AppliedDigitalDataSystems

Applied Digital Data Systems (ADDS/NCR)

Based in Hauppauge, New York, Applied Digital Data Systems was founded in 1969 and is a subsidiary of NCR Corporation. PICK on the NCR Tower, called the ADDS Mentor, was the second non-Microdata machine to have PICK ported in the late 1970's (Honeywell was the first); ADDS was the third company to license PICK‹behind IN2 and Ultimate‹ in 1979; and the first company to develop a microcomputer-based PICK Operating System, first delivered in 1981.

In its first 31 months of delivering the PICK-based Mentor, ADDS installed over 1,500 systems, averaging 10 to 12 ports per installation. In 1989, the IDBMA estimated ADDS' installed base to be nearly 8,500 PICK machines, requiring ADDS to grow from a four-man department in early 1980 to a staff of over 500 people in 1989. (Although the Systems Division, exclusively, accounts for 40 employees.)

As an active supporter of PICK Spectrum, ADDS' vice president and general manager, Robin White, was elected as PICK Spectrum's chairmain. The chairman of the technical standards committee, Mike Hannigan, is also the manager of technical sales support for ADDS. Consequently, the ADDS machine is known to be one of the most technically standardized PICK machines available.

The Mentor Operating System, an enhanced version of PICK R80 and R83 was the only environment offered by ADDS until April of 1989, when the Mentor/Union was announced. As the company's first venture into UNIX, Mentor/Unix is a native PICK and UNIX implementation on the Tower. Also to be noted, ADDS was one of the first major PICK suppliers to license PICK Open Architecture in 1988, although it has not released an OA product to this date.

The NCR Tower family of multiuser supermicro-computers is based on industry-standard elements including 6800 series microprocessors, Multibus, Small Computer System Interface for peripherals and a variety of communication protocols. There are two Mentor family of PICK products: The Mentor 6000 mini series includes Model 2 supporting up to 128 users; Models 4, 6, and 8 supporting up to 256 users; and Model 10 supporting up to 512 users. The Mentor 1000 micro series includes Model 1700 supporting up to 11 users and Model 1800 supporting up to 17 users.

ADDS Mentor distribution saw great success due to the extensive international dealer network numbering over 150. Two of the largest overseas PICK resellers, Clegg Driscoll Consultants in Australia, and EDP in the U.K., are exclusive ADDS dealers, while enjoying a near-majority share of their respective PICK markets.

NCR as a corporation reported revenues of $6 billion in 1988, an increase of 6% over 1987. IDBMA believes that PICK-based revenues from ADDS‹an estimated $105 million‹accounted for under 2% of NCR total revenues.

References

• PICK Spectrum Impact Study (1989)