Computer Associates
Computer Associates International, Inc., later CA, Inc., and CA Technologies, Inc., was an American multinational enterprise software developer and publisher that existed from 1976 to 2018. CA grew to rank as one of the largest independent software corporations in the world, and at one point was the second largest. The company created systems software that ran in IBM mainframe, distributed computing, virtual machine, and cloud computing environments.
The company's primary founder was Charles B. Wang. The main key to Computer Associates' fast growth was the acquisition of many lesser-sized software companies in the IBM mainframe industry segment. CA was known for large-scale dismissals of employees in the acquired firms, and for sometimes extracting cash flow from acquired products rather than enhancing them. Customers of CA often criticized the company for its poor technical support and hostile attitude. CA underwent a major accounting scandal in the early 2000s that led to several past executives being sent to prison. However by the 2010s, several industry organizations ranked CA highly in corporate responsibility and recognition metrics.
Computer Associates had its origins in both Switzerland and in the United States. It was headquartered on Long Island for most of its history, at first Jericho and Garden City in Nassau County, then Suffolk County for two decades in Islandia before moving back to Manhattan in 2014. In 2018, the company was acquired by Broadcom Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer, for nearly $19 billion.
History
Origins
The origins of Computer Associates International lie in a Swiss software products company and a New York data services company.Samuel W. Goodner was a Texan who was working for the American businessman Sam Wyly's company, University Computing Company. UCC had acquired the Swiss computer services company Automation Center A.G., founded by the Swiss businessman Walter Haefner, and Wyly despatched Goodner to Europe to watch over it. By 1970, UCC was experiencing financial difficulties, and Goodner, who admired some of Haefner's management practices, decided to leave and start his own firm that would engage in software product development. A company by the name of Computer Associates A.G. was founded in 1970 by Goodner and was located in Zurich, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, under regulatory pressure in 1969, IBM had announced its decision to unbundle the sale of computer hardware from its software and support services, i.e., mainframe computers from computer programs, etc. The decision opened new markets to competition and provided an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter the nascent software industry — an opportunity that Goodner sought to exploit by developing and selling software products for the IBM mainframe market.
The new firm Computer Associates was underfinanced, but it did have a customer in the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Hoffmann-La Roche and it had developed a sorting program for Hoffmann-La Roche. The new sort had superior efficiency, and, starting in 1971, Computer Associates began selling in Europe the CA-SORT package as a plug-in replacement for the IBM Sort on IBM System/360 and System/370 mainframe platforms. The firm sought to sell in countries other than Switzerland, and created a holding company for that purpose; distributors were signed up in different European countries, some of which would then be acquired by Computer Associates. As of 1971, Computer Associates International SA was described as being based in Geneva, and Geneva would be its headquarters through the rest of the 1970s. Then in mid-1974, CA-SORT began being distributed and sold in the United States by Pansophic Systems, under the name Pansort. By 1974, the firm was referred to as Computer Associates International Ltd.
In New York City, Standard Data Corporation was a company that was mainly in the service bureau business for electronic data processing. One of the first such companies, it had been in existence since 1959, and was located at 1540 Broadway in Manhattan. In 1973, Standard Data began offering the SYMBUG product for sale, which was a symbolic debugger for the COBOL programming language on the IBM mainframe VM/370 platform. In addition, by October 1974, Standard Data was advertising several other products for VM/CMS, including VM/370 ISAM, an emulation of OS ISAM in VM/CMS, as well as SYMBUG for other languages. Eventually Standard Data created a Software Products Division, of which Charles B. Wang was a vice-president. Wang too sought to take advantage of the IBM unbundling decision by developing and marketing software products for the IBM mainframe.
In January 1976, an agreement was signed whereby Pansophic Systems relinquished U.S. rights to CA-SORT and Standard Data Corporation took those exclusive rights over and in the so doing, restored the product name to its European form. Standard Data also gained U.S. rights to a report generator package called EARL.
1970s
Then in October 1976, a merger was announced between Computer Associates International Ltd and the Software Products Division of Standard Data Corporation, with this merger creating a new entity, Computer Associates, Inc., with Wang as president. Image:655 Madison Avenue at corner of East 60th Street.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.625|Computer Associates' first offices were at 655 Madison Avenue in Manhattan.The newly created company would continue to market CA-SORT in the United States and in the rest of the Western hemisphere, while the existing European firm would market some of Standard Data's products such as SYMBUG. The new company had an office at 655 Madison Avenue.It is thus to 1976 that the creation of what would become the well-known Computer Associates company is usually dated. This new venture began with four employees. One of them was Russell Artzt, who had met Wang in college, worked with him at Standard Data Corporation, was responsible for programming some of the early software products the new company was offering. Artzt is accordingly considered a co-founder of the well-known Computer Associates.
But that would still be awaiting. Soon, the new American venture's name would appear as Trans-American Computer Associates, Inc., in the sense that by September 1977, the company's advertisements were copyrighted to Trans-American Computer Associates, Inc., while CA-SORT 77 was copyrighted to Computer Associates International Ltd. For instance, DYNAM/D was a disk utility for IBM mainframes running DOS and DOS/VS that did disk space management, disk cataloguing, and other such functions; announced in 1977, its trademark belonged to Trans-American Computer Associates, indicating it was developed in America rather than Europe.
Image:Two Jericho Plaza alongside New York State Route 25 in Jericho.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.91|CA's Jericho office was a short distance away from this 2010 scene on Jericho Turnpike.
In 1979, offices of the American company were moved to Long Island at Jericho, New York, at 125 Jericho Turnpike.
By 1980, the overall Computer Associates International had some 300 employees across its locations around the globe and was selling 12 different products to what it said were 9,000 different customer installation sites. Sales from the United States were the biggest market for the company. In 1980, Wang bought out the Swiss parent company and Computer Associates International, Inc. became his.
1980s
Computer Associates had an IPO in 1981 that garnered the company a modest $3.2 million. Its stock traded on the NASDAQ using the stock symbol "CASI".The first significant acquisition in CA's history took place in 1982, when it merged with Capex Corporation, resulting in a 50 percent increase in CA's revenues. Both CA and Capex made software products for the IBM mainframe, but while by CA's own marketing statements CA had visibility and success in software products for IBM's DOS mainframe operating system, potential customers did not think CA was strong in products for the IBM OS mainframe operating system. In contrast, this was an area where Capex had established itself.
The acquisition of Capex was generally viewed as having been successful. It was the start of what was to become a buying spree for Computer Associates over the next several years. The company specialized in going after third-party mainframe software.
Image:Roosevelt Field Mall satellite view.png|thumb|right|CA's main Garden City office was just south of Roosevelt Field, seen here in a satellite view.
By 1986, Computer Associates had moved its headquarters again, to Garden City. They would come to be situated in five other buildings within Nassau County as well. Revenue that year was $265 million, with income of more than $30 million. Estimated personal computer software revenue was between $60 to $70 million.
CA's strategy for growth reached a new level with its deal for Uccel in 1987, which valued at $800 million was an order of magnitude larger than any of its previous acquisitions. Uccel was a new name for UCC, which Haefner had gained control of from Wyly in 1976 and which had undergone ups and downs in the years since. Of Uccel's existing staff of 1,200 people, 550 were let go; this kind of harsh post-acquisition reduction measure was typical for the company and became a part of CA's public image. Haefner became Computer Associates' largest individual shareholder, with a stake that comprised about 25 percent of the company.
In 1987, CA's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange using the ticker symbol "CA". In 1988, the company purchased the principal software product of Consco.
As the decade ended, CA became the first software company after Microsoft to exceed $1 billion in sales.
Information Week listed Computer Associates ahead of Microsoft in a 1990 roundup titled "Software's Heavy Hitters."