A method of initializing an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the method including reading, by a boot microcode engine integrated with the ASIC, microcode from an electrically programmable non-volatile memory (EP-NVM) integrated on a same die as the ASIC. The method further includes writing the microcode onto internal memories of a micro-controller of the ASIC and initializing the micro-controller by the boot microcode engine. The method also includes loading, by the micro-controller, a full boot image from an additional storage device distinct from the EP-NVM onto the internal memories of the micro-controller and initializing the ASIC by the micro-controller based on the full boot image.