I first encountered a Wang Computer at a presentation done by Jan and Bob Thompson in 1975 at the local Wang Office. I knew immediately that the system would solve a problem for our family business: missing files. We had already started using a word processor for quotes, letters, and proposals. We used a batch service for accounting.
The Wang Computer started arriving in late 1975, together with all the manuals to program it. In early 1976, Jackie Weibly, a Wang employee, arrived to install and train us on the system. We were one of the first installations of the software. There was no coding developed for the underwriting and coverage fields, so we developed our own.It was later that Redshaw, Inc. came into being. Jackie returned as a Redshaw employee some months later to train me in the general ledger system and see how we were doing. Although I could call Jackie, I never actually thought we would be getting any updates from Redshaw.
We had other needs, not addressed by the software, so I opened the programing manuals and learned Basic. By the time Redshaw announced the first user meeting, in their new offices in Pittsburgh, I had added additional programs to the system to handle some of our unique needs. Rob Thompson mesmerized us for a day and a half with new features of the software and told us we would get it free, just send them a disk to put it on. The original Invoice Special Function key was renamed FORMS to include loss forms, memos to clients, Change and Renewal request forms. Bob Thompson introduced new members of the staff and explained the company's future. They would be expanding the staff and I wanted to be a part of it.
In 1979, I left the family agency to market the Redshaw Comprehensive Insurance System in the midwest. Although I believed in the Wang Computer and the Redshaw Software, I soon realized I was not a salesman. I developed a relationship with Wang salesmen throughout Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Later I was promoted to a Redshaw System Specialist where I continued as before, as an independent contractor for both Redshaw Software and Wang Computers, but became responsible for sales support, installations, and customer support.
This worked out for a few months until Rob Thompson decided to sell the company and had found a buyer. For the deal to go thru Redshaw had to hire all the independents. I had a working relationship with a sales company in Chicago who was not interested in being bought. Since neither I or this sales organization were allowed by Redshaw to even quote a prospect, sales and installations dried up. I was starving and finally became an employee. The sales company I was affiliated with did not sell out, but became the top independent Wang Sales group in the country that year.
Once I became an employee, the new organization took over. Service and support became a profit center, along with education and training. I wanted to learn more about programing but was told I already knew too much about the system and no one would ever be allowed to know as much again. I resigned a short time later.
All this happened while Classic Release 6 was in development. This release included Redshaw's version of the Wang Operating System and introduced Redshaw as a Wang Computer Hardware vendor.
The Redshaw Operating System gave Redshaw more control of every installation. It limited the number of terminals that could be attached to a CPU, the number of Offices, the type of installation, among others. I became an independent contractor again, but this time for the company I had been affiliated with in Chicago. Their primary interest in me was my knowledge of the software and relationship with agencies using the Redshaw Software. Ultimately they wanted to serve their clients and sell hardware upgrades.
I took release 6.0 apart and developed a program to replace selected references to the Redshaw Operating System. This allowed our customers to install release 6.0 and use a standard Wang Operating System. There was one more benefit of the Redshaw Operating System for their customers: values had been limited to a maximum of plus or minus 99,999.99. This limit was increased by 100,000.00. This was not a problem for most installations but was for a few larger agencies collecting larger premiums or experiencing larger losses. To solve this problem demanded a total rewrite of the system software and modifications to the Riskfile and History files. The result were possible values in excess of two million dollars. This also required a conversion of all existing data. This also allowed for 16 charge codes without reference to date and a CSR field being added to the Riskfiles separate from the last stored Operator Id. Data Merge was enhanced by being able to include the full name, address, and phone numbers of the company, producer, and additional interests.
I also redistributed the data files over multiple platters, to allow more PAGEEDIT space, online History, and larger Riskfile and General Ledger files. Redshaw later followed suit with the introduction of the Master Software Release.
When Wang Laboratories introduced the CS/DS hardware, Redshaw limited it's availability to Master Clients. We did not. There was nothing in the design of this new hardware that precluded Classic customers from their advantages. I developed a derivation of the supplied tape backup program for our customers with the capability to backup the maximum number of platters a tape could hold. Redshaw was limiting their users to the cartridge backup, a more expensive drive and much more expensive backup media.
With the introduction of Classic Release 6, the Redshaw Operating System, Redshaw also introduced fees for software support for the first time. Support fees were priced according to the number of Riskfiles and the number of terminals in use by an agency. This did not sit well with the installed base of customers, the company I had been affiliated with in Chicago, or me. Part of all previous presentations to prospective customers had been lifetime FREE support and updates.
Redshaw was now owned by a group of Insurance Companies and had set their sites on the stars. They opened sales offices throughout the country and hired a sales force intending to sell every agency they could find. But they were not alone chasing the prize. Other insurance companies bought competitors and new vendors appeared.
Flush with money, Redshaw set up a task force to develope the next system. This system would address the limitations of the Riskfile. It was twice the size and fields expanded and contracted based on the needs of the exposure. This software was more pricey than the discontinued Classic or the current Master Systems. Initially it was designed for the Wang 2200, but the ultimate goal was to migrate to a PC platform, not Windows®, but UNIX based.
Controls that had been exerted by key people at Redshaw were replaced by executive suites of managers. These managers decided to create the Valued Added Products department, headed by Bill Mitchell. The department developed various products to meet specific needs but also more generic add-ons such as Claims, Sales Tracking systems and a Transaction tracking system that captured any modifications to Riskfiles.
About this time my revenue base eroded and I decided to pursue a job back with Redshaw in the Value Added department. Against strong opposition, Bill Mitchell hired me. During this tenure with the company I developed the Permanent Report Spool, Riskfile Translation, General Ledger Templates, Automated Month End General Ledger Posting, Riskfile Security, Quick Access, and was working on Data Integrity when I was layed off.
I was layed off the day I completed the last conversion of my previous customers to Elite.
One year to the day of my layoff I was contacted by Marcia Klein of Practical Solutions about supporting their clients who used Redshaw Software. I have been working in that capacity since 1994.