Applied Data Research

Applied Data Research (ADR) was a large software vendor in the 1960s and 1970s, and is in fact often described as the first software vendor. ADR was originally a contract development company, but wound up building a series of products that became widely used. Major packages included AUTOFLOW, ROSCOE, and LIBRARIAN. In the 1960s ADR proceeded with litigation against IBM for monopolizing the software industry. IBM's famous unbundling of software and services in 1969 occurred during this litigation. ADR settled with IBM in 1970 for $2 million.

ADR later purchased Datacom/DB, with its well-known IDEAL fourth generation language.

ADR was eventually sold to Ameritech, and later to Computer Associates.

References

• www.softwarehistory.org – Martin A. Goetz, "How ADR Got Into the Software Products Business and Found Itself Competing Against IBM" (1998)
• www.softwarememories.com – some basic facts