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Teamware's history is not a simple and straightforward story. To understand where we come from we need to return to the late 1970s and early 1980s. In those days there was an enthusiastic group of people both in Finland and Sweden working on several 'first ever' projects. These teams belonged to two different companies, Nokia Information Systems in Finland and Ericsson Information Systems in Sweden. They worked on standardizing proprietary terminals technology, local area networks long before LANs proliferated the market, and intelligent workstations in times preceding the PC revolution.
At the same time there were two other streams, ICL's Office Business Centre and the US originators of OfficePower working on innovative software, designed for example for "the networked office". Such working environments were seen as desired and exciting by university students and new recruits. Research & development was driven by technical innovation, revolutionary technology visions, and distinguishing capabilities such as ergonomics.
In 1988 Nokia bought Ericsson Information Systems and formed a new IT company called Nokia Data. Some of us in Teamware today still remember sneaking off to secret meetings to make this deal happen. Acquiring the Ericsson division was the first true attempt to become "big enough" as the slogan was at the time.
Making an impression
In May 1989 the Alfaskop Workgroup Systems (the name was inherited from Ericsson) saw its first release introducing Alfaskop Office with Mail and Library. The second version was to include also Forum and Calendar functionalities. This concept is where most would say originated what we now know as Teamware Office. Nokia Data had a match nobody else could offer, and this felt good. There were people working in Seattle with Microsoft helping them improve client/server capabilities. Our people were the first to offer a mail and office system on the NT platform. Bill Gates was impressed.
'System Center beat is what you need'
In 1991 ICL, Fujitsu's European arm, bought Nokia Data. This proved to be one the major milestones in our history. The product portfolio was renamed and the Teamware brand was gradually created. Even a song was produced to commemorate the merger and to promote the idea of 'System Centers', the Nokia version of solution building labs. In those days our portfolio covered a mixed bag of network hardware, application development tools, system management software, services and the flagship called TeamOFFICE. Becoming part of ICL meant stepping out of the Nordic countries. Within ICL, there was also a competing system to TeamOFFICE, called OfficePower, which was strong especially in the UK.
Back in 1979, the US Department of Transport had been looking for an office system, found nothing to meet its need, and decided to produce its own. The result, OfficePower, had set a new standard in user-friendliness. The designers of OfficePower became a separate company, and the product was eventually taken over by ICL, but continued the tradition of user contribution to its design as "the office system designed by users for users". When OfficePower and TeamWARE designers first got together, it was clear that both groups had more good ideas than they had people to make them happen. Eventually, a new release brought OfficePower into the TeamWARE world of client-server office.
However, the TeamOFFICE 'missionaries' were dedicated; we hear, for example, that the Benelux team did some heavy underground work helping partners to secure major accounts. They managed to break the internal resistance and, for their part, secure the future development and promotion of Teamware Office.
Let's get visible!
In 1993 the Teamware operations were in the ICL Systems Division. There was a need for skillful politics and avid fighters to keep the brand alive inside the big parent. Teamware events, such as wInternet and The European Teamware Conference in the UK and Brussels, portrayed admirable skills at promotion and are well remembered by international customers, partners and journalists.
In the beginning of 1995, ICL reorganized. Teamware operations were consolidated as the TeamWARE Division. TeamOFFICE was rebranded as TeamWARE Office. Later the same year Fujitsu and Teamware split the development responsibility for future product development. Fujitsu had chosen TeamWARE Office as their PC-LAN groupware product and had started marketing it in Japan in 1994. By the way, the market share of Teamware Office today is 20 % in Japan! This brought Teamware much closer to Fujitsu both in technology cooperation and commercially. It also gave us the opportunity to invest in new generations of the product and helped us to focus on groupware.
Teamware Group, the company, was established in 1996 with units in Finland, the UK and Sweden. We had gradually become more independent of ICL. We now had direct links to Fujitsu's research and technology operations. One of the biggest events in Teamware's history took place in 1998 when Teamware became a 100 % subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, Japan, as part of the Fujitsu Software Group. The role of Teamware was defined by Fujitsu to develop new and innovative software, to develop new business models and to sell Teamware products in chosen areas.
Let's go Internet!
The business stategy for Teamware was starting to change in 1997 by transferring as much as possible of the development activity for Teamware Office to Japan. This allowed Teamware to move more resources to Internet-related businesses. It was also recognized that we had too many products for the size of the company. In 1998 Teamware initiated, with Fujitsu's approval, a transformation from an R&D focused company selling via an indirect channel to becoming much more focused and establishing our own direct sales force.
Teamware sold the Windows client focused development unit in Tampere, Finland, to Nokia in 1998, a US Wireless software trial operation to Sonera in October 1999, and the security software business to Nokia in December 1999. In 2000 Teamware initiated the setting up of a joint venture, Meridio Ltd, for selling and developing the document management product Meridio together with Kainos Corporation.
The development of a new Internet collaboration software platform, Phoenix, and the product, Teamware Pl@za, started in 1996. The related strategic planning process had concluded that marketing of this new solution would require an 'Early market approach' methodology (Chasm Group, Geoff Moore) and direct customer interaction. To build that capability Teamware decided to start investing in web design and consulting organizations.
Teamware purchased the web consulting company Decode in Helsinki in September 1999, and the businesses of two companies, Multimediaproducenten J. Karlsson and Skapa Dot Com, in Stockholm in September 2000. In 1999 Teamware also acquired a minority (7,5 %) shareholding in Avectra, a US company focussing on the association market.
Teamware has also transformed its technology basis from a Microsoft dominated area to a Java and web-centric focus. In building the new Pl@za-oriented business Teamware has transformed its existing know-how in people-to-people interaction to interactive intranet, extranet and Internet solutions.
Inspiration at work
In early 2002, resulting from a Teamware Group management initiative, Europe's leading venture capital company 3i decided to invest substantially in Teamware's web community software and services. Fujitsu Limited remains a major owner of the group. 3i will be the largest stakeholder and will secure Teamware's growth on the emerging community software market with clear financial expectations of profitability and increased revenue.
Teamware has grown out of several departments, divisions and companies. There have been with us many bright people with great ideas: champion Pertti Ruosaari who, in the Nokia days, turned a vendor of proprietary systems into one of industry standard technology; skilled politicians such as Jukka Norokorpi managing Teamware in the turbulent evolution of ICL; strategists who built up the marketing; Sir Peter Bonfield, who as the ICL President believed in the new technology; Tatezumi Furukawa and Emeritus Chairman Takuma Yamamoto of Fujitsu, who introduced Teamware to Japan and were committed to building our business globally.
We in the company today are looking to the Teamware spirit for developing, marketing and providing the winning Internet solution, to new opportunities and beneficial relationships. Inspiration at work.
Thank you very much for the contributions from Ari Mikkola, Esko Uotila, Gunnar Falk, Vesa Laatikainen, Timo Hj Laaksonen, Paul Kingston, Ken Chilton, Peter Stoye, Joe Harrison, Ken Barnes and Shigetoshi Kudoh.
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