Seven years after becoming a limited company, IMI Computing Ltd has reported healthy sales of UKP18m, a substantial increase of 38% on the previous year’s figure of UKP13.2m. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IMI Plc, and started life in the 1970s as the engineering group’s data processing department. It provided services to various divisions of IMI, and eventually sought business opportunities in the wider marketplace with its facilities management, bureau services, and IBM expertise. IMI Computing has concentrated exclusively on the IBM environment, and is an appointed agent for the 4381, AS/400, System 36, 8100, and 9370. The company works closely with IBM and has cooperated with several laboratories on developing OfficeVision. IMI has a US subsidiary based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and it is currently installing MVS Officevision at the rate of 10 copies per month. The company won’t break down its revenue in terms of products and services, but by geographical region, mainland Europe contributes over UKP2m, and the US represents UKP400,000. The remainder is derived from the UK, and the recent acquisition of Edinburgh-based Structured Data Design has made IMI the number two Scottish agent for System Software Associates Inc’s BPCS AS/400 software. The company has a consultancy agency called Contract Resource Centre, and it provides both technical and management consultancy, and business and project analysis. Clients include the now-defunct EftPos UK, and somewhat more successful British Aerospace. As regards application systems, IMI is particularly keen on its recently launched AS/IMS-Bridge. It allows the transparent access of of IBM’s IMS database from AS Decision Support Systems via a Customisable Data Interface in AS. It enables users to access the IBM IMS hierarchical database in the same way they access relational databases. IMI is also involved in communications and IBM’s distributed systems.

IBM software pricing sensible

Products include telex, messaging systems, external mailboxes, and departmental systems. IMI hasn’t forgotten its roots and its bureau services provide access to the company’s 3090 mainframe which runs CICS, IMS, DB2, TSO, and CMS software. It will also take responsibility for specific systems or assume wholesale management control under its facilities management arm. David Williamson, IMI’s managing director, emphasises the company’s mid-range skills, and contrary to popular opinion, says there are plenty of 8100 users wanting to convert to 9370s, and that base is not declining in the face of competition from the AS/400. The 9370 is an excellent data processing box, and in terms of MIPS per pound, gives very good value. He also refutes suggestions that System 36 users are hanging back from the AS/400. He believes that they are moving towards the AS/400, but will do so as their needs demand it. For a company that so closely emulates the environment created by IBM, it is surprising that IMI has no Unix offering. Williamson now believes that IBM has endorsed Unix with its RS/6000 range, and he says that IMI will develop Unix skills either by acquisition or in-house. Apart from the Scottish acquisition and an 18-month joint venture with Warwickshire County Council, IMI has focused on organic growth, and Williamson acknowledges that small entrepreneurial companies could find it difficult to integrate into the corporate culture that exists within IMI. He is remarkably sanguine about upcoming hardware developments, and insists that IMI’s primary concern is to develop products that are compatible with IBM’s. Williamson is far from slavish, but he seems to follow the IBM line fairly closely. He reiterated his recently quoted opinion that IBM’s software pricing is eminently sensible, and says that if he were in IBM’s position, he would charge a premium rate for software running on machines from plug-compatible manufacturers. He says that it’s one way of maintaining margins, and constitutes a perfectly reasonable business decision – but is barred under an anti-trust settlement. Amdahl, Hita

chi Data and Comparex would probably describe it in other terms, as would their users.