Informatics General: Difference between revisions

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Within this subsidiary was the Communication Systems Division, and it developed a communications system for the [[Federal Reserve Bank of New York]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record/139229250/ | title=People in Business | newspaper=The Record | ___location=Hackensack, New Jersey | date=September 12, 1973 | page=B-9 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> This was one of several large contracts the River Edge division had with Wall Street firms for joint development of [[bank transfer]] systems and related services, with those other firms including [[Dun & Bradstreet]] and [[Dean Witter]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-citizen-news/139229409/ | title=Business Briefs | newspaper=Citizen News | date=May 21, 1970 | page=17 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

The Federal Reserve Bank effort had begun in 1968 and involved using advanced techniques for [[store-and-forward]]-based [[message switching]] and similar needs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-times/139229780/ | title=N.Y. Bank Engages Valley Firm | newspaper=The Valley Times | ___location=San Fernando Valley, California | date=June 26, 1969 | page=6 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The implementation was based around the [[SDS Sigma 5]] computer from [[Scientific Data Systems]], a computer line which had been acquired by [[Xerox Corporation]].<ref name="lat-pact"/> The Sigma 5 had a Communication Input/Output Processor that handled up to 128 communication lines at speed from 110 to 9600 baud.<ref>{{cite conference | first1 = Paul| last1 = Day| last2=Hines| first2=John| title= Argos: An Operating System for a Computer Utility Supporting Interactive Instrument Control | conference=SOSP '73: Proceedings of the fourth ACM symposium on Operating system principles | doi=10.1145/800009.808046| pages=28&ndash;37| publisher =Association for Computing Machinery| date = January 1973 |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800009.808046}}</ref> The communications system was a success and Informatics and Xerox made a joint agreement to market it to other customers,<ref name="lat-pact">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times/139230666/ | title=Xerox Joins Informatics in Marketing Pact | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=October 19, 1969 | page=7 (Section I) | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> with the Informatics product being named the ICS IV/500.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bitsavers.org/magazines/Datamation/197208.pdf | title=Communications Processors | first=D. J. | last=Theis | magazine=Datamation | date=August 1972 | pages=31&ndash;44}}</ref>

Informatics had hopes for the ICS IV becoming a strategic product for them, and while it was sold to [[General Foods]] and [[Japanese National Railways]], it proved a very high-priced, low-volume market and there was an effort to find a less expensive alternative. Informatics was contracted by Bankers Trust to develop a version of the system that ran on the [[DEC PDP-11]] minicomputer with a Sigma 5 emulation unit. However, the project was not successful, and by the mid-1970s Informatics departed this communications space.<ref>See Forman internal history, pp. 8-10&ndash;8-12 and 11-16&ndash;11-19.</ref>

Subsequently, the Computing Technology Company subsidiary produced the Accounting IV package.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xOPmHIkDI4C&pg=PA31&dq=%22informatics%22+%22computing+technology+company%22&hlpg=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiM2r_1i-yDAxW1lIkEHQ9fBAoQ6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=%22informatics%22%20%22computing%20technology%20company%22&f=falsePA31 | title=Calendar | newspaper=Computerworld | date=October 9, 1974 | page=31}}</ref> This was a group of integrated financial applications for companies.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald/139233656/ | title=In Brief | newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=November 28, 1978 | page=17 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Equitable Life Assurance Society relationship==