# Persoft > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Persoft > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Persoft.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persoft > Source revision: 1348245166 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox company | name=Persoft, Inc. | logo=Persoft logo.svg | type=Private | fate=Acquired by Esker S.A. | founded={{start date and age|1982|08|01}} in [Madison, Wisconsin](/source/Madison%2C_Wisconsin), United States | founders={{ubl|Ed Harris|Robert Janoski}} | defunct={{end date and age|1998|07|06}} | num_employees=90 (1987, peak) | website=[https://web.archive.org/web/19961219112637/http://www.persoft.com/ persoft.com] (archived) }} '''Persoft, Inc.''', was an American computer company active from 1982 to 1999 and based in [Madison, Wisconsin](/source/Madison%2C_Wisconsin). Persoft primarily sold software for telecommunications and networking, its best known title being '''SmarTerm''', a [terminal emulator](/source/terminal_emulator) for the [IBM PC](/source/IBM_Personal_Computer). The company also dabbled in hardware and other types of software. In 1999, Persoft was acquired by Esker S.A., a French software company, for US$5 million. ==History== Persoft, Inc., was founded in [Madison, Wisconsin](/source/Madison%2C_Wisconsin), on August 1, 1982 by Ed Harris, a freelance computer consultant and software developer since 1964, and Robert Janoski, Harris's friend and colleague.{{cite magazine | last=Garr | first=Doug | date=December 1988 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/214787958/ | title=Will Outside Capital Disrupt the Family? | work=Fortune | volume=10 | issue=12 | page=82 | id={{ProQuest|214787958}} }}{{cite news | last=Simms | first=Patricia | date=January 1, 2017 | url=https://madison.com/business/executive-qa/article_cc3c7c20-b92e-5ec6-af2d-ebc6bef7df6a.html | title=Persoft co-founder Ed Harris' work personal: Executive Q&A | work=Wisconsin State Journal | publisher=Madison Newspapers | page=D10 | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250825170527/https://madison.com/business/executive-qa/article_cc3c7c20-b92e-5ec6-af2d-ebc6bef7df6a.html | archivedate=August 25, 2025}} Harris had been enrolled at the [University of Wisconsin-Madison](/source/University_of_Wisconsin-Madison) seeking a post-graduate degree in [clinical psychology](/source/clinical_psychology) before founding Persoft with Janoski. The two formed the company after noticing the dearth of software for the [IBM Personal Computer](/source/IBM_Personal_Computer) (IBM PC) relative to its rapid growth in the [microcomputer](/source/microcomputer) market. Harris in particular saw a need for a [terminal emulator](/source/terminal_emulator) for the IBM PC so that the computer could interface with the then-ubiquitous [minicomputer](/source/minicomputer)s and [mainframes](/source/Mainframe_computer) from [DEC](/source/Digital_Equipment_Corporation), [Data General](/source/Data_General), and others. The company was founded on a shoestring budget: US$4,000 in startup capital and two IBM PCs. Harris was named Persoft's CEO, while Janoski was its vice president. Harris's home basement served as Persoft's first headquarters; he and Janoski developed the company's first software and assembled the packages from there. Its first product was SmarTerm, a terminal emulator package. The company took out advertisements in ''[PC Magazine](/source/PC_Magazine)'', and together they earned $169,000 in fiscal year 1983. In summer 1986, Persoft introduced Referee, a utility for managing and preventing conflicts between [terminate-and-stay-resident program](/source/terminate-and-stay-resident_program)s within [DOS](/source/DOS) for the IBM PC.{{cite magazine | last=Sullivan | first=Kristina B. | date=June 10, 1986 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4274085/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b57b2937 | title=Several developers working on utilities to manage memory-resident programs | work=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=3 | issue=23 | page=119 | via=Gale}} Sales in Referee were strong, while growth in SmarTerm sales remained steady.{{cite magazine | last=Churbuck | first=David | date=June 16, 1987 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4986222/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=d1403e23 | title=Persoft sees hit through new 'IZE' | work=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=24 | page=117 | via=Gale}} By 1987 Persoft brought in $158,000 in profit on $4.2 million in sales and employed 90 workers from a 26,000-square-foot office in Madison. Janoski by this point had left due to differences in vision for the company's future; he was replaced by Tom Wolfe, a polymath who worked as a computer consultant, a non-practicing lawyer, a realtor, and a soil tester. In 1987, the company acquired the rights to IZE, an [information management](/source/information_management) software package, from Paul Kleinberger, Harris's first cousin. IZE is a combination [outline processor](/source/outline_processor), [word processor](/source/word_processor), and [text search](/source/text_search) utility that allows users to find keywords and phrases from potentially large volumes of text and present this information within a smaller document. IZE employs [hyperlink](/source/hyperlink)s to connect the synthesized document to the files that it references and creates an index of referenced documents grouped by keywords.{{cite book | editor-last=Lancashire | editor-first=Ian | date=1991 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Humanities_Computing_Yearbook_1989_1/EIJT0L7uvZEC | title=The Humanities Computing Yearbook 1989–1990: A Comprehensive Guide to Software and Other Resources | publisher=Clarendon Press | page=437 | isbn=9780198242536 | via=Google Books}} IZE received positive reviews in the technology press and attracted venture capital to Persoft. [Frontenac Company](/source/Frontenac_Company) of [Chicago](/source/Chicago) initially offered $2 million in exchange for 25 percent of ownership in Persoft, but Harris balked at Frontenac's contract, which stipulated, among other things, that Frontenac would have veto power in certain corporate decisions despite its minority ownership and that Persoft was required to post monthly financial reports punctually lest it risk a takeover of upper management. Harris walked away from the deal. After IZE received prominent mention in ''[Newsweek](/source/Newsweek)'' in December 1987, Frontenac revisited its agreement, removing these unfavorable terms while promising the same amount of venture capital. Its agreement with Persoft was finalized in February 1988. Following its investment in Persoft, Frontenac saw the reorganization of the company's management. In 1988, they hired Don J. Giacchetti to become Persoft's [chief operating officer](/source/chief_operating_officer).{{cite magazine | last=Staff writer | date=July 24, 1990 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/333271581/ | title=New faces, new places | work=Milwaukee Sentinel | page={{not a typo|4-4}} | id={{ProQuest|333271581}} }} The company's workforce retracted to 63 in 1990 after posting record sales of $6 million in 1989.{{cite magazine | last=Gunn | first=Erik | date=March 11, 1990 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/333414203/ | title=State firms carve a niche in software | work=Milwaukee Journal | page=1 | via=ProQuest}} In July 1990, Harris stepped down as CEO while renaming chairman of Persoft. He was replaced in his role as CEO by Giacchetti. In February 1991, Persoft spun off the division that developed IZE into an independent company, Retrieval Dynamics, Inc., with Harris named its head.{{cite news | last=Staff writer | date=February 20, 1991 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/333285527/ | title=Business around Wisconsin | work=Milwaukee Sentinel | page=4-3 | id={{ProQuest|333285527}} }} Also in February 1991, the company unveiled its first hardware product, Passage, which allowed IBM PCs and [compatibles](/source/IBM_PC_compatible) on [Token Ring](/source/Token_Ring) networks to access [VAX](/source/VAX) hosts via the [Local Area Transport](/source/Local_Area_Transport) protocol. It comprised a [Token Ring](/source/Token_Ring) [ISA](/source/Industry_Standard_Architecture) card, an [Ethernet](/source/Ethernet) ISA card, and the Passage software, and retailed for nearly $6,000 for a 20-user license or $10,000 for a 50-user license.{{cite magazine | last=Bowen | first=Ted Smalley | date=February 11, 1991 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A10349234/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b87652c5 | title=Persoft package runs LAT across token ring | work=Digital Review | publisher=Reed Business Information | volume=8 | issue=6 | page=1 ''et seq''. | via=Gale}}{{cite magazine | last=Lee | first=Yvonne | date=March 11, 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT31 | title=Passage Hooks Ethernet to Token Ring Networks | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=13 | issue=10 | page=31 | via=Google Books}} Later in 1991, the company introduced its second hardware product, the Intersect Remote Bridge, an early implementation of [NCR](/source/NCR_Corporation)'s [WaveLAN](/source/WaveLAN), a [wireless networking](/source/wireless_networking) protocol. The Intersect Remote Bridge allowed nearby [local area network](/source/local_area_network)s to connect to each other wirelessly via bridge computers installed with Persoft's card.{{cite magazine | last=Thompson | first=M. Keith | date=September 10, 1991 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2kb8n32nTMC&pg=PT171 | title=The Wireless Bridge: Persoft's Intersect Remote Bridge | work=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=10 | issue=15 | page=152 | via=Google Books}} In late 1996, Persoft introduced Persona Intranet, a family of [Java applet](/source/Java_applet)s that allowed corporate users to access [AS/400](/source/AS%2F400) or [VAX](/source/VAX) hosts via a web browser rather than client software installed on each workstation.{{cite magazine | last=Staff writer | date=December 9, 1996 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GToEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 | title=Persoft Aids Thin Clients with Java | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=18 | issue=50 | page=3 | via=Google Books}} Persona was Persoft's last new product line before it was acquired by Esker S.A., a French software company, for US$5 million in a [stock swap](/source/stock_swap) on July 6, 1999. Esker continued maintaining SmarTerm and Persona for some years after.{{cite magazine | last=Staff writer | date=July 5, 1999 | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1999/07/05/daily4.html | title=Persoft selling to French firm | work=Milwaukee Business Journal | publisher=American City Business Journals | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20250825193251/https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1999/07/05/daily4.html | archivedate=August 25, 2025}} ==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} ==External links== * {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219112637/http://www.persoft.com/|title=Official website|date=December 19, 1996}} Category:1982 establishments in Wisconsin Category:1999 disestablishments in Wisconsin Category:American companies established in 1982 Category:American companies disestablished in 1999 Category:Computer companies established in 1982 Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1999 Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States Category:Defunct computer hardware companies Category:Defunct networking companies Category:Defunct software companies of the United States Category:Networking companies of the United States Category:Networking hardware companies Category:Software companies established in 1982 Category:Software companies disestablished in 1999 Category:Terminal emulators --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Persoft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persoft) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persoft?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.