability on the balance sheet until the related services are provided. The Company recognizes revenues for non-refundable, upfront implementation fees on a straight-line basis over the period beginning with initiation of ongoing services through the end of the contract term.

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue primarily consists of costs of materials, costs paid to third-party contract manufacturers (which may include the costs of components), and personnel costs associated with manufacturing and support operations. Personnel costs consist of wages, bonuses, benefits, stock-based compensation expenses. Cost of revenue also includes freight, allocated overhead costs and inventory write-offs and changes to our inventory and warranty reserves. Allocated overhead costs consist of certain facilities and utility costs. We expect cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars with an improvement in margin, as product revenue increases.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses consist of general and administrative, sales and marketing and research and development expenses. Salaries and personnel-related costs, benefits, and stock-based compensation expense, are the most significant components of each category of operating expenses. Operating expenses also include allocated overhead costs for facilities and utility costs.

General and Administrative - General and administrative expense consists primarily of employee compensation and related expenses for administrative functions including finance, legal, human resources and fees for third-party professional services, as well as allocated overhead. For 2018, general and administrative expenses include the costs related to the dissolution of SkyScale, LLC.  We expect our general and administrative expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in growing the business.

Sales and Marketing - Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of employee compensation and related expenses, sales commissions, marketing programs, travel and entertainment expenses as well as allocated overhead. Marketing programs consist of advertising, tradeshows, events, corporate communications and brand-building activities. We expect sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales force, increase marketing resources, and further develop sales channels.

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Research and Development - Research and development expense consists primarily of employee compensation and related expenses, prototype expenses, depreciation associated with assets acquired for research and development, third-party engineering and contractor support costs, as well as allocated overhead. We expect our research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in new and existing products.

Other Income (Expense), net

Other income consists of income received for activities outside of our core business.  This includes interest income from investments and finance charges from customers.  Other expense includes expenses for activities outside of our core business.  These expenses consist primarily of loan amortization and interest expense.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes consists of estimated income taxes due to the United States and German governments as well as state tax authorities in jurisdictions in which we conduct business, along with the change in our deferred income tax assets and liabilities.

Results of Operations

Results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 include Magma, SkyScale (through December 31, 2018 dissolution date), the Ion business from Western Digital on July 1, 2017, Concept Development Inc., which was acquired on August 31, 2018, and Bressner Technology GmbH, which was acquired on October 31, 2018.

Accordingly, the periods presented below are not directly comparable.  After the completion of four quarters, these businesses for both revenue and expense reporting will be treated as organic operating activity for current and comparable historical periods.  The following tables set forth our results of continued operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 respectively, presented in dollars and as percentage of net revenue.

The following tables set forth our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 respectively, presented in dollars and as a percentage of net revenue.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA

We believe that the use of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or adjusted EBITDA, is helpful for an investor to assess the performance of the Company.  The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as income (loss) attributable to common stockholders before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, acquisition expense, impairment of long-lived assets, financing costs, fair value adjustments from purchase accounting, stock-based compensation expense and expenses related to discontinued operations.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of equity instruments that can impact a company’s non-cash operating expenses, we believe that providing a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes non-cash and non-recurring expenses allows for meaningful comparisons between our core business operating results and those of other companies, as well as providing us with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating our own core business operating results over different periods of time.

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Our adjusted EBITDA measure may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in our industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently, particularly related to non-recurring and unusual items. Our adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to operating income or as an indication of operating performance or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. We do not consider adjusted EBITDA to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results.

Adjusted EPS

Adjusted EPS excludes the impact of certain items and, therefore, has not been calculated in accordance with GAAP. We believe that exclusion of certain selected items assists in providing a more complete understanding of our underlying results and trends and allows for comparability with our peer company index and industry. We use this measure along with the corresponding GAAP financial measures to manage our business and to evaluate our performance compared to prior periods and the marketplace. The Company defines non-GAAP (loss) income attributable to common stockholders as (loss) or income before amortization, stock-based compensation, expenses related to discontinued operations, and acquisition costs.  Adjusted EPS expresses adjusted (loss) income on a per share basis using weighted average diluted shares outstanding.

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Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information provided in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be computed in the same manner as similarly titled measures used by other companies. We expect to continue to incur expenses similar to the adjusted income from continuing operations and adjusted EPS financial adjustments described above, and investors should not infer from our presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures that these costs are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring.

The following table reconciles net loss attributable to common stockholders and diluted earnings per share:

Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure for reporting cash flow, is defined as cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures for property and equipment, which includes capitalized software development costs. We believe free cash flow provides investors with an important perspective on cash available for investments and acquisitions after making capital investments required to support ongoing business operations and long-term value creation.   We believe that trends in our free cash flow can be valuable indicators of our operating performance and liquidity.

Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information provided in accordance with GAAP. This non-GAAP financial measure may not be computed in the same manner as similarly titled measures used by other companies.

We expect to continue to incur expenditures similar to the free cash flow adjustments described above, and investors should not infer from our presentation of this non-GAAP financial measure that these expenditures reflect all of our obligations which require cash.  The following table reconciles cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to free cash flow:

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Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2019 and 2018

Revenue

For the year ended December 31, 2019, total revenue increased $21,280,637 or 57.5%, as compared to the same period in 2018. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by revenue from acquisitions which provided $16,278,668 of which Bressner contributed $14,496,593 or 39.2 percentage points and CDI contributed $1,782,075 or 4.8 percentage points of the total increase in revenue.  OSS saw an increase in revenue of $5,160,483 or 13.9 percentage points as compared to same period in the prior year.  The majority of this increase is attributable to shipments associated with our flash arrays on our airborne military flash contract as well as improvements in our sales of media and entertainment products.  There was also a small decrease of $(158,514) or a decrease of (0.4) percentage points attributable to SkyScale which has been dissolved.

Cost of revenue and gross profit

Cost of revenue increased by $13,213,097 or 51.4%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the same period in 2018. The increase in cost of revenue was primarily driven by cost of revenue from acquisitions which contributed $12,562,168 of which Bressner contributed $11,346,707 or 44.2 percentage points and CDI contributed $1,215,461or 4.7 percentage points of the total increase in cost of revenue.  OSS saw an increase in cost of revenue of $1,325,988 or 5.2 percentage points as compared to same period in the prior year.  This change is attributable to a reduction of $957,693 in applied labor and overhead into inventory from the previous year, offset by costs of goods associated with increased sales of our flash array systems and media and entertainment products in the current year.  There was also a decrease of $(675,059) or a decrease of (2.6) percentage points attributable to SkyScale which has been dissolved.

The overall gross margin percentage increase from 30.6% for the year ended December 31, 2018 to 33.3% for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of 2.7 percentage points.  OSS gross margin percentage for the year ended December 31, 2019 was 39.2%, which was 5.6 percentage points more in comparison to the prior year period of 33.6%.  The 5.6 percentage point increase is attributable to change in mix attributable to higher sales of our flash array systems. CDI contributed gross margin at a rate of 22.6% due to cost engineering projects on fixed price contracts, while Bressner contributed gross margin at a rate of 22.5%.  

Operating expenses

General and administrative expense

General and administrative expense increased $1,988,274 or 30.5%, for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to same period in 2018.  OSS experienced a reduction of $(379,882) or (19.0%) of the total annual increase in these expenses.  The decrease in general and administrative expense for OSS was primarily attributable to not incurring acquisition costs in the current year which was a saving of approximately $628,000 as compared to the prior year, costs associated with the winding down of SkyScale in the prior year which resulted in a savings of approximately $778,000 and a reduction in amortization expense.  These savings were offset by some degree by additional compensation costs and third party service costs associated with being a public company which includes legal, accounting costs, insurance, listing fees and reporting and compliance costs and employee costs. CDI contributed $871,422 or 43.8% which is attributable to a full year of operations as compared to only four months of activity in 2018, as a result of being acquired on August 31, 2018.  Bressner contributed $1,855,458 or 93.3% of the total annual increase, which is attributable to a full year of operations as compared to only two months of activity in 2018, as a result of being acquired on October 31, 2018.  There was also a decrease of $(358,724) or (18.1%) attributable to SkyScale which has been dissolved. Overall general and administrative expenses decreased as a percentage of revenue to 14.6% during the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to 17.6% during the same period in 2018.

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Impairment of goodwill

During the current year, the Company took a write-down of $1,697,394 attributable to impairment of goodwill of CDI due to a short-fall in the actual overall financial performance of CDI as compared to plan, a recurring need for working capital, and a decrease in the overall Company’s stock price.  There was no such impairment charge in 2018.

Marketing and selling expense

Marketing and selling expense increased $1,143,234 or 28.6% during the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the same period in 2018.  OSS had an increase of $172,128 or 15.1% of the total increase.  There was also a reduction in marketing and selling expense of $(132,004) or (11.6%) as a result of the dissolution of SkyScale.  CDI’s marketing expense for the year ended December 31, 2019 increased $195,295 or 17.1%, which represented twelve months of activity as compared to the prior year which included only four months of activity.  Bressner contributed $907,815 or 79.4% which represented twelve months of activity as compared to the prior year which included only two months of activity.  Overall, total marketing and selling expense decreased as a percentage of revenue to 8.8% during the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to 10.8% during the same period in 2018.

Research and development expense

Research and development expense increased by $841,799 or 21% during the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to same period in 2018.  OSS saw an increase of $291,643 or 34.7%.  The increase was largely driven by increased employee compensation costs.  CDI contributed $240,154 or 28.5% of the annual increase while Bressner contributed $310,002 or 36.8% of the annual increase for 2019. Overall, total research and development expense decreased as a percentage of revenue to 8.3% during the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to 10.8% during the same period in 2018.

Interest expense

Interest expense increased $99,867 or 152% for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to the same period in 2018.  The Company borrowed $1,500,000 from individuals and related parties at an annual interest rate of 9.5%, additionally, warrants of 10% of the value of the borrowing were also granted.  The fair value of the warrants is amortized over the life of the loans and such costs are included as interest expense.  On October 31, 2018, the Company acquired Bressner which has a line of credit and certain term loans outstanding and as a result, incurred interest charges of $39,292 during the year.  The outstanding debt associated with OSS in 2018 was paid down in its entirety with proceeds from its public offering in February 2018.

Other income (expense), net

Other income (expense), for the year ended December 31, 2019 resulted in income of $281,494 as compared to $271,877 in the same period in 2018.  The majority of the income for the current year is attributable to interest earned by OSS of $151,113 on deposits, and interest on outstanding customer invoices that were on extended terms.  Additionally, the Company recognized a benefit of $208,332 from estimated expenses that had been accrued in the dissolution process of SkyScale which were not realized. This other income was offset during the period by foreign currency transactions losses.  

Provision for income taxes / Income tax benefits

We have recorded an income tax benefit of $54,055, for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to tax benefits of $1,396,784, for the same period in 2018.  The provision for the current period is attributable to annual taxable income for 2019 of $1,772,975 with a projected tax rate of 13.4%.  The projected effective tax rate for the year differs from the statutory rate mainly due to permanent non-deductible goodwill amortization for Bressner Technology GmbH, income from the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income inclusion, as well as projecting federal, foreign and state tax liabilities for the year.

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Liquidity and capital resources

Given our recent operating losses, the Company’s primary sources of liquidity have been provided by (i) the Company’s February 2018 initial public offering (net proceeds were approximately $16,100,000), (ii) March 2019 notes payable from members of the Board of Directors and others of $1,500,000, and (iii) the June 2019 sale of 1,554,832 shares of the Company’s common stock for net cash proceeds of $2,488,148.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents were approximately $5,200,000 and working capital approximated $14,000,000.  Cash and cash equivalents held by Bressner totaled $745,000 (USD) at December 31, 2019, and Bressner’s debt covenants do not permit the use of those funds by its parent company. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company experienced an operating loss of $779,000, but cash flows provided by operating activities approximated $2,400,000.

The Company’s revenue growth, inclusive of two acquisitions made in 2018, has resulted in growth of the Company as a whole, but has been offset by increased spending in all areas of operating expenses:  general and administrative, marketing and selling, and research and development.  Further, in late 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China. Following the outbreak of this virus, governments throughout the world, including in the United States of America, have quarantined certain affected regions, restricted travel and imposed significant limitations on other economic activities. The Company’s operations team is closely monitoring the potential impact to the Company’s business, including its cash flows, supply chains, customers and employees. Though management has successfully managed through the current known impacts, if the situation further deteriorates or the outbreak results in further restriction on both supply and demand factors, our cash flows, financial position and operating results for fiscal year 2020 and beyond will be negatively impacted. Neither the length of time nor the magnitude of the negative impacts can be presently determined.

Management’s plans with respect to the above is to continue its efforts to restructure the Company with the primary objectives of reducing costs, conserving cash, strengthening margins, and improving company-wide execution.  Specific actions already implemented by management include the deferral of certain executive and Board compensation payments, a freeze on hiring and minimizing overtime, travel and entertainment, and contractor costs.  In addition, management continues to review its expenses on a line item-by-line item basis for cost reduction opportunities, as well as opportunities to increase efficiencies through automation.

While management expects these actions to result in prospective cost reductions, management is also committed to securing debt and/or equity financing to ensure that liquidity will be sufficient to meet the Company’s cash requirements through at least a period of the next twelve months. Management believes potential sources of liquidity include at least the following:

As a result of management’s cost reduction plans, the Company’s potential sources of liquidity and management’s most recent cash flow forecasts, management believes that the Company has sufficient liquidity to satisfy its anticipated cash requirements for at least the next twelve months. However, there can be no assurance that management’s cost reduction efforts will be effective, the forecasted cash flows will be achieved, or that external sources of financing,

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including the issuance of debt and/or equity securities, will be available at times and on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all.  

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018:

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we generated $2,374,868 in cash from operating activities, an increase in cash of $6,265,654 when compared to the cash used in operating activities of $3,890,786 during the same period in 2018. The increase in cash provided by operating activities was primarily a result of a reduction in working capital requirements of $2,392,755, a reduction in net loss of $235,941, and an increase in non-cash adjustments of $3,636,958.  Non-cash adjustments include increases of $4,049,059 comprised of the loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, deferred benefit for income taxes, loss on foreign currency transactions, provision for bad debt, impairment of goodwill, amortization of deferred gain, depreciation and amortization, inventory reserves, stock-based compensation expense an unrealized loss on forward currency contracts.  These increases were offset by $(412,101) in decreases in non-cash adjustments attributable to, gain on disposal of property and equipment, provision, warranty reserves, and amortization of debt discount.

Working capital requirements decreased overall by $2,392,755.  The sources of working capital of $3,770,079 were attributable to reductions in accounts receivable and prepaids and other assets, and increases in accounts payable for the comparable period.  These sources were offset by uses of working capital due to increased inventory levels and reduced accrued expenses and other liabilities of $1,377,324.

Our ability to generate cash from operations in future periods will depend in large part on our profitability, the rate and timing of collections of our accounts receivable, our inventory turns and our ability to manage other areas of working capital including accounts payable.

Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we used cash of $2,385,177 in investing activities as compared to $5,909,192 used during the same period in 2018, a decrease of $1,850,567. The expenditures in the current year are primarily due to tenant improvements to our headquarter facility and software costs and external consulting costs associated with the implementation of our ERP system for which phase one of the project was substantially completed in 2019.  We currently do not anticipate any other significant purchases of equipment nor expansion of our ERP system beyond completion of phase II of the project, which is the integration of certain sales functions.  

Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we generated $2,922,101 from financing activities as compared to the cash generated of $11,900,178 during the same period in 2018.  During the year ended December 31, 2019, we raised $1,500,000 from individuals and related parties through the issuance of notes payable that bear interest at an annual rate of 9.5% and are repaid through 24 months monthly installments.  Additionally, during the third quarter of the year, the Company sold 1,554,832 shares of common stock for total gross proceeds of $2,700,714, which after commissions to brokers and other expenses resulted in net proceeds to us of $2,488,148.  The Company also received proceeds of $47,334 from the exercise of warrants and stock options.

Bressner increased borrowing under its lines of credit for the purchase of inventories and also borrowed funds through term loans at interest rates of 2.125% - 2.250% that are repaid through monthly installments of up to 24 months.  

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During year ended December 31, 2018, the Company received proceeds from the sale of common stock in our initial public offering of $19,500,000 which was offset by our stock issuance costs for commissions and third party professional services.  We also received $113,168 from the exercise of warrants and stock options.  With the proceeds from our initial public offering, we paid off our line of credit and retired all outstanding debt obligations.

Contractual obligations and commitments

The following table sets forth our non-cancellable contractual obligations as of December 31, 2019.

We have made certain indemnities, under which the Company may be required to make payments to an indemnified party, in relation to certain transactions.  We indemnify our directors, officers, employees and agents to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware.  In connection with our facilities leases, we indemnify our lessors for certain claims arising from the use of our facilities.  The duration of the indemnities varies, and in many cases is indefinite.  These indemnities do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential future payments we could be obligated to make.  Historically, we have not been obligated to make any payments for these obligations and no liabilities have been recorded for these indemnities.

Off balance sheet arrangements

Other than lease commitments incurred in the normal course of business and certain indemnification provisions, we do not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or liabilities, guarantee contracts, retained or contingent interests in transferred assets, or any obligation arising out of a material variable interest in an unconsolidated entity.

We do not have any majority-owned subsidiaries that are not consolidated in the financial statements. Additionally, we do not have an interest in, or relationships with, any special purpose entities.

Stockholder transactions

Effective August 1, 2016, we entered into a management services agreement with a company owned by the former Chief Executive Officer of Magma.  The agreement called for payments of $180,000 per year for the first two years paid in monthly installments.  In year three, the amount was reduced to $37,500 for the year paid in monthly installments.  Additionally, we granted 30,000 options in conjunction with execution of this agreement.  Payments for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 were $21,875 and $120,635, respectively. Such management services agreement has been now fully completed.

In April 2019, certain members of the Company’s Board of Directors executed definitive agreements to commit funds of up to $4,000,000 as a credit facility. The Company initially borrowed $1,150,000 from members of the Board of Directors and $350,000 from other shareholders for a two year period at an interest rate of 9.5% which requires the Company to make monthly principal and interest payment of $69,000 per month. In connection with these loans, the Company issued the note holders warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock equal to 10% of the original principal as a price per share equal to $2.15 per share.  Accordingly, the Company issued to the note holders warrants to purchase 69,766 shares of the Company’s common stock.  The relative fair value of the warrants issued was $60,158.

Critical accounting policies and estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we

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believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.  The critical accounting estimates, assumptions and judgments that we believe have the most significant impact on our consolidated financial statements are described below.

Revenue Recognition

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted the new accounting standard update ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which superseded nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under GAAP, to all contracts using the modified retrospective method. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for those periods.  

The Company’s performance obligations are satisfied over time as work is performed or at a point in time. The majority of the Company’s revenue is recognized at a point in time when products ship and control is transferred to the customer. The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps: (1) identification of the contract with a customer; (2) identification of the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determination of the transaction price; (4) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognition of revenue when, or as, a performance obligation is satisfied.

The Company’s contracts are executed through a combination of written agreements along with purchase orders with all customers including certain general terms and conditions. Generally, purchase orders entail products, quantities and prices, which define the performance obligations of each party and are approved and accepted by the Company. The Company’s contracts with customers do not include extended payment terms. Payment terms vary by contract type and type of customer and generally range from 30 to 60 days from invoice. Additionally, taxes assessed by a governmental authority that are both imposed on and concurrent with a specific revenue-producing transaction, that are collected by the Company from a customer and deposited with the relevant government authority, are excluded from revenue.

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company will be entitled in exchange for transferring goods or services to the customer adjusted for estimated variable consideration, if any.  Variable consideration may include discounts, rights of return, refunds, and other similar obligations. The Company allocates the transaction price to each distinct product and service based on its relative standalone selling price. The standalone selling price for products primarily involves the cost to produce the deliverable plus the anticipated margin and for services is estimated based on the Company’s approved list price.

In the normal course of business, the Company does not accept product returns unless the items are defective as manufactured. The Company establishes provisions for estimated returns and warranties. In addition, the Company does not typically provide customers with the right to a refund and does not transact for noncash consideration.

Customer agreements include one vendor managed inventory program. The Company recognizes revenue under this arrangement when all of the following criteria are met: (i) the goods have been identified separately as belonging to the customer; (ii) the goods are ready for physical shipment to the customer; (iii) the Company does not have the ability to direct the goods to another customer; and (iv) the arrangement was requested by the customer and that the customer has sufficiently explained a substantial business purpose for the arrangement.  Management also considers whether the customer's custodial risks are insured and whether modifications to the Company's normal billing and credit terms were required.

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Revenues on certain fixed-price contracts where we provide engineering services, prototypes and completed products are recognized based upon percentage of completion or based upon milestones delivered that are provided during the period and compared to milestone goals to be provided over the entire contract. These services require that we perform significant, extensive and complex design, development, modification or implementation of our customers’ systems. Performance will often extend over long periods of time, and our right to receive future payment depends on our future performance in accordance with the agreement.     

The percentage-of-completion methodology involves recognizing probable and reasonably estimable revenue using the percentage of services completed, on a current cumulative cost to estimated total cost basis, using a reasonably consistent profit margin over the performance period. Due to the long-term nature of these projects, developing the estimates of costs often requires significant judgment. Factors that must be considered in estimating the progress of work completed and ultimate cost of the projects include, but are not limited to, the availability of labor and labor productivity, the nature and complexity of the work to be performed and the impact of delayed performance. If changes occur in delivery, productivity or other factors used in developing the estimates of costs or revenues, we revise our cost and revenue estimates, which may result in increases or decreases in revenues and costs, and such revisions are reflected in earnings in the period in which the revision becomes known.

On certain contracts with several of the Company’s significant customers, the Company receives payments in advance of manufacturing. Advanced payments are recorded as deferred revenue until the revenue recognition criteria described above has been met.

Related billings that are in excess of revenue earned are deferred and recorded as a liability on the consolidated balance sheet until the related services are provided. Deferred revenue was $24,718 and $133,995 as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company recognizes revenues for non-refundable, upfront implementation fees on a straight-line basis over the period beginning with initiation of ongoing services through the end of the contract term.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock-based awards granted to our employees and other service providers, including stock options granted under the 2017 Plan and 2015 Stock Option Plan that was approved in December 2015 (the “2015 Plan”), based on the estimated fair value of the award. We use the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock option awards granted under the 2017 Plan and 2015 Plan. We recognize the fair value of stock options granted under the 2017 Plan and 2015 Plan as stock-based compensation on a straight line basis over the requisite service period. We record expense net of anticipated forfeitures and adjust the annual expense based upon actual experience.  

Compensation cost for stock awards, which include restricted stock units (“RSUs”) is measured at the fair value on the grant date and recognized as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the related service period. The fair value of stock awards is based on the quoted price of our common stock on the grant date less the present value of expected dividends not received during the vesting period.

Our use of the Black-Scholes option pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the fair value of the underlying common stock, expected term of the option, expected volatility of the price of our common stock, risk-free interest rates and the expected dividend yield of our common stock. The assumptions used in our option pricing model represent management’s best estimates. These estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. If factors change and different assumptions are used, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.  

These assumptions and estimates are as follows:  

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We will continue to use judgment in evaluating the assumptions related to our stock-based compensation on a prospective basis. As we continue to accumulate additional data related to our common stock, we may refine our estimation process, which could materially impact our future stock-based compensation expense.

Inventory Valuation

We value our inventory at the lower of cost or its estimated net realizable value.  We use the average cost method for purposes of determining cost, which approximates the first-in, first-out method. We write down inventory for excess and obsolescence based upon a review of historical usage and assumptions about future demand, product mix and possible alternative uses. Actual demand, product mix and alternative usage may be lower than those that we project and this difference could have a material adverse effect on our gross margin if inventory write-downs beyond those initially recorded become necessary.  Alternatively, if actual demand, product mix and alternative usage are more favorable than those we estimated at the time of such a write-down, our gross margin could be favorably impacted in future periods.

Goodwill, Intangible Assets and Long-lived Assets

We evaluate our goodwill, intangible and long-lived assets for impairment when events or circumstances arise that indicate our goodwill, intangible and long–assets may be impaired. Indicators of impairment include, but are not limited to, a significant deterioration in overall economic conditions, a decline in our market capitalization, the loss of significant business, significant decreases in funding for our contracts, or other significant adverse changes in industry or market conditions.  Regardless, goodwill is tested for potential impairment at least annually.

Income Taxes

The determination of income tax expense requires us to make certain estimates and judgments concerning the calculation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, as well as the deductions and credits that are available to reduce taxable income. We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in our consolidated financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse.

In evaluating our ability to recover deferred tax assets, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including our past operating results, our forecast of future earnings, future taxable income, and tax planning strategies. The assumptions utilized in determining future taxable income require significant judgment. We record a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets if, based upon the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. If it becomes more likely than not that a tax asset will be used for which a reserve has been provided, we reverse the related valuation allowance. If our actual future taxable income by tax jurisdiction differs from estimates, additional allowances or reversals of reserves may be necessary.

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We use a two-step approach to recognize and measure uncertain tax positions. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed to determine the amount of benefit to recognize in the financial statements. The amount of the benefit that may be recognized is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We reevaluate our uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis and any changes to these positions as a result of tax audits, tax laws or other facts and circumstances could result in additional charges to operations.

Business Combinations

We utilize the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations and allocate the purchase price of an acquisition to the various tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values. We primarily establish fair value using the income approach based upon a discounted cash flow model. The income approach requires the use of many assumptions and estimates including future revenues and expenses, as well as discount factors and income tax rates. Other estimates include:

While we use our best estimates and assumptions as part of the purchase price allocation process to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the business acquisition date, our estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the purchase price allocation period, which is generally no longer than one year from the business acquisition date, we record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill.

For changes in the valuation of intangible assets between preliminary and final purchase price allocation, the related amortization is adjusted in the period it occurs. Subsequent to the purchase price allocation period any adjustment to assets acquired or liabilities assumed is included in operating results in the period in which the adjustment is determined.  Should we issue shares of our common stock in an acquisition, we will be required to estimate the fair value of the shares issued.

Recently implemented accounting pronouncements

Per the Company’s consolidated financial statements Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies, we have implemented a number of changes, as required by FASB.  See Note 2 for further details.

Recent accounting pronouncements

Per the Company’s consolidated financial statements Note 2 – Significant Accounting Policies, we may be implementing a number of changes, as required by FASB.  See Note 2 for further details.

Interest rate risk

Our exposure to interest rate risk is primarily associated with borrowing on revolving lines of credit denominated in both U.S. dollars and Euros.  We are exposed to the impact of interest rate changes primarily through our borrowing activities for our variable rate borrowings.

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Concentration of credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially expose us to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash, cash equivalents and accounts receivable. We place our cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions with high credit quality. At December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had $5,185,321 and $2,272,256 respectively, of cash and cash equivalents on deposit or invested with our financial and lending institutions.  In Germany, the deposit insurance is €100,000 per bank, per customer.  Bressner has funds on deposit in both Euro and U.S. dollar denominations of €508,316 (US$570,686) with banks in excess of the insurance limits.

We provide credit to our customers in the normal course of business. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition and limit the amount of credit extended when deemed necessary.

Foreign currency risk

We operate primarily in the United States.  Foreign sales of products and services are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars.  We also conduct business outside the United States through our foreign subsidiary in Germany, where business is largely transacted in non-U.S. dollar currencies particularly the Euro, which is subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.   Accordingly, we are subject to exposure from changes in the exchange rates of local currencies. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are recorded in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations.

OSS GmbH operates as an extension of OSS’ domestic operations and acquired Bressner Technology GmbH in October 2018.  The functional currency of OSS GmbH is the Euro. Transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency are remeasured to the functional currency at the average exchange rate in effect during the period.  At the end of each reporting period, monetary assets and liabilities are translated using exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Non-monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Consequently, changes in the exchange rates of the currencies may impact the translation of the foreign subsidiaries’ statements of operations into U.S. dollars, which may in turn affect our consolidated statement of operations. The resulting foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

Derivative Financial Instruments

We employ derivatives to manage certain currency market risks through the use of foreign exchange forward contracts. We do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes. Our derivatives are designated as a hedge of a forecasted transaction or of the variability of cash flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability (cash flow hedge). We hedge a portion of the exchange risk involved in anticipation of highly probable foreign currency-denominated transactions. In anticipation of these transactions, we enter into foreign exchange contracts to provide currency at a fixed rate.

ITEM 7A.  QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.

Not Applicable.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.

See the financial statements included elsewhere in this report beginning at page F-1, which are incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 9.  CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic and current reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable and not absolute assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In reaching a reasonable level of assurance, management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. In addition, the design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal controls over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets, (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.  Because of its inherent limitations, internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all misstatements.  Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation.  We have conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.  Based on our evaluation, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2019.  

Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm

This annual report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to an exemption established by the JOBS Act for “emerging growth companies.”

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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the year ended December 31, 2019, that management expects will improve our internal control over financial reporting.   Specifically, management expects that the following actions will improve key internal controls:

•In October 31, 2018, the Company contracted for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting system with Infor.  The implementation of the company-wide system allowed the Company to improve management and accounting controls over manufacturing and reporting.  The initial implementation phase which included the financial, provisioning and manufacturing modules was completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.

•To improve the control environment surrounding segregation of duties, supervision and expertise, we have implemented new processes and procedures concurrent with the implementation of our new ERP system and have introduced best practices to conform with the control features that are inherent in the ERP system.  In June 2018, we hired a controller for the Company who is responsible for the day-to-day activities and supervision of the Accounting Department.  With this introduction of additional personnel, incompatible functions with respect to the segregation of duties and the recording of a transaction (including the review and approval processes) have been assigned to different personnel to strengthen the control environment.

•With the introduction of a robust ERP system, the Company now has material resource planning tools and tools to monitor labor inputs and production efficiencies. To strengthen the control environment surrounding inventory and inventory valuation, we continue to evolve a new analytical process to identify slow-moving and obsolete inventory and we have re-evaluated our methodology of applying labor and overhead to work-in-process and finished goods inventory.  We are also continuing to strengthening the controls regarding physical verification of inventory on-hand by introducing cycle counts and doing periodic inventory counts.  

•On February 13, 2019, our Board of Directors decided, based on the recommendation of its Nominating and Governance Committee, to separate the roles of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. We believe the appointment of an independent director as our Chairman and the separation of roles further solidifies the segregation of duties and board oversite as it relates to internal controls over financial reporting.

Management’s goal is to continue to improve upon our internal control environment as we refine our processes and procedures to address our growing business and operations in other geographies. As we continue to evaluate and take actions to improve our internal control over financial reporting, we may determine to take additional actions to address control deficiencies or determine to modify our plan based upon changes in our internal control environment.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.

None.

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PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.

Executive Officers and Directors

The following table sets forth the names, ages, and positions of our executive officers and directors as of February 29, 2020. There are no arrangements, agreements or understandings between non-management security holders and management under which non-management security holders may directly or indirectly participate in or influence the management of our affairs. There are no arrangements or understandings between any director and any other person pursuant to which any director or executive officer was or is to be selected as a director or executive officer, as applicable. There currently are no legal proceedings, and during the past ten years there have been no legal proceedings that are material to the evaluation of the ability or integrity of any of our directors or director nominees.

Executive Officers

David Raun has served as our interim chief executive officer since his appointment on February 15, 2020.  Mr. Raun formerly served as the audit chair on the One Stop Systems board of directors and will remain as a director.  Mr. Raun was with PLX Technology, Inc., a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, from 2004-2014 where he eventually became president, chief executive officer and a director. In this role, he led the company to an acquisition by Avago (now Broadcom) after driving the company to large PCI Express market share, record revenues and profits.  This PCIe switch leadership position at PLX makes him very familiar with the OSS markets and the components he defined and marketed are key to many of OSS products.  Mr. Raun also served as chief operations officer at Home Bay Technologies, an on-line technology based real estate company in 2019.  Prior to Home Bay, he was the president, COO and interim chief financial officer at ASSIA, Inc. a Silicon Valley-based SaaS providers from 2016-2018.  Here he led a turnaround driving to record revenues and sizable operating margins.  Prior to these roles he had multiple VP of Marketing, Business Development, Corporate Development and Sales roles.  He was chairman of the board at Kilopass, a semiconductor IP supplier until they were acquired by Synopsys in 2018.  Mr. Raun holds a B.S. in computer and electrical engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara. David Raun has more than 24 years of experience at senior management and board levels in public and private companies including over 10 M&A/fund raising events which is a great benefit to OSS.

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John W. Morrison, Jr. has served as our chief financial officer since September 1, 2017. Mr. Morrison is a CPA with more than 30 years’ experience in public accounting and all aspects of financial reporting and financing. From June 2014 to September 2017, he served as the chief financial and operations officer for Carol Cole Company. Prior to Carol Cole, he served as a consultant to various private companies regarding their financial and operational affairs. From January 2013 to September 2013 he served as the chief financial officer of Gen-E, an information technology and services company.  Mr. Morrison also served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Kelley Blue Book Company for 11 years. He began his career working 15 years for the public accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (now PwC) both in the U.S. and Asia. Mr. Morrison holds a B.S. in accounting and business management and MACC in Accounting from Brigham Young University.

Jim Ison, has been with OSS since 2004 and currently serves as the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer.  Mr. Ison has 28 years' combined sales, product management and marketing management experience in leading-edge large-scale electronic systems using breakthrough technologies. His expertise covers government, communications and HPC markets with particular focus on AI applications in unique environments. Prior to OSS, Mr. Ison held senior sales and marketing positions for Ziatech and Rittal. During the 15 years in OSS management, he has led the technological evolution and integration of OSS' many mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Ison holds a bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering from CalPoly SLO and an MBA from University of Florida.

Board of Directors

Kenneth Potashner has served as Chairman of our board of directors since May 2019.  Mr. Potashner has extensive BOD experience in high growth, high technology global organizations. He has served as Chairman of Newport Corporation where he provided 18 years of service culminating in the sale of Newport in 2016 for $980M.  Mr. Potashner was Chairman of Maxwell Technologies and directed it through a period of rapid expansion. He has also served on the BOD of California Micro Devices, SonicBlue Inc, and Singapore Technologies, all publicly traded companies.  Mr. Potashner is currently serving as the Executive Chairman of Home Bay Technologies.  He has also has served on the Board of many private companies as well including  DynaOptics, MyOffice.com, Underground Elephant, Lumedyne, Events.com,  and several others. Several of the private companies that Mr. Potashner has had affiliations with have achieved successful exits or significant financings.  Mr. Potashner has a BSEE from Lafayette College and an MSEE from SMU, Executive certifications from Columbia and INSEAD in Lausanne, Switzerland. He also has an Advanced Professional Director certification from American Board of Directors. 

John Reardon has served on our board of directors since 2000.  As an early investor in OSS, John Reardon has served as a member of the board since 2000.  During his service, Mr. Reardon introduced and/or aided in a number of key acquisitions that transitioned the OSS to a leading IP company.  Mr. Reardon, having extensive industry knowledge continues to aid the company with its strategic vision.  Corporate Director’s Forum recognized this contribution by awarding him the Director of the Year Award.  He has served on numerous Public and Private boards throughout his career that include Neonode, (Nasdaq, Neon) a company located in Stockholm, Sweden and SBE, Inc. (Nasdaq, SBEi) a telecommunications company located in San Ramon, California.  Mr. Reardon founded RTC Media in 1986 after graduating from National University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing.   Moving through the millennium, RTC was expanded to include Europe and Asia as key markets.  Today RTC Media continues its history as a technical marketing firm for the Military and Embedded space through its publications and content generation.  After 15 years of volunteering as a Senior Mentor through Chairman’s Round Table, Mr. Reardon has aided over 2-dozen San Diego tech CEO’s with their strategic goals.  Mr. Reardon continues to reside in Carlsbad, California with his wife and four children.

Jack Harrison has served on our board of directors since December 2016. He was founder, president and chief executive officer of Aspen Integrated Technologies, a microelectronics and MEMS company, which he sold in 2011. Mr. Harrison is currently the president of Integrity Energy, an oil and gas company, and also serves as the chairman of the board of Reach Beyond: a non-profit charitable organization of which he has been affiliated for more than 20 years. Mr. Harrison holds a BME degree from Wheaton College. He brings decades of experience in the microelectronics space and his business and technical expertise represent important assets to OSS.

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Kimberly Sentovich joined the board in February 2019 and is a seasoned merchandising, operations, IT and supply chain executive with 30 years of experience with multi-billion-dollar profit and loss responsibility.  From 2017 to 2018, Ms. Sentovich served as the Senior Vice President of Operations for Torrid, an apparel retailer.  From 2015 to 2017, Ms. Sentovich was Executive Vice President of Stores and Logistics at Gymboree, responsible for all 1300 company owned stores in North America.  Ms. Sentovich previously spent seven years (2008-2015) at Walmart rising from Regional Vice President of Operations – California to Divisional Senior Vice President of Operations – Pacific Division and fifteen years at The Home Depot (1993-2008) rising to the level of Regional Vice President of Operations.  Ms. Sentovich obtained her MBA from The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine and her B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science with a Minor in economics from Bryn Mawr College. Ms. Sentovich’s extensive executive and operations experience, as well as her independence, judgment and exceptional leadership experience makes her a valuable addition to the Board.

Steve Cooper served on our board of directors since inception and previously as our chief executive officer and president from 1998 until February 15, 2020.  He brought more than 40 years of experience running high technology, high growth rate businesses as a technologist with a long record of technical innovations, including multiple patents. Mr. Cooper began his career with Intel and RadiSys in engineering, marketing and technology roles. He has authored and published more than 30 articles and technical conference papers dealing with computer technology, fault-tolerant computer architectures, bus interfacing standards, open systems and related business and technology issues. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Board Composition and Election of Directors

Director Independence

Our board of directors currently consists of six (6) members. Our board of directors has determined that Kenneth Potashner, Jack Harrison, and Kim Sentovich are all independent directors in accordance with the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market. The Nasdaq independence definition includes a series of objective tests, including that the director is not, and has not been for at least three years, one of our employees and that neither the director nor any of his family members has engaged in various types of business dealings with us. In addition, as required by Nasdaq rules, our board of directors has made a subjective determination as to each independent director that no relationships exist, which, in the opinion of our board of directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. In making these determinations, our board of directors reviewed and discussed information provided by the directors and us with regard to each director’s business and personal activities and relationships as they may relate to us and our management.  Pursuant to a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 21, 2020, we disclosed that we are currently not in compliance with Nasdaq’s majority independent board requirements as a result of the appointment of Mr. Raun, a former independent director, to the role of Interim CEO.  Mr. Raun will regain his director independence if he is in interim CEO role less than one year.  We requested and have been granted a cure period to regain compliance with this standard and expect to do so by our next annual shareholder meeting tentatively scheduled for May 20, 2020.

Except for the following, there are no family relationships among any of our directors of executive officers.  John Reardon, a director of the Company, and James Reardon, President of the CDI Division of the Company are brothers.  Upon acquisition of CDI and James Reardon’s affiliation with the Company, John Reardon was no longer deemed an independent director of the Company.  

Board Committees and Independence

Our board of directors has established three standing committees – audit, compensation and nominating and corporate governance – each of which operates under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors.

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Audit Committee

The audit committee’s main function is to oversee our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audits of our financial statements. This committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:

The members of our audit committee are Mr. Potashner, Mr. Harrison and Ms. Sentovich. Ms. Sentovich serves as the chairwoman of the committee. All members of our audit committee meet the requirements for financial literacy under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and The Nasdaq Capital Market. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Sentovich is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined by applicable SEC rules and has the requisite financial sophistication as defined under the applicable Nasdaq rules and regulations. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Potashner, Mr. Harrison and Ms. Sentovich are independent under the applicable rules of the SEC and The Nasdaq Capital Market.  We are currently in compliance with Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 due to the fact that all members of our audit committee have been deemed independent by our board of directors. The audit committee operates under a written charter that satisfies the applicable standards of the SEC and The Nasdaq Capital Market.

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Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee approves, or recommends to our board of directors, policies relating to compensation and benefits of our officers and employees. The compensation committee approves, or recommends to our board of directors, annual and long-term corporate goals and objectives relevant to the compensation of our chief executive officer and other executive officers, evaluates the performance of these officers in light of those goals and objectives and approves, or recommends to our board of directors, the compensation of these officers based on such evaluations. The compensation committee also approves, or recommends to our board of directors, the issuance of stock options and other awards under our equity plan. The compensation committee will review and evaluate, at least annually, the performance of the compensation committee and its members, including compliance by the compensation committee with its charter.

The members of our compensation committee are Ms. Sentovich, Mr. Harrison, and. Mr. Potashner. Mr. Potashner serves as the chairperson of the committee. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Sentovich, Mr. Harrison, and Mr. Potashner are independent under the applicable rules and regulations of The Nasdaq Capital Market and all current members qualify as a “non-employee director” as defined in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act. Our board of directors has determined that each of the members of our compensation committee is an “outside director” as that term is defined in Section 162(m) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or Section 162(m).  We are currently in compliance with Nasdaq rules due to the fact that all members of our compensation committee have been deemed independent by our board of directors. The compensation committee operates under a written charter, which the compensation committee will review and evaluate at least annually.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

The nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for assisting our board of directors in discharging the board of directors’ responsibilities regarding the identification of qualified candidates to become board members, the selection of nominees for election as directors at our annual meetings of stockholders (or special meetings of stockholders at which directors are to be elected), and the selection of candidates to fill any vacancies on our board of directors and any committees thereof. In addition, the nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for overseeing our corporate governance policies, reporting and making recommendations to our board of directors concerning governance matters and oversight of the evaluation of our board of directors.  In February 2020, this committee added risk assessment and management to their charter.

The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Ms. Sentovich, Mr. Potashner, and Mr. Harrison.  Mr. Harrison serves as the chairman of the committee. Our board of directors has determined that Ms. Sentovich, Mr. Potashner, and Mr. Harrison and are independent under the applicable rules and regulations of The Nasdaq Capital Market relating to nominating and corporate governance committee independence.  We are currently in compliance with Nasdaq rules due to the fact that all members of our nominating and corporate governance committee have been deemed independent by our board of directors. The nominating and corporate governance committee operates under a written charter, which the nominating and corporate governance committee will review and evaluate at least annually.

Board Diversity

Our nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for reviewing with the board of directors, on an annual basis, the appropriate characteristics, skills and experience required for the board of directors as a whole and its individual members. In evaluating the suitability of individual candidates (both new candidates and current members), the nominating and corporate governance committee, in recommending candidates for election, and the board of directors, in approving (and, in the case of vacancies, appointing) such candidates, will take into account many factors, including the following:

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Currently, our board of directors evaluates each individual in the context of the board of directors as a whole, with the objective of assembling a group that can best maximize the success of the business and represent stockholder interests through the exercise of sound judgment using its diversity of experience in these various areas.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We have adopted a written code of business conduct and ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial and accounting officer, controller, or persons performing similar functions. Our code of business conduct and ethics is available under the Investors – Corporate Governance section of our website at www.onestopsystems.com. In addition, we post on our website all disclosures that are required by law or the listing standards of The Nasdaq Capital Market concerning any amendments to, or waivers from, any provision of the code. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained at or available through our website, and should not consider it to be a part of this Annual Report.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, directors, executive officers and beneficial owners of 10% or more of our common stock, or reporting persons, are required to report to the SEC on a timely basis the initiation of their status as a reporting person and any changes with respect to their beneficial ownership of our common stock. Based solely on our review of copies of such forms that we have received, or written representations from reporting persons, we believe that during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, all executive officers, directors and greater than 10% stockholders complied with all applicable filing requirements, other than each of Kimberly Sentovich, Barbara D’Amato, John Morrison, Jim Ison and Josef Bressner filed one (1) late report, John Reardon, Randy Jones and James Reardon filed two (2) reports, David Raun filed three (3) late reports and Ken Potashner, Jack Harrison and Steve Cooper each filed four (4) late reports.  There were no known failures to file a required form.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.

This section discusses the material components of the executive compensation program for our executive officers who are named in the “Summary Compensation Table” below. In 2019, our “named executive officers” and their positions were as follows:

This discussion may contain forward-looking statements that are based on our current plans, considerations, expectations and determinations regarding future compensation programs. Actual compensation programs that we adopt in the future may differ materially from the currently planned programs summarized in this discussion.

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Summary Compensation Table

The following table provides information regarding the total compensation for services rendered in all capacities that was earned by each individual who served as our principal executive officer at any time in 2019 and 2018, and our two other most highly compensated executive officers who were serving as executive officers as of December 31, 2019 and 2018.  These individuals are our named executive officers for both 2019 and 2018.

Narrative Disclosure to Compensation Tables

Employment Agreements

Executive Employment Agreement with Steve Cooper

Mr. Cooper is entitled to a base salary of $345,000, as approved by the Board of Directors on February 13, 2019, and subsequent annual increases as determined by the compensation committee and a target quarterly bonus in the amount of 50% of his quarterly base salary. The target quarterly bonus is based on Mr. Cooper’s performance, as determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, against fundamental corporate and/or individual objectives to be determined by the board of directors. Mr. Cooper is eligible to participate in our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan subject to the discretion of the board of directors if and when the board of directors determines to make a grant to him.

Under the terms of the employment agreement with Mr. Cooper, if we terminate his employment without cause (as defined below) or he resigns for good reason (as defined below) at any time other than within three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following the effective date of a change in control (as defined below), he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; (2) severance payments in an aggregate amount up to twelve (12) months of Mr. Cooper’s then-current Base Salary, paid to Mr. Cooper on OSS’s regular paydays until the earlier of (i) the date that is twelve (12) months following his termination or (ii) the date as of which he commences employment with another employer, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings; (3) a lump sum payment equal to Mr. Cooper’s then-current target bonus; (4) the continuation of Mr. Cooper’s group health continuation coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (“COBRA”) at OSS’s expense for a period of twelve (12) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Cooper becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (5) the automatic acceleration of

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the vesting and exercisability of his equity awards and stock options. Mr. Cooper must provide a release and waiver to OSS as a condition of receiving benefits (2)-(5) set forth in this paragraph.

In the event Mr. Cooper’s termination without cause or resignation for good reason occurs within the three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following a change in control, he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) a single lump-sum payment in an amount equal to twelve (12) months of Mr. Cooper’s then-current base salary, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings, payable within ten (10) business days of the date the release and waiver becomes effective; and (2) provided that Mr. Cooper timely elect such coverage, the continuation of Mr. Cooper’s group health continuation coverage under COBRA at OSS’s expense for a period of twelve (12) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Cooper becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (3) the vesting of the shares subject to each of Mr. Cooper’s equity awards and stock options shall be accelerated such that one hundred percent (100%) of said shares shall be deemed fully-vested and, if applicable, immediately exercisable effective as of the date of such termination.

If Mr. Cooper’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or following his permanent disability, Mr. Cooper or his estate, as applicable, is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan, expense reimbursement or practice to which he is entitled; (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to his “earned” bonus for the calendar quarter during which his date of termination occurs calculated as of the date of termination (wherein “earned” means that he has met the applicable bonus metrics as of date of such termination, as determined by the board of directors), prorated for such portion of the calendar quarter during which such termination occurs that has elapsed through the date of termination; and (3) a one-time payment of $500,000.

Executive Employment Agreement with John Morrison

Mr. Morrison is entitled to a base salary of $290,000, as approved by the Board of Directors on February 13, 2019, and subsequent annual increases as determined by the compensation committee and a target quarterly bonus in the amount of 35% of his quarterly base salary. The target quarterly bonus is based on Mr. Morrison’s performance, as determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, against fundamental corporate and/or individual objectives to be determined by the board of directors. Mr. Morrison is eligible to participate in our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan subject to the discretion of the board of directors if and when the board of directors determines to make a grant to him.

Under the terms of the employment agreement with Mr. Morrison, if we terminate his employment without cause (as defined below) or he resigns for good reason (as defined below) at any time other than within three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following the effective date of a change in control (as defined below), he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; (2) severance payments in an aggregate amount up to six (6) months of Mr. Morrison’s then-current Base Salary, paid to Mr. Morrison on OSS’s regular paydays until the earlier of (i) the date that is six (6) months following his termination or (ii) the date as of which he commences employment with another employer, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings; (3) a lump sum payment equal to Mr. Morrison’s then-current target bonus; (4) the continuation of Mr. Morrison’s group health continuation coverage under COBRA at OSS’s expense for a period of six (6) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Morrison becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (5) the automatic acceleration of the vesting and exercisability of his equity awards and stock options. Mr. Morrison must provide a release and waiver to OSS as a condition of receiving benefits (2)-(5) set forth in this paragraph.

In the event Mr. Morrison’s termination without cause or resignation for good reason occurs within the three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following a change in control, he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) a single lump-sum payment in an amount equal to six (6) months of Mr. Morrison’s then-current base salary, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings, payable within ten (10) business days of the date the release and waiver becomes effective; and (2) provided that Mr. Morrison timely elect such coverage, the continuation of Mr. Morrison’s group health continuation coverage under COBRA at OSS’s expense for a period of six

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(6) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Morrison becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (3) the vesting of the shares subject to each of Mr. Morrison’s equity awards and stock options shall be accelerated such that one hundred percent (100%) of said shares shall be deemed fully-vested and, if applicable, immediately exercisable effective as of the date of such termination.

If Mr. Morrison’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or following his permanent disability, Mr. Morrison or his estate, as applicable, is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan, expense reimbursement or practice to which he is entitled; and (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to his “earned” bonus for the calendar quarter during which his date of termination occurs calculated as of the date of termination (wherein “earned” means that he has met the applicable bonus metrics as of date of such termination, as determined by the board of directors), prorated for such portion of the calendar quarter during which such termination occurs that has elapsed through the date of termination.

Executive Employment Agreement with Jim Ison

Mr. Ison is entitled to a base salary of $275,000, as approved by the Board of Directors on February 13, 2019, and subsequent annual increases as determined by the compensation committee and a target quarterly bonus in the amount of 25% of his quarterly base salary. The target quarterly bonus is based on Mr. Ison’s performance, as determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, against fundamental corporate and/or individual objectives to be determined by the board of directors. Mr. Ison is eligible to participate in our 2017 Equity Incentive Plan subject to the discretion of the board of directors if and when the board of directors determines to make a grant to him.

Under the terms of the employment agreement with Mr. Ison, if we terminate his employment without cause (as defined below) or he resigns for good reason (as defined below) at any time other than within three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following the effective date of a change in control (as defined below), he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan or practice to which he is entitled; (2) severance payments in an aggregate amount up to six (6) months of Mr. Ison’s then-current Base Salary, paid to Mr. Ison on OSS’s regular paydays until the earlier of (i) the date that is six (6) months following his termination or (ii) the date as of which he commences employment with another employer, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings; (3) a lump sum payment equal to Mr. Ison’s then-current target bonus; (4) the continuation of Mr. Ison’s group health continuation coverage under COBRA at OSS’s expense for a period of six (6) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Ison becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (5) the automatic acceleration of the vesting and exercisability of his equity awards and stock options. Mr. Ison must provide a release and waiver to OSS as a condition of receiving benefits (2)-(5) set forth in this paragraph.

In the event Mr. Ison’s termination without cause or resignation for good reason occurs within the three (3) months immediately preceding or twelve (12) months immediately following a change in control, he is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) a single lump-sum payment in an amount equal to six (6) months of Mr. Ison’s then-current base salary, subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings, payable within ten (10) business days of the date the release and waiver becomes effective; and (2) provided that Mr. Ison timely elect such coverage, the continuation of Mr. Ison’s group health continuation coverage under COBRA at OSS’s expense for a period of six (6) months following the termination date; provided, however, that in the event Mr. Ison becomes eligible for comparable group insurance coverage in connection with new employment, such COBRA premium payments by OSS shall terminate immediately; and (3) the vesting of the shares subject to each of Mr. Ison’s equity awards and stock options shall be accelerated such that one hundred percent (100%) of said shares shall be deemed fully-vested and, if applicable, immediately exercisable effective as of the date of such termination.

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If Mr. Ison’s employment is terminated as a result of his death or following his permanent disability, Mr. Ison or his estate, as applicable, is entitled to the following payments and benefits: (1) his fully earned but unpaid base salary through the date of termination at the rate then in effect, plus all other amounts under any compensation plan, expense reimbursement or practice to which he is entitled; and (2) a lump sum cash payment in an amount equal to his “earned” bonus for the calendar quarter during which his date of termination occurs calculated as of the date of termination (wherein “earned” means that he has met the applicable bonus metrics as of date of such termination, as determined by the board of directors), prorated for such portion of the calendar quarter during which such termination occurs that has elapsed through the date of termination.

Defined Terms Applicable to Executive Employment Agreements

For purposes of executive employment agreements, “change in control” shall mean:

(i) The direct or indirect sale or transfer, in a single transaction or a series of related transactions, by the stockholders of the Company of voting securities, in which the holders of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such transaction or series of transactions hold, as a result of holding Company securities prior to such transaction, in the aggregate, securities possessing less than fifty percent (50%) of the total combined voting power all outstanding voting securities of the Company or of the acquiring entity immediately after such transaction or series of related transactions;

(ii) A merger or consolidation in which the Company is not the surviving entity, except for a transaction in which the holders of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such merger or consolidation hold as a result of holding Company securities prior to such transaction, in the aggregate, securities possessing more than fifty percent (50%) of the total combined voting power of all outstanding voting securities of the surviving entity (or the parent of the surviving entity) immediately after such merger or consolidation;

(iii) A reverse merger in which the Company is the surviving entity but in which the holders of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such merger hold as a result of holding Company securities prior to such transaction, in the aggregate, securities possessing less than fifty percent (50%) of the total combined voting power of all outstanding voting securities of the Company or of the acquiring entity immediately after such merger;

(iv) The sale, transfer or other disposition (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, except for a transaction in which the holders of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such transaction(s) receive as a distribution with respect to securities of the Company, in the aggregate, securities possessing more than fifty percent (50%) of the total combined voting power of all outstanding voting securities of the acquiring entity immediately after such transaction(s); or

(v) Any time individuals who, on the date this Plan is adopted by the board of directors, are members of the board of directors (the “Incumbent Board”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the members of the input/output; provided, however, that if the appointment or election (or nomination for election) of any new board member was approved or recommended by a majority vote of the members of the Incumbent Board then still in office, such new member shall, for purposes of this Plan, be considered as a member of the Incumbent Board.

For purposes of the executive employment agreements, “cause” means as determined in the sole discretion of the board of directors following written notice of the condition(s) believed to constitute cause, which notice shall briefly describe such condition(s), one or more of the following condition(s): (i) Executive’s failure to substantially perform Executive’s job duties (other than any such failure resulting from Executive’s incapacity due to physical or mental illness or any such actual or anticipated failure after his issuance of written notice of the occurrence of an event alleged by Executive to constitute good reason); (ii) Executive’s failure to comply with all material applicable laws in performing Executive’s job duties or in directing the conduct of OSS’s business; (iii) Executive’s commission of any felony or intentionally fraudulent acts against OSS, its affiliates, executives, agents or customers; (iv) Executive’s participation in any activity that is directly competitive with or intentionally injurious to OSS or any of its affiliates or which violates the terms of Executive’s proprietary information and inventions agreement; (iv) Executive’s material breach of the terms of Executive’s proprietary information and inventions agreement; (v) Executive’s commission of any act of fraud, embezzlement or dishonesty against OSS or any of its affiliates, or use or intentional appropriation for Executive’s personal use or benefit of any funds or material properties of OSS or any of its affiliates not authorized by the board of directors to be so used or appropriated; (vi) Executive’s breach of any material provision of the employment agreement;

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and (vii) Executive’s gross negligence, insubordination or material violation of any duty of loyalty to OSS or any other demonstrable material misconduct on the part of Executive; provided, however, that, termination by OSS under subsections (i) or (vi) of this Section 3.8(c), shall only be deemed for “cause” pursuant to the foregoing definition if Executive fails to remedy such condition(s) within thirty (30) days following delivery of the notice of termination for cause.

For purposes of the executive employment agreements, “good reason” means the occurrence of any of the following events without Executive’s consent: (i) a material adverse change in Executive’s duties, authority or responsibilities relative to the duties, authority or responsibilities in effect immediately prior to such reduction, or, as it relates to Mr. Cooper, the removal of Executive as chief executive officer of OSS; provided, however, that a reduction in duties, position or responsibilities solely by virtue of OSS being acquired and made part of a larger entity (as, for example, when Executive retains a similar position with a subsidiary of the acquiring entity following a change in control, but Executive does not hold the same position in the acquiring entity) shall not constitute “good reason;” and, provided, further that Executive’s removal from the board of directors shall not constitute “good reason;” (ii) a material diminution in Executive’s base compensation; or (iii) a material breach by OSS of its obligations under this Agreement; provided, however, that, such termination by Executive shall only be deemed for “good reason” pursuant to the foregoing definition if: (A) Executive gives OSS written notice of Executive’s intent to terminate for good reason within sixty (60) days following the first occurrence of the condition(s) that Executive believes constitute(s) good reason, which notice shall describe such condition(s); (B) OSS fails to remedy such condition(s) within thirty (30) days following receipt of the written notice (the “Cure Period”); and (C) Executive voluntarily terminates Executive’s employment within sixty (60) days following the end of the Cure Period.

Annual Cash Bonus

For 2019 and 2018, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Ison and Mr. Morrison were eligible for bonuses. The executives’ bonuses for 2019 and 2018 were determined at the discretion of our board of directors based on its assessment of our corporate performance. Based on this assessment, our board of directors determined to award and paid Mr. Cooper a bonus of $81,869 and $38,523 for 2019 and 2018, respectively representing 24.3% and 12.8% of his paid salary for 2019 and 2018; Mr. Ison a bonus of $30,060 and $14,799, representing 12.3% and 6.6% of his paid salary for 2019 and 2018, respectively and Mr. Morrison received a bonus of $37,326 and $16,131, of his paid salary representing 14.0% and 6.5% for 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Equity Compensation

We primarily offer stock options to our named executive officers as the long-term incentive component of our compensation program. Our stock options allow employees to purchase shares of our common stock at a price per share equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant and may or may not be intended to qualify as “incentive stock options” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the past, our board of directors has determined the fair market value of our common stock based upon inputs including valuation reports prepared by third-party valuation firms from time to time. Generally, the stock options we grant vest over three years, subject to the employee’s continued employment with us on the vesting date.

On April 11, 2018, Mr. Cooper received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 30,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On February 13, 2019, Mr. Cooper received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 30,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On April 11, 2018, Mr. Ison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 10,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

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On February 13, 2019, Mr. Ison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 15,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On February 10, 2020, Mr. Ison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 15,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal semi-annual installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On April 11, 2018, Mr. Morrison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 50,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vests over three years, with 1/3 of the shares subject to the option vested upon the anniversary of the date of initial employment and the remainder vesting in equal quarterly installments over a period of two years thereafter, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On July 2, 2018, Mr. Morrison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 50,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vests over three years, with 1/3 of the shares subject to the option vested upon the anniversary of the date of initial employment and the remainder vesting in equal quarterly installments over a period of two years thereafter, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On February 13, 2019, Mr. Morrison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 15,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal quarterly installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

On February 10, 2020, Mr. Morrison received a restricted stock unit (RSU’s) grant of 15,000 shares of our common stock.   The RSU’s vest over three years, with equal semi-annual installments over a period of three years, subject to his continued employment with us on each vesting date.

Stock awards granted to our named executive officers may be subject to accelerated vesting in certain circumstances. For additional discussion, please see “– Employment Agreements” above and “– Change in Control Benefits” below.

Prior to our initial public offering, we adopted a 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, in order to facilitate the grant of cash and equity incentives to directors, employees (including our named executive officers) and consultants of our company and certain of its affiliates to enable our company and certain of its affiliates to obtain and retain services of these individuals, which is essential to our long-term success. For additional information about the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, please see the section titled “Incentive Award Plans” below.

Other Elements of Compensation

Retirement Plans

We have a 401(k) retirement plan. Under the terms of the plan, eligible employees may defer up to 20% of their pre-tax earnings, subject to the Internal Revenue Service annual contribution limit. Additionally, the Plan allows for discretionary matching contributions by us. In 2019 and 2018, the matching contribution was increased to 100% of the employee’s contribution up to a maximum of 5% of the employee’s annual compensation.

Employee Benefits and Perquisites

Our named executive officers are eligible to participate in our health and welfare plans which include health, vision, dental, disability, flex-spending, life insurance and 401(k) plan.

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Change in Control Benefits

Our named executive officers may become entitled to certain benefits or enhanced benefits in connection with a change in control of our company. Each of our named executive officers’ employment agreements entitles them to accelerated vesting of all outstanding equity awards, as well as certain other benefits, upon a change in control of our company. For additional discussion, please see “Employment Agreements” above.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End

The following table summarizes the number of shares of common stock underlying outstanding equity incentive plan awards for each named executive officer as of December 31, 2019.