Systematics - Revision history

Phil at 16:34, 22 May 2011

2011-05-22T16:34:45Z

Phil: /* Company Growth in the 1970s and 1980s */

2009-12-12T17:31:09Z

‎Company Growth in the 1970s and 1980s

Phil at 17:28, 12 December 2009

2009-12-12T17:28:07Z

Phil at 17:13, 12 December 2009

2009-12-12T17:13:26Z

Phil at 14:42, 12 December 2009

2009-12-12T14:42:08Z

Phil at 14:39, 12 December 2009

2009-12-12T14:39:09Z

Phil at 16:45, 4 August 2009

2009-08-04T16:45:57Z

Phil at 03:14, 12 July 2009

2009-07-12T03:14:39Z

Phil at 03:13, 12 July 2009

2009-07-12T03:13:28Z

Phil at 02:53, 12 July 2009

2009-07-12T02:53:13Z

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 *[http://www.sireunion.org/ Systematics Reunion website]
 [[Category:Software]]
 [[Category:Technology]]

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 The company began making money within months of its founding, and established profit margins averaging 10 to 15 percent in the 1970s. The company realized $13.3 million in revenue by 1977 and grew rapidly thereafter. At the end of the decade the company reported $36.3 million in revenue with a profit of $2 million. Growth and profits had begun to taper off at this point, and Smiley guided the company to a $35 million over-the-counter public offering in August 1981 to pay for a new suburban complex in west Little Rock. "We were out of space and were spread all over town," remembered Smiley. "It was not efficient." The stock sale defied expectations. "When we did a road show ... we would see people get up and leave the room to go buy the stock," remembered Smiley, "We knew how to explain what we were doing so that the average person could understand it."
 In the early 1980s the company began licensing software directly to banks. Software licensing proved more difficult than selling stock. "The software business is a totally different financial model," remembered Smiley. "You get a huge glut of revenue on the front end, at a very high margin. But once you made that big pop, then you don't have that major ongoing revenue."
 ====John Steuri Takes Over as CEO====

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 Systematics was founded by Hope, Arkansas, native [[Walter V. Smiley]]. Smiley had graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a master's of business administration and worked as a salesman after graduation for IBM in St. Louis, Missouri. Remembered Smiley later, "I didn't like the pressure of the commission and the performance goals, because I was much more interested in customers being able to use their machines effectively." Around 1965 he returned to Fayetteville as director of data processing services for the local First National Bank. The bank's daily volume averaged 10-12,000 transactions each day, a formidable challenge for the hardware and software then available. Other local banks faced the same daily challenges.
-Smiley recognized an opportunity to help medium-sized banks acquire the software they needed to compete with smaller banks that contracted such services, and bigger banks that could afford to purchase their own data processing hardware. "The more we talked, it just became clear that if we could somehow get together and develop the software in one place, that would be a lot smarter than each of us trying to do it ourselves," he recalled. Smiley approached [[Jon Jacoby]] of [[Stephens Inc.]] in Little Rock with a proposal to found a start-up, and in 1967 [[Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens]] invested $400,000 in the venture in return for an 80 percent equity stake. Stephens, recalls Smiley, was "very supportive and believed in it from the very early days."
+Smiley recognized an opportunity to help medium-sized banks acquire the software they needed to compete with smaller banks that contracted such services, and bigger banks that could afford to purchase their own data processing hardware. "The more we talked, it just became clear that if we could somehow get together and develop the software in one place, that would be a lot smarter than each of us trying to do it ourselves," he recalled. Smiley approached [[Jon Jacoby]] of [[Stephens Inc.]] in Little Rock with a proposal to found a start-up, and in 1967 [[Jackson T. Stephens|Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens]] invested $400,000 in the venture in return for an 80 percent equity stake. Stephens, recalls Smiley, was "very supportive and believed in it from the very early days."
 The company began formal operations in October 1968. The company initially provided data processing services to banks on a long-term contract basis. Early customers were William Kennedy of the National Bank of Commerce in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and [[Pat Wilson]] at [[First Arkansas Bank & Trust]] in [[Jacksonville]], Arkansas. Smiley also returned to his roots in later securing a contract from First National Bank in Fayetteville.

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 '''Systematics Inc.''', a former [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." Systematics competed in the data processing financial services sector of the market against MTech Corporation, First Financial Management Corporation, and Fiserv.
-Systematics was founded by [[Walter V. Smiley]] in 1968 with private equity supplied by [[Jackson T. Stephens]]. Smiley had graduated from the University of Arkansas with a master's of business administration and worked after graduation for IBM and then a local bank. Smiley recognized an opportunity to help medium-sized banks acquire the software they needed to compete with smaller banks that contracted such services, and bigger banks that could afford to purchase their own data processing hardware. Smiley had conversations with [[Jon Jacoby]] of [[The Stephens Group]], who introduced him to Jackson T. Stephens. Stephens invested $400,000 in the venture in return for an 80 percent equity stake.
+====Company Origins====
-The company initially provided data processing services to banks on a contract basis, but later began licensing software directly to banks. The company went public in 1980.
+Systematics was founded by Hope, Arkansas, native [[Walter V. Smiley]]. Smiley had graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a master's of business administration and worked as a salesman after graduation for IBM in St. Louis, Missouri. Remembered Smiley later, "I didn't like the pressure of the commission and the performance goals, because I was much more interested in customers being able to use their machines effectively." Around 1965 he returned to Fayetteville as director of data processing services for the local First National Bank. The bank's daily volume averaged 10-12,000 transactions each day, a formidable challenge for the hardware and software then available. Other local banks faced the same daily challenges.
-[[Hillary Clinton]] served at one time as the intellectual property lawyer for the company.
+Smiley recognized an opportunity to help medium-sized banks acquire the software they needed to compete with smaller banks that contracted such services, and bigger banks that could afford to purchase their own data processing hardware. "The more we talked, it just became clear that if we could somehow get together and develop the software in one place, that would be a lot smarter than each of us trying to do it ourselves," he recalled. Smiley approached [[Jon Jacoby]] of [[Stephens Inc.]] in Little Rock with a proposal to found a start-up, and in 1967 [[Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens]] invested $400,000 in the venture in return for an 80 percent equity stake. Stephens, recalls Smiley, was "very supportive and believed in it from the very early days."
-The company was acquired by [[ALLTEL]] in 1990 for $550 million. The new private subsidiary of the ALLTEL company became known as Systematics Information Services and later ALLTEL Information Services. Systematics is now part of Fidelity Information Services.
+The company began formal operations in October 1968. The company initially provided data processing services to banks on a long-term contract basis. Early customers were William Kennedy of the National Bank of Commerce in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and [[Pat Wilson]] at [[First Arkansas Bank & Trust]] in [[Jacksonville]], Arkansas. Smiley also returned to his roots in later securing a contract from First National Bank in Fayetteville.
 ==References==
 *Monica Geran, "Tea-House in Little Rock," ''Interior Design,'' January 1, 1984.
 *Phillip H. Wiggins, "Data Services for Small User," ''New York Times,'' June 4, 1987.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:42, 12 December 2009
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		+	[[Image:Systematics-inc.jpg\|thumb\|300px\|Systematics Inc. logo]]
	'''Systematics Inc.''', a former [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." Systematics competed in the data processing financial services sector of the market against MTech Corporation, First Financial Management Corporation, and Fiserv.		'''Systematics Inc.''', a former [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." Systematics competed in the data processing financial services sector of the market against MTech Corporation, First Financial Management Corporation, and Fiserv.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:45, 4 August 2009
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	[[Category:Software]]		[[Category:Software]]
−	[[Category:~~Science and~~ Technology]]	+	[[Category:Technology]]

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-'''Systematics Inc.''', a former [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." Systematics competed in the data processing financial services sector of the market against MTech Corporation, First Financial Management Corporation, and Fiserv. Systematics was founded in 1968.
+'''Systematics Inc.''', a former [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." Systematics competed in the data processing financial services sector of the market against MTech Corporation, First Financial Management Corporation, and Fiserv. Systematics was founded by [[Walter V. Smiley]] in 1968.
 [[Hillary Clinton]] served at one time as the intellectual property lawyer for the company.
-The company was acquired by [[ALLTEL]] in 1990. The new private subsidiary of the ALLTEL company became known as Systematics Information Services.
+The company was acquired by [[ALLTEL]] in 1990 for $550 million. The new private subsidiary of the ALLTEL company became known as Systematics Information Services.
 ==References==

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:53, 12 July 2009
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−	'''Systematics Inc.''', a Little Rock, Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." [[Hillary Clinton]] served at one time as the intellectual property lawyer for the company. The company was acquired by [[ALLTEL]] in 1990.	+	'''Systematics Inc.''', a [[Little Rock]], Arkansas, software company, was once the "nation's leading supplier of data processing services for the commercial banking industry." [[Hillary Clinton]] served at one time as the intellectual property lawyer for the company. The company was acquired by [[ALLTEL]] in 1990.

	==References==		==References==