What Is MultiValue?
Article contributed by International Spectrum

MultiValue is a designation and a symbol given to the world's most widely used and experienced business software solutions. No matter how specialized your computing needs are, there is a MultiValue software solution that exactly matches your computing requirements. At nearly $3 billion annually, MultiValue is one of today's fastest growing segments of the business software solution market.

Often referred to by insiders as the computer industry's "best kept secret", businesses and institutions frequently are hesitant to disclose the fact that they use a MultiValue solution since it is often at the core of their competitive edge. This is because MultiValue software is designed by business experts familiar with the most efficient way to handle the data processing needed by their specific industry and therefore costs less to maintain and operate than generic solutions. And because MultiValue business software is portable across all computer hardware and major operating systems.

Who uses MultiValue business software?

Over 10 million people in companies around the world sign on to a MultiValue system every day when they arrive at work. MultiValue business software solutions are available for over 300 major industries and institutions. From the smallest company to companies with thousands of users. Here are just a few prominent companies and organizations that currently use MultiValue business software:

Blue Cross EastAlco Aluminum Norm Thompson Takagi Tools
Stash Tea Company Ford Modeling Agency Sony Johnson Controls
Adobe Ball CNN Polynesian Cultural Ctr.
PetCo UCLA Marriott International Salant
Brooks Brothers NSA Nuskin McGraw-Hill
NYC Public Library Jayhawk Acceptance Saul Ewing Remick Federal Reserve Board
Lettuce Entertain You HoneyBaked Ham Eastex Crude Snap-On Tools
Hughes Supply Rooms to Go L.A. Unified School Dist. Perrier
U.C. Berkeley TMP Worldwide Aeroflex Laboratories Norcold
Florida Hospital eBAY Foster Farms Rally Mfg.
Honeywell Maines Paper Prudential First American Title
CSC Healthcare NeighborCare Yokohama Tire ADP
Xerox Sprint 24 Hour Fitness Keane
Alltel Walt Disney Studios CIGNA Health Optiva
Rand McNally Dacor    

Collectively, the sellers or MultiValue business solutions represent a $2 billion plus annual market in software alone and have a staggering three million strong user base worldwide which has been accumulated over the past 25 years.

In the late 1990s, International Spectrum conducted a survey of over 500 active companies in the MultiValue market. These companies were categorized as either a VAR, Software House, or Independent Consulting firm.

The survey revealed that the average MultiValue VAR generates $4.71 million revenue in the market annually. The average MultiValue Software House reported $2.04 million annual revenueand the average MultiValue Consultant generates $187K annually. Those doing the best are those who know both the web and legacy MultiValue applications.

International Spectrum currently is aware of over 400 active MultiValue VARs, 182 active MultiValue Software Houses and approximately 2,000 independent consultants. Based on the above survey, a simple linear extrapolation estimates the annual MultiValue market at $2.95 billion.

To gain a consumer image commensurate with the true collective market size of these database environments, International Spectrum spearheaded a drive in January 1996 to encourage the core providers, VARs, and end users in the market to refer to and label their products and systems as belonging to a common family of products through the use of a "Dolby Surround"-like symbol. With the assistance of a special Technical Advisory Board, the term "MultiValue" was deemed to have both technical and marketing significance and the MultiValue symbol was adopted.

The concept has been simple and effective. Any producer of software or services specifically designed for a MultiValue-identified database environment can use the MultiValue symbol in conjunction with those products and services.  

 

 

 
 
 
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