Title:
Oral History of John Norris Maguire

Date:
1986-04-08

Pages:
17 p.

Interviewer:
Johnson, Luanne; interviewer
Maguire, John Norris; interviewee
Johnson, Luanne; editor

Abstract:
In this interview, John Maguire describes the environment for independent software vendors in the 1970s as the industry was adjusting to IBM’s decision to unbundled the price of its software. He covers his background prior to founding Software AG North America and what led him to believe that there were opportunities in the software products business. He talks why he decided to price ADABAS significantly above other software products on the market at $120,000 and why he charged customers for demos and 90-day trials. He describes his approach to marketing software products internationally, pioneering the concept of establishing an escrow for source code, and the sales approaches he used.

Keywords:
Maguire, John
Software AG North America
Software AG
ADABAS
NATURAL
Schnell, Peter
Lockheed Missiles and Space Company
Aerospace Business Environment Simulator (ABES)
Summit, Roger
Quick Query
CACI
Karr, Herb
Markowitz, Harry
SIMSCRIPT
Welke, Larry
ICP

Rights:
Computer History Museum

102658223