Boole & Babbage

Boole & Babbage Incorporated, founded as K & K Associates,[1] was an American automation computer software company based in San Jose, California.[2] It was the oldest systems management company in the world before being bought out in a stock swap by BMC Software in 1998.[3]

History

Boole & Babbage was founded in 1967 as K & K Associates by Ken Kolence and David Kaitch. The company changed its name to Boole & Babbage after an investment from Franklin "Pitch" Johnson, becoming the first software company in Silicon Valley to receive venture capital funding.[1] Its main product was a computer mainframe monitoring package which was the first software that allowed the tracking of hours. The company had a million dollars in sales in its first year. However, the company's large expenses outstripped its profits. In 1972 Bruce Coleman was appointed as president to lower expenses, which was accomplished by 1978, after which he left the company. Boole & Babbage almost went bankrupt when their products became obsolete due to upgrades in IBM hardware.[4] In the 1980s, Boole & Babbage developed new software and went public. In 1984 IBM changed its operating systems, rendering a number of Boole & Babbage's products obsolete. In response, Coleman returned as president. The company created COMMAND/Post for client/server systems in 1990, and it soon became their main product.[4]

Advertising

In 1993, Boole & Babbage announced at the Computer Measurement Group annual conference that they had bought a two-year licence from Paramount Pictures to use Star Trek imagery in their advertising for COMMAND/Post and MainView for $75,000 a year.[4] They used Commander William Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes) from Star Trek: The Next Generation in their first Star Trek advertisements.[5] Frakes also starred in an advert for Boole & Babbage titled "The Vision" as Commander Riker and the USS Enterprise bridge set.[5]

Decline and sale

In the late 1990s, the computer industry started to become dominated by larger companies and Boole & Babbage were having trouble competing. In 1998, as part of a series of takeovers, BMC Software bought Boole & Babbage in a stock swap.[6]

References
  1. "Company Details - Boole & Babbage". Computer History Museum. 2010-02-25. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  2. "Boole & Babbage booms". Silicon Valley Business Journal. 1997-02-03. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  3. "Boole & Babbage sold to Houston software maker". Silicon Valley Business Journal. 1998-11-08. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  4. "History of Boole & Babbage, Inc. – FundingUniverse". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  5. "Commander Riker highlights Boole blitz. (actor Jonathan Frakes makes appearance with Boole & Babbage Inc. at CMG Conference)". Software Magazine (archived at Highbeam). Archived from the original on 2014-06-29. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  6. Laura M. Holson (1998-11-02). "BMC Is Expected to Buy Boole & Babbage". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
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