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Information Builders, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History

Two Penn Plaza
New York, New York 10001
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives:

Information Builders develops and markets software and professional services for the creation of high-performance business information systems at large, data-intensive organizations. These products and services form an integrated yet open technology framework for Enterprise Data Access, Enterprise Decision Support Systems, Data Warehousing, On-Line Transaction Processing Applications, Internet Integration, and Packaged Application Integration and Productivity.

History of Information Builders, Inc.

Information Builders, Inc. (IBI), a computer software firm, is one of the largest privately held companies in New York City. It ranked among the world's top 20 independent software vendors in the mid 1990s and was recognized as an industry leader in fourth-generation-language (4GL) technology, specializing in information access and analysis. A 4GL is designed to help users create complex data queries and build client/server applications around databases. IBI's Focus software was the most widely used 4GL product in the world by 1990. Focus and the company's other software all shared a common middleware architecture intended to eliminate the complexities and support headaches that could result from adding new vendors each time a new application systems was required. The company also offered technical support, training, and a complete range of professional consulting services from its 85 worldwide offices in 1997.

Focus-Driven Growth, 1975--87

Information Builders was founded in 1975 by Gerald C. Cohen, Peter Mittelman, and Martin Slagowitz. Cohen, a native New Yorker who in 1997 still lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side where he grew up, remained president and chief executive officer of the firm through the late 1990s. A graduate of St. John's College in New Mexico, Cohen began developing Ramis software--often cited as the world's first 4GL--with an engineering team at Mathematica, Inc., in 1965. "We pioneered an industry," Cohen later told Mike Bucken of Software Magazine in a 1990 interview. "Ramis was the first non-procedural language and the first to be sold outside [the] IBM [sales force]."

Once Ramis had been developed, Cohen took charge of selling the product. This experience gave him new ideas on selling software directly to large corporations and led him to leave Mathematica in order to found Information Builders with Peter Mittelman (also a Ramis developer) and Martin Slagowitz. "Mathematica was really a consulting firm," Cohen explained to Bucken. "Selling software by a strictly consulting company wasn't the way to go. ...That was the reason I left."

Information Builders quickly created Focus, a software product that allows computer users who want to manipulate a database--names and addresses on a mailing list, for example--with little training and using standard English. Originally intended as a mainframe-oriented product that could be accessed remotely through time-sharing systems, Focus was itself developed on leased IBM mainframe time, bartered from a software service company that also provided seed money and terminals. Additional funding in IBI's first year came from RCA, which also agreed to purchase a Focus license while it was still being developed, and Tymshare, a Silicon Valley-based service bureau that contracted to distribute the product for use over its network. "When we started out, our clients did credit checks on us," Mittelman recalled. "Now we do credit checks on our clients."

Time sharing fell out of widespread use by 1980, but leasing the original Focus, designed to run on IBM 4300 machines, to time-sharing firms was vital to Information Builders during its early years. By contrast, turning to direct sales of the software, Cohen recalled, was "a very big decision" that required a significant investment. "Time sharing had given us an unparalleled opportunity," he told Bucken, "but we could see that people were going in-house [to develop applications]. So we began to build an infrastructure to sell the product." This infrastructure was completely funded internally from the company's steady stream of license fees.

Information Builders secured its first international contract, from Datema Co. of Sweden, in 1977. The company's first subsidiary opened in London in 1980, followed by InfoBuild, a Canadian subsidiary, in 1982. FUSE, the first Focus user group (training center), was formed in 1979, with the first branch established in Palo Alto, California. Information Builders had 25 employees and about $3 million in annual revenues by 1980.

The firm made an early marketing decision to sell Focus not as a database management system (DBMS) but as an "information builder." "We knew that if we went in and said we were a DBMS vendor, they would say they already had one," Cohen explained. David Kemler, hired as the company's first salesperson in 1977 and later becoming its sales and marketing vice-president, said that, from the start, Focus was marketed as "a 4GL front end. We were precluded from going into large shops and saying we had a database because they already had IMS [from IBM]." Nevertheless, most users purchased the Focus DBMS as an option with the 4GL, and by 1990 it was being used in 99 percent of IBI's customer sites, according to Kemler.

The revenue stream from time-sharing licensees also enabled Information Builders to fund development of a version of Focus for the personal computer market. The company first attempted to enter the PC field in 1980 by porting Focus to the Apple II model but decided the computer was too slow. In 1982 IBI began work on a version for the IBM PC. Just as it was determining that this model also lacked adequate performance, IBM came out with its improved XT version. Focus was ready to serve this computer when the first shipments of the machine were made in 1983, thereby enabling Information Builders to become an early power in the microcomputer business.

In 1985 the PC version was expanded with a single-user release, the addition of a network version, and a host-language interface to enable programs written in traditional programming languages to create, build, and maintain PC/Focus databases. Upgrade kits were free for customers under IBI's extended maintenance and service contract, $550 for other current users, and $1,595 for new users.

Focus versions for the Digital Equipment Corp.'s VAX line and Wang's VS-based systems were released in 1986. They were followed by versions for the Macintosh PC, variations of the Unix operating system, the NCR Workstation 300, and the Convegent Technologies Ngen computers. Focus versions for the proprietary minicomputer offerings of Hewlett-Packard Co., Tandem Computers Inc., and IBM's AS/400 were released in 1988. Each version was in effect a different product requiring a separate development and marketing team.

By the end of 1987 Information Builders was among the three largest privately held software companies in the United States, with revenue expected to top $110 million in that year. Focus, the market leader in fourth-generation language, was still the company's only product, with an estimated 29 percent of the market at U.S. IBM and plug-compatible manufacturers' sites. IBI had added capabilities for graphics, spreadsheets, and report writing to core database-management systems such as IBM's IMS and DB2 and Digital's Rdb.

New Products, 1987--95

In 1987 Information Builders made its first acquisition, Level Five Research, Inc. Cohen believed that this Florida company would help IBI offer more decision-support products to its Focus lineup, such as problem analysis and intelligent documentation. Level 5 was an expert-system shell running on MS-DOS-based personal computers and Digital minicomputers running VAX/VMS. By 1990 work had been completed on a Level 5 module to include with Focus, and a team was working to develop versions for all Focus platforms. IBI was also marketing PRL3, an expert-system development tool for the VAX, and Insight 2+ for IBM PC's and compatibles.

Cohen told Computerworld in 1987 that Information Builders was "not selling product but selling service." The firm was offering service that year at 20 offices around the United States and had 125 employees to help customers get their applications running. By 1990 IBI had 53 user groups in the United States. It also had opened a development center in Paris. A German subsidiary opened later in the year. IBI was ranked in 1991 as the 15th-largest independent software company in the United States, with 1990 revenues of $191 million, up from $130 million in 1988 and $155 million in 1989. The company claimed 600,000 Focus users in early 1990. It had sold 100,000 PC Focus licenses and installed 5,000 copies of mainframe and minicomputer Focus versions.

Information Builders introduced a new product line, EDA (Enterprise Data Access) in 1991. The purpose of this product was to gain entry into the fast growing client-server market, where networks of small computers communicated with each other or mainframes. The problem to be solved was access to data in the huge range of incompatible machines, operating systems, and databases in corporate networks. EDA/SQL used an ANSI (American National Standards Institution) version of SQL as a standard interchange format. Running on a PC or workstation, the client bit of EDA/SQL "talked" to the server bit, running on a file-server, minicomputer, or mainframe. The server then talked to a range of databases, which might not use SQL. In Europe, however, not many databases, and even fewer applications programs, were using ANSI SQL, so that other products were also needed to service this market.

By the end of 1997 the EDA family of middleware products extended the reach of virtually any application or tool that supported either SQL or RPC, for transparent access to more than 65 of the most widely used proprietary databases, files, and application programs in 35 interconnected operating environments.

By 1993 Focus was running on about one million computers, with 35 percent of sales derived from overseas, mainly Japan. PC-based versions of Focus were selling for $795, while those designed for mainframes cost $150,000. More than half of the Focus software was still running on mainframes, but this business was dwindling as a share of the total market. Focus still accounted for 80 percent of IBI's revenues whereas EDA/SQL, including several upgrades and new versions, brought in only about 10 percent. IBI was also doing design work for select clients including the U.S. Air Force.

Information Builders joined an alliance in 1994 led by Amdahl Corp., best known for mainframe computers compatible with IBM. Amdahl announced it would enter the market for massively parallel database machines to be built by nCube Corp. using software from IBI and Oracle Corp. Amdahl claimed that the alliance would develop electronic repositories that could store and retrieve vast amounts of data.

Also in 1994, IBI came out with its first version of Focus for Windows software. Interviewed by InformationWeek, Cohen acknowledged that the Focus business was slowing down but predicted a rebirth when the company came out with a graphical-user interface version. He also observed that the VAX market was declining and that the company had experienced a "disastrous time in Europe," but he added that its European subsidiaries had been rebuilt and that business overseas had rebounded. Acknowledging that IBI's EDA business had been slow to meet expectations, Cohen defended the product line, saying that it was "growing fast."

Information Builders' revenue came to $227 million in 1993 and $243 million in 1994, of which packaged software sales were $200 million and $204 million, respectively. During 1994 the company introduced Focus Reporter for Windows 1.5, as well as Focus Personal Service and EDA/Copy Manager for Lotus Notes for the IBM AS/400. The company signed agreements with Oracle and Informix to build new middleware gateways for their flagship environments and announced an expanded relationship with Microsoft to deliver an integrated family of EDA/SQL solutions for the company's Windows NT operating system. By 1995 the company had 28 sales offices in the United States, with 500 people in the field. It also had three offices in Canada and 13 international subsidiaries.

Information Builders in 1996--97

Information Builders introduced WebFocus in 1996, a tool designed to let database administrators display reports on the World Wide Web. Users could display charts and graphs using any standard Web browser. WebFocus worked with most common databases and was fully compatible with the IBI client/server reporting system. Another IBI introduction that year was Cactus, a software product for developing and partitioning three-tier applications spanning heterogeneous operating systems, mainframes, midrange servers, personal computers, and workstations. To work correctly, Cactus required programmer training in a proprietary language and EDA/SQL server products.

In 1997 Information Builders prepared to move its headquarters from 1250 Broadway to nearby Two Penn Plaza, leasing three floors for a total of 179,000 square feet of office space. It also added 30,000 square feet of space at nearby 330 West 34th Street for back-office operations. The 15-year leases were valued at more than $100 million. In order to keep the firm from moving its 800-plus employees to New Jersey, New York City contributed nearly $5 million in sales tax incentives and cheap energy. IBI retained about 27,000 square feet--two floors--at 1250 Broadway. The company had 10 foreign subsidiaries and representatives in 25 foreign countries, plus Hong Kong and the Gulf states. IBI regularly published technical journals, a quarterly newsletter, and a features magazine.

Principal Subsidiaries: Information Builders Belgium S.A.; Information Builders (Canada) Inc.; Information Builders (Deutschland) GmbH; Information Builders France S.A.; Information Builders Iberica S.A. (Portugal); Information Builders Iberica S.A. (Spain); Information Builders (Netherlands) B.V.; Information Builders Pty. Ltd. (Australia); Information Builders Switzerland A.G.; Information Builders (UK) Ltd.

Principal Divisions: Enterprise Data Access; Integrated Solutions; Micro Products; Open Systems; Specialized Systems.

Related information about Information

otheruses

Information as a concept bears a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation.

Many people speak about the Information Age as the advent of the Knowledge Age citation-needed or knowledge society, the information society, and information technologies, and even though informatics, information science and computer science are often in the spotlight, the word "information" is often used without careful consideration of the various meanings it has acquired. Message is the information materialized.

Information is a quality of a message that is sent from a sender to one or more receivers. However, generally speaking, the amount of information in the received message increases the more accurate the message is.

This model assumes there is a definite sender and at least one receiver. However, in requiring the existence of a definite sender, the "information as a message" model does not attach any significance to the idea that information is something that can be extracted from an environment, e.g., through observation, reading or measurement.

Information is a term with many meanings depending on context, but is as a rule closely related to such concepts as meaning, knowledge, instruction, communication, representation, and mental stimulus. But overall, information is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the person receiving it.

Communication theory is a numerical measure of the uncertainty of an outcome, for example, we can say that "the signal contained thousands of bits of information". Communication theory tends to use the concept of information entropy, generally attributed to C.E. Shannon (see below).

Another form of information is the Fisher information, a concept of R.A. For example, with a normal likelihood function, the Fisher information is the reciprocal of the variance of the law. In the absence of knowledge of the likelihood law, the Fisher information may be computed from normally distributed score data as the reciprocal of their second moment.

Even though information and data are often used interchangeably, they are actually very different.

Measuring information entropy

The view of information as a message came into prominence with the publication in 1948 of an influential paper by Claude Shannon, "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." This paper provides the foundations of information theory and endows the word information not only with a technical meaning but also a measure. If the sending device is equally likely to send any one of a set of N messages, then the preferred measure of "the information produced when one message is chosen from the set" is the base two logarithm of N (This measure is called self-information). In this paper, Shannon continues:

The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. 379, (July 1948).

A complementary way of measuring information is provided by Algorithmic information theory. Shannon information would give the same information measurement for each symbol, since they are statistically random, and each new symbol would increase the measurement.

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It is important to recognise the limitations of Shannon's work from the perspective of human meaning. Combining Algorithmic information theory and Information Theory we can conclude that the most random signal contains the most information as it can be interpreted in any way and cannot be compressed.

Micheal Reddy noted that ?signals? There is no message contained in the signal, the signals covey the ability to select from a set of possible messages.? In information theory ?the system must be designed to operate for each possible selection, not just the one which will actually be chosen since this is unknown at the time of design.

See also lexicographic information cost.

Information as a pattern

Information is any represented pattern. Consider the following example: economic statistics represent an economy, however inaccurately. What are commonly referred to as data in computing, statistics, and other fields, are forms of information in this sense. The electro-magnetic patterns in a computer network and connected devices are related to something other than the pattern itself, such as text to be displayed and keyboard input. Signals, signs, and symbols are also in this category. On the other hand, according to semiotics, data is symbols with certain syntax and information is data with a certain semantic. Painting and drawing contain information to the extent that they represent something such as an assortment of objects on a table, a profile, or a landscape. This type of information still assumes some involvement of conscious mind, of either the entity constructing the representation, or the entity interpreting it.

If you accept that information can be defined merely as a pattern, does it not follow that neither utility nor meaning are necessary components of information? Surely a distinction must be made between raw unprocessed data and information which possesses utility, value or some quantum of meaning. it is a necessary condition, but not sufficient. The gap between data and information is only closed by a behavioural bridge whereby some value, utility or meaning is added to transform mere data or pattern into information.

When one constructs a representation of an object, one can selectively extract from the object (sampling) or use a system of signs to replace ( encoding), or both. When one interprets representation, one can predict a broader pattern from a limited number of observations (inference) or understand the relation between patterns of two different things ( decoding). In both cases, information sources are not constructed or presented by some "sender" of information. To repeat, information in this sense does not assume direct communication, but it assumes involvement of some conscious mind.

Regardless, information is dependent upon, but usually unrelated to and separate from, the medium or media used to express it.

Information as sensory input

Often information is viewed as a type of input to an organism or designed device. Some inputs are important to the function of the organism (for example, food) or device (energy) by themselves. The colored light reflected from a flower is too weak to do much photosynthetic work but the visual system of the bee detects it and the bee's nervous system uses the information to guide the bee to the flower, where the bee often finds nectar or pollen, which are causal inputs, serving a nutritional function.

Information is any type of sensory input. When an organism with a nervous system receives an input, it transforms the input into an electrical signal. That is, while abstract painting does not represent anything concretely, when the viewer sees the painting, it is nevertheless transformed into electrical signals that create a representation of the painting. Entertainment in general is not intended to be informative. Music, the performing arts, amusement parks, works of fiction and so on are thus forms of information in this sense, but they are not forms of information according to the previous definitions above. If information is equated to sensory input, then nutrition is not information but taste is. Systems theory at times seems to refer to information in this sense, assuming information does not necessarily involve any conscious mind, and patterns circulating (due to feedback) in the system can be called information. In other words, it can be said that information in this sense is something potentially perceived as representation, though not created or presented for that purpose.

When Marshall McLuhan speaks of media and their effects on human cultures, he refers to the structure of artifacts that in turn shape our behaviors and mindsets. Also, pheromones are often said to be "information" in this sense.

In 2003, J. Bekenstein claimed there is a growing trend in physics to define the physical world as being made of information itself (and thus information is defined in this way).

See the section below on information as a property in physics. (Also see Gregory Bateson.)

Information as a property in physics

Main article: Physical information

Information has a well defined meaning in physics. This could lead to the fact that all attempts at physically observing a particle with an "entangled" relationship to another are slowed down, even though the particles are not connected in any other way other than by the information they carry.

Another link is demonstrated by the Maxwell's demon thought experiment. In this experiment, a direct relationship between information and another physical property, entropy, is demonstrated. Thus, in the study of logic gates, the theoretical lower bound of thermal energy released by an AND gate is more than for the NOT gate (because information is destroyed in an AND gate and simply converted in a NOT gate). Physical information is of particular importance in the theory of quantum computers.

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest historical meaning of the word information in English was the act of informing, or giving form or shape to the mind, as in education, instruction, or training. Furthermore, Latin itself already even contained the word informatio meaning concept or idea, but the extent to which this may have influenced the development of the word information in English is unclear.

As a final note, the ancient Greek word for form was eidos, and this word was famously used in a technical philosophical sense by Plato (and later Aristotle) to denote the ideal identity or essence of something (see The Forms). Information can also be skills and things we know how to do, which is called procedural knowledge.

An important consequence of this distinction is that information has meaning (i.e. Also, when someone (or something, such as a computer system) is given a fact, it may only be data, but when they make sense of (or interpret) it, often by bringing it together with other facts, it may become information.

Information is usually thought of as, in a strict sense, a subset of data. -->

Data which is not information (i.e.: has not yet informed or been given a context) is often called raw data.


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  • Information architecture
  • Information broker
  • Information entropy
  • Information geometry
  • Information highway
  • Information mapping
  • Information overload
  • Information processing
  • Information processor
  • Information sensitivity
  • Information system
  • Information technology
  • Information theory
  • Informationism
  • Infosphere
  • Infonnected
  • Accuracy
  • Abstraction
  • Algorithmic information theory

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  • Classified information
  • Complexity
    • Complex system
    • Complex adaptive system
  • Cybernetics
  • Exformation
  • Fisher information
  • Free Information Infrastructure
  • Freedom of information
  • Infornography
  • Library and Information Science
  • Medium

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  • Metadata
  • Observation
  • Philosophy of information
  • Physical information
  • Prediction
  • Propaganda model
  • Relevance
  • Receiver operating characteristic
  • Satisficing
  • Shannon?Hartley theorem
    • Claude Shannon
    • Ralph Hartley
  • Systems theory

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Additional topics

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