In 1965, Dick Pick and Don Nelson originally implemented PICK as the “Generalized Information Retrieval Language System” (GIRLS) on an IBM System/360 at TRW for use by the U.S. Army to control the inventory of Cheyenne helicopter parts. MultiValue has come a long way in 50 years. To mark the anniversary of the database technology, DBTA contacted leading MultiValue executives for their reflections on what it has enabled.
Mark Pick, CEO and President of Pick Cloud
The year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of when my father, Dick Pick and Don Nelson created GIRLS (Generalized Information Retrieval Language System) to control the inventory of Cheyenne helicopter parts for TRW for use by the U.S. Army.
Since then, the product has morphed from an operating system to arguably the best business database used worldwide – to this day. This is a testament to the product and it’s flexibility. The fact the technology is still running strong is a testament to what my father created. We have come full circle from the original timeshare days to cloud computing today.
I am proud to carry on his legacy by continuing to rejuvenate and preserve MultiValue applications by not only modernizing them but also putting them into the cloud. To celebrate this milestone, use the hashtag #PICKis50.
Mike Ruane, President and CEO of Revelation Software
Revelation Software is a relative new comer to the Pick world having been around only thirty three years, however we realize that we are standing on the shoulders of giants and we appreciate it!
We want to make sure that Revelation Software is one of the companies that lets the Pick operating system and all of its derivatives have more of a future than its 50-year past.
Michael Byrne, MultiValue Product Evangelist, Rocket Software
As MultiValue marks its 50th year, Rocket Software is proud to offer Rocket DBMS and Application Servers that trace a direct lineage to origins of this software. The flexibility and resilience of the core architecture, coupled with our investment and innovation, help our customers build business solutions across industries, platforms and devices. As the industry looks beyond SQL it underscores the continued relevance of MultiValue. Also in 2015, Rocket celebrates our 25th anniversary. We build software that matters - to you. We care about our customers’ and partners’ success. We look forward to doing so for decades to come. It’s not rocket science. It’s Rocket Software.
Doug Leupen, President and CEO of Entrinsik
The key challenge remaining for MultiValue users and vendors is being able to integrate information with the many non-MV applications out there today. Accessing and managing data from multiple sources including MultiValue databases, SQL databases, and SaaS applications can become an insurmountable challenge without the right tools available to handle these various systems. Entrinsik Informer has the ability to join real-time data from disparate data sources, making it possible to report off of almost any database or application simultaneously, providing integrated data reporting and analysis for IT and end users alike.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pick/MultiValue Pick Cloud is putting together a special newsletter of memories regarding the 50-year milestone. Pick Cloud is conducting a short survey here concerning the history of the technology. One lucky participant could win an Apple TV.