International Computers Limited History and Operations

International Computers Limited was a British computer company that played a significant role in the development of the computer industry.

The company was formed in 1968 through the merger of English Electric Computers and Elliott Brothers.

International Computers Limited was a major player in the computer industry, with a presence in over 100 countries worldwide.

Its systems were used in a variety of applications, including banking, government, and education.

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International Computers Limited, or ICL, was formed in 1968 as a result of the Industrial Expansion Act of the Wilson Labour government. The company was an initiative of Tony Benn, the Minister of Technology, to create a British computer industry that could compete with major world manufacturers like IBM.

The formation of ICL was the last in a series of mergers that had taken place in the industry since the late 1950s. The main portions of ICL were formed by merging International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) with English Electric Computers.

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ICT delivered the first ICT 1300 series computer in 1962, its first transistor machine and also the first to use core memory. This was a significant achievement, marking a new era in computer technology.

The British government held a 10% stake in ICL and provided a $32.4 million research-and-development grant spread across four years. This investment helped ICL establish itself as a major player in the computer industry.

A small team from Ferranti's Canadian subsidiary, Ferranti-Packard, visited the various Ferranti computer labs and saw their work on a next-generation machine. They quickly produced the Ferranti-Packard 6000, developing the machine, compilers, and an operating system, and putting it on the market by 1963.

ICL's early success was largely due to its ability to multitask, using dynamic memory allocation enabled with a magnetic drum as an intermediate random access device. This feature made the company's computers highly sought after by businesses and organizations.

The company went through several changes and takeovers during its history, including a £400 million takeover bid from Sir Kenneth Corfield in 1984. The takeover led to significant changes in ICL's leadership and operations.

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The acquisition of Nokia Data in 1991 added 7,000 employees to ICL's workforce and gave the company a strong presence in the Nordic market and an awareness of the high-volume end of the IT market. This marked a significant turning point in ICL's history, establishing the company as a major player in the global IT industry.

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Elliott Automation played a significant role in the formation of ICL. The company's computers, such as the Elliott 4100, were part of the joint development with NCR Corporation, but were transferred to ICL and soon ended in sales and development.

ICL acquired several companies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, expanding its presence globally. Datachecker Systems, a US company specializing in retail systems, was one of the notable acquisitions in 1988.

The Elliott 503, a computer extensively used in British universities, remained with Elliott Automation and was never included in the formation of ICL. This computer was used for academic and scientific work.

ICL continued to grow through acquisitions, including Regnecentralen, a Danish company known for its communication equipment, in 1989. Computer Consoles Inc (CCI), which supplied some of ICL's computer ranges, was also acquired in 1989.

The 900 series of Elliott Automation computers were 18-bit binary computers, with the 920x series built to military specifications. The 920x series were used in military aircraft, mobile field deployed air defence systems, and tanks.

Here are some of the notable computers that remained with Elliott Automation and were never included in the formation of ICL:

ICL's headquarters was located in Putney, London, where the company was concentrated in the United Kingdom.

The company had extensive engineering and manufacturing facilities across the UK, including in Manchester, Belfast, Stevenage, Croydon, and Kidsgrove. These sites were inherited from various companies through mergers.

ICL's research, operating system, and software development and support centre was located in Bracknell, where the company had a large presence. Another smaller research centre was located in Dalkeith, Scotland.

ICL's software development centre in Adelaide, South Australia, operated between 1970 and 1973. The company also had a training centre at Moor Hall (Cookham) and Letchworth (Hertfordshire).

The company's manufacturing facilities included Park Road Mill, Dukinfield, and a purpose-built factory at Ashton-under-Lyne, which was known for its mechanical innovations.

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ICL was concentrated in the United Kingdom, with its corporate headquarters in Putney in the London borough of Wandsworth.

The company inherited extensive engineering and manufacturing facilities in West Gorton, Manchester; Castlereagh in Belfast, Stevenage and Croydon from ICT, and from English Electric in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire and Winsford, Cheshire.

Manufacture and assembly took place at several factories in Letchworth Garden City and Croydon.

A large research, operating system and software development and support centre was located in Bracknell.

ICL also had a smaller research centre in Dalkeith, Scotland and a software development centre in Adelaide, South Australia, between 1970 and 1973.

The company had training centres at Moor Hall (Cookham), Beaumont College (Old Windsor) and Letchworth (Hertfordshire).

ICL's offices outside the UK were mainly sales and marketing operations, with some application development for the local market.

The company had development and manufacturing sites in the United States, Sweden, and Finland, arising from acquisitions.

ICL and its customers used a Site Code system to refer to locations, such as LON11 for the Putney headquarters building.

ICIM was the Indian arm of ICL, established to manufacture ICL equipment.

ICL's presence in India was a significant milestone for the company, marking its entry into the Indian market.

ICIM later became a joint company with Fujitsu, shifting its focus from hardware to software development.

This partnership led to the company's eventual renaming to Zensar Technologies, a move that signified its new direction in the industry.

ICL's product range was quite diverse, but one of the most notable was the DRS brand, which stood for Distributed Resource System. It was marketed as a departmental computer system.

The DRS 300 was developed in the mid-1980s in Kidsgrove, and it was a significant product for ICL. The company also produced a range of IBM-compatible PCs under the DRS brand.

In 1994, the DRS range was superseded by the SuperServer and TeamServer ranges of SPARC and Intel-based machines. These machines ran Unix or Microsoft operating systems.

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ICL also launched its Personal Computer range in 1982, which was essentially a rebranded version of the Rair Black Box product. This was a prime example of badge engineering, where a company licenses technology from another company and sells it under its own brand.

The Personal Computer range consisted of several models, including the Model 10, Model 30, Model 31, and Model 32. These models used the 8085 processor and offered various configurations, including different amounts of RAM and serial ports.

In 1983, ICL followed up with more designs licensed from Rair, which used the 8085A processor and offered improved features such as disk caching and RAM disk functionality. The Models 15, 25, 26, and 35 were part of this range.

The Model 36 was a top-of-the-line product in the Personal Computer range, featuring an 8088 processor and supporting Concurrent CP/M.

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ICL developed several operating systems for its computers, with VME being the main one for the large 2900 Series machines. This system was crucial for ICL's biggest customers.

VME was developed using the pioneering software engineering system CADES, which was created by David Pearson. It was also the brainchild of Brian Warboys, who later became a professor of software engineering at the University of Manchester.

ICL also had "superstructure" software, which included tools for managing data and processing transactions. This software was essential for the efficient operation of ICL's computers.

Some of the notable superstructure software developed by ICL includes IDMS(X), a system for managing large databases, and TPMS(X), a system for handling many transactions at once, like in banking. QuickBuild was another important tool that helped build applications for the Series 39 mainframes.

ICL's computers supported a range of programming languages, including COBOL, a very common language for business applications, and Fortran, a language mainly used for mathematical and scientific applications.

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The 290x operating system, known as 'Executive', was a key component of ICL's systems, allowing machines to be operated 'manually' via a video console.

GEORGE1* ran on top of Executive, controlling batch processes by means of JCL, which was based closely on the macro language of the 1900 GEORGE1S operating system.

Practically all software packages available on the 1900 range ran on the 290x and ME29 systems.

ICL's commitment to the emerging microcomputer market was questioned by industry commentators, who saw the DRS 10 as a missed opportunity.

The DRS 10's £2,250 price was elevated substantially by a £1,000 network card that could have been replaced with a disk controller to deliver a competitive standalone, but network-ready, CP/M system.

ICL later added support for running CP/M under the DRX operating system, permitting CP/M applications to be used on DRS 10 machines.

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ICL had a significant presence in the UK, particularly in the 1970s, where it used Filan to process the General Household Survey data for the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.

ICL's Filan system was also used to process the 1971 Indonesian Population Census, demonstrating its ability to handle large quantities of complex data.

In the 1980s, ICL decided not to convert Filan to run on its 2900 range of computers, likely due to the small user community.

ICL continued to grow through strategic acquisitions, expanding its presence in the US, Nordic countries, and other regions.

Here are some key acquisitions made by ICL during this period:

ICL's relationship with Fujitsu started in 1981 when ICL needed cheaper technology for its computers.

Fujitsu's involvement with ICL grew steadily over the next two decades, with the company becoming a major supplier of technology to ICL.

In 1990, Fujitsu acquired 80% of ICL plc from its parent STC plc, paying US$1.29 billion.

Fujitsu's ownership of ICL continued to grow, and by 1998, the company owned ICL completely.

The ICL brand was eventually phased out in 2002, marking the end of ICL's existence as a separate company.

Fujitsu's acquisition of ICL had a significant impact on the company's operations, with the company shifting its focus towards services and outsourcing contracts.

ICL shifted its focus to services as it struggled to compete with US hardware competitors.

In the early 1990s, services became a profitable area, accounting for 50% of ICL's turnover, making it the number one computer services company in Britain.

Charles Hughes, as Sales and Marketing Director for the customer service organisation, championed services and developed an overall strategy that led to the software and professional services businesses growing by over 30% per annum.

ICL's services business had one of the highest returns on capital in the industry.

The profitable services area was a key factor in ICL's success, with Charles Hughes' strategy pulling everything together under a single banner.

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