1970 to 1979: Computers and Software Begin Creating Wealth - The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - page 144

product shows signs of a large market, dozens of fast followers plunge in behind,
as can be seen by the current markets for smartphones and tablets.
It is a curious phenomenon that getting venture funding for a truly new and
original concept is very difficult. But if the concept succeeds in gaining market
acceptance, it is quite easy for the next 10 clones to get venture funding. This is
perhaps because the venture community does not quite understand technology it-
self but is pretty good at seeing what sells once it is developed.
InterSystems Corporation
InterSystems was founded in 1978 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by Philip T.
Ragon. InterSystems is a privately held corporation that has turned a vertical mar-
ket in the health-care area into a multibillion-dollar business. In fact, Ragon is a
software billionaire.
The health-care industry (including the medical records for the Veterans Ad-
ministration) was an early adopter of a special language called MUMPS, which
stands for Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System.
MUMPS originated in 1966 by Neil Pappalardo and colleagues at the Massachu-
setts General Hospital. It is a somewhat quirky interpreted language that features
an integral database technology aimed at medical records.
InterSystems was a pioneer of using MUMPS and is one of its original vendors.
Later, InterSystems built its own proprietary database called CACHE. InterSys-
tems is a major vendor serving hospitals and medical records groups.
In 2008, InterSystems filed an unusual lawsuit against Microsoft, which had
offices in the same building in Massachusetts. The suit tried to prevent Microsoft
from expanding and renting more office space. As mentioned elsewhere in this
chapter, the software industry is somewhat litigious.
In the modern era, InterSystems remains a major player in health-care applica-
tions. As a private company, it is not as well known as public companies such as
Apple and Microsoft, but it is a very successful enterprise with a strong vertical
market. It provides proof of the concept that vertical markets can be successful.
Lawson Software
Lawson was formed in 1976 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The founders were two broth-
ers, William and Richard Lawson, together with John Cerullo as Chief Technology
Officer (CTO).