FTP Software
Encyclopedia
FTP Software was a software company incorporated in 1986 by James van Bokkelen, John Romkey
(author of the MIT PC/IP package), Nancy Connor, Roxanne van Bokkelen (née Ritchie), Dave Bridgham and several other founding shareholders. It was the first of many companies to name themselves after an Internet protocol
. Their main product was PC/TCP, a full-featured, standards-compliant TCP/IP package for DOS
. Initially the protocol stacks were linked into individual application executables, but by 1989 all PC/TCP applications shared a TSR
kernel, which itself (initially) used built-in network interface driver
s, and (later) TSR PC/TCP Packet Driver
s.
The company had a good run, but suffered greatly from both internal and external pressures. It had grown rapidly and repeatedly moved physically farther away from its roots at MIT. The founders, though technically adept, were inexperienced as managers. They suffered from in-fighting, epitomized in a public divorce between two of the founders. The company went public in 1994, and maintained profitable growth through 1995, as a dominant supplier of TCP stacks for x86-based machines. When Microsoft included a TCP stack at no extra cost in Windows 95
(as has become standard with all operating systems), FTP lost a significant revenue source. Due to management (which by that time was mostly non-founders) failing to adequately prepare for the transition into supplying network-using applications, FTP was not able meet Wall Street's expectations and its stock price declined sharply.
In May 1996 FTP software announced it was providing Microsoft with various technology for Internet Explorer
2.0 for Windows 3.1, including a PPP network, 16-bit email client, and other technology.
In 1998, FTP was bought out by former rival NetManage
. The deal was controversial, with some shareholders claiming it was not in their interest since the sale price was less than the amount in FTP's bank account.
John Romkey
John Romkey developed the first in the industry TCP/IP stack for IBM PC in 1983. Romkey founded FTP Software, a commercial TCP/IP stack provider in 1986. Romkey also authored the first network analyzer Netwatch, predating Network General Sniffer. He also served on IAB...
(author of the MIT PC/IP package), Nancy Connor, Roxanne van Bokkelen (née Ritchie), Dave Bridgham and several other founding shareholders. It was the first of many companies to name themselves after an Internet protocol
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
. Their main product was PC/TCP, a full-featured, standards-compliant TCP/IP package for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
. Initially the protocol stacks were linked into individual application executables, but by 1989 all PC/TCP applications shared a TSR
Terminate and Stay Resident
Terminate and Stay Resident is a computer system call in DOS computer operating systems that returns control to the system as if the program has quit, but keeps the program in memory...
kernel, which itself (initially) used built-in network interface driver
Device driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
s, and (later) TSR PC/TCP Packet Driver
PC/TCP Packet Driver
PC/TCP Packet Driver is an API created in 1986 by FTP Software for network cards under x86-DOSes like MS-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS, etc. It uses the x86 interrupt number between 60h .. 80h. The exact number is detected at run-time...
s.
The company had a good run, but suffered greatly from both internal and external pressures. It had grown rapidly and repeatedly moved physically farther away from its roots at MIT. The founders, though technically adept, were inexperienced as managers. They suffered from in-fighting, epitomized in a public divorce between two of the founders. The company went public in 1994, and maintained profitable growth through 1995, as a dominant supplier of TCP stacks for x86-based machines. When Microsoft included a TCP stack at no extra cost in Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
(as has become standard with all operating systems), FTP lost a significant revenue source. Due to management (which by that time was mostly non-founders) failing to adequately prepare for the transition into supplying network-using applications, FTP was not able meet Wall Street's expectations and its stock price declined sharply.
In May 1996 FTP software announced it was providing Microsoft with various technology for Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
2.0 for Windows 3.1, including a PPP network, 16-bit email client, and other technology.
In 1998, FTP was bought out by former rival NetManage
NetManage
NetManage Inc. was a software company based in Cupertino, California, founded in 1990 by Zvi Alon, an Israeli engineer . The company’s development centre was located at the MATAM technology park, in Haifa, Israel...
. The deal was controversial, with some shareholders claiming it was not in their interest since the sale price was less than the amount in FTP's bank account.