Siemens Nixdorf
| Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | October 1, 1990 |
| resolution | October 1, 1998 |
| Seat | Paderborn , Germany |
| management | Gerhard Schulmeyer, CEO |
| Number of employees | 35,850 (September 30, 1997) |
| sales | 15.4 billion DM (1996/1997) |
| Branch | Information technology |
The Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG ( SNI ) was a German universal provider in the field of data and information technology and put both PCs and supercomputers and PBXs ago. In addition belonged ATMs and POS systems to the portfolio. SNI was the largest European provider of computer and software solutions until it was split up into several successor companies. The best known were Fujitsu Siemens Computers and Wincor Nixdorf (until summer 2016), from summer 2016 merged to Diebold-Nixdorf (cash register systems and banking technology).
history
On October 1, 1990, Siemens took over the majority of the Nixdorf ordinary shares and merged Nixdorf Computer AG (Paderborn) with the data and information technology division of Siemens AG (Augsburg and Munich) to form Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI). In 1992 Siemens increased its shareholding in SNI to 100 percent and incorporated it into Siemens AG. After a painful downsizing with the loss of several thousand jobs in Paderborn and the two plants in Augsburg in the early 1990s, SNI was able to stabilize as the largest European computer company from around the middle of the decade. In 1995, the service and solution business in the areas of information technology and telecommunications was separated from the company SNI and transferred together with parts of Siemens AG to Siemens Business Services GmbH and Co OHG (SBS), then based in Paderborn and Munich .
On October 1, 1998, the SNI was dissolved as a stock corporation and fully integrated into Siemens AG, with further parts being moved to SBS. The name Siemens Nixdorf lived on for another year in the form of Siemens Nixdorf Banking and Retail Systems GmbH.
The personal computer division was brought into a joint venture with Fujitsu , Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH based in Munich, in which both companies had a 50 percent stake. On April 1, 2009, Siemens sold its share in the company to Fujitsu. Since then, the company has been selling computer products worldwide under the brand name "Fujitsu" and, by merging FSC (USA), FSC ( EMEA ) and FJ (Asia) to form Fujitsu Technology Solutions (FTS) , it has risen to number 3 behind HP and Dell .
Products and services
Monitors
Among other things, the company was one of the largest German manufacturers of computer monitors during the advent of the PC and mostly performed well in tests in the specialist press.
Due to the BNC / D-Sub mode, it was possible to display a very precise color temperature and color accuracy. An improved version of the interlace procedure helped .
Siemens monitors have been manufactured by Tandberg Data since the 1980s . Since around 1982 this company was one of the first manufacturers to abandon the display of green or orange characters on a dark background with a refresh rate of 50 or 60 Hertz and to introduce the then innovative, now familiar display of black characters on a white background. This required a refresh rate of 70 Hertz or faster and correspondingly more powerful electronics. Nixdorf also produced in Germany.
After Siemens took over Nixdorf, production was largely carried out in Taiwan according to specifications from Germany. Both Tandberg's own series and monitors with Siemens branding received good marks for ergonomics and display quality in a number of computer magazine tests (e.g. CHIP ) . Siemens Nixdorf monitors were also among the first to implement the radiation standards that had been emerging since the mid-1990s .
Keyboards
In the factory for workplace systems (WA) in Augsburg, keyboards were manufactured that stood out from the products of the market leader at the time, Cherry, with a shorter key travel and a defined pressure point. A special feature of the production were the keycaps, which were initially mounted without any inscription and then labeled with a laser on the finished keyboard. In this way, the country variants could be produced without additional measures in storage or production.
Mainframe
Siemens had mainframes such as the 7500 system family and supercomputers such as the VPP50 on offer. The C40 models from the 7500 system family offered decisive innovations in February 1991, such as support for 290 screens instead of the previous 160. The H60 models from the same system family were supplemented by a dual processor model. The H120 models were given a powerful console processor, which (according to SNI information) could be installed up to 2000 meters from a computer. This was made possible by the "block multi-channel type 2" from SLI, which allows data transmission of up to 4.5 MB / s. This ensured quick access to external high-performance peripherals. The BS2000 operating system was used on all mainframes .
Many SNI customers were using the 8870 mainframe developed by Nixdorf and its successor Quattro with the standard business software Comet in conjunction with the Niros operating system .
Personal computer
There were u. a. the model series Scenic and Xpert . The latter were inexpensive PCs for private customers. In a separate development department in the workstation systems plant in Augsburg, very innovative concepts such as the slot CPU or a microchannel computer were developed for the time, but these could not establish themselves on the market.
Notebooks
Since 1990 there have been notebook PCs from Siemens Nixdorf, which have been specified by in-house developers in the Augsburg plant for systems (WS), adapted from products already on the market by means of customizing and manufactured by Quanta Computer (Taiwan) and Matsushita (Japan). Deviating from the usual meaning of the term, they were referred to as OEM products , already packed in SNI boxes at the manufacturer and also checked on site as part of quality assurance (customer source inspection). A high-end version of the Matsushita notebook was already equipped with a TFT display, which was still very rare at the time .
Mini computers or multi-user systems
There were the systems in the series MX and RM series, Targon, 8860/8862 / BNC.
POS systems
The Beetle POS system developed and introduced by Siemens Nixdorf in the early 1990s was very successful from the start and was also sold and further developed under the new company name of Wincor Nixdorf . The cash register systems are now in use in many larger retail chains, e.g. B. Plus , Edeka , Metro and Galeria Kaufhof .
PBXs and telephones
Siemens Nixdorf System 8818 digital switching system ISDN (from 1982): With the Nixdorf 8818 DVS presented in 1982, NCAG was the first German manufacturer of a digital switching system, and at the same time the 8818 system was the first digital switching system approved by the Post in Germany. Between 30 and 3000 telephones or terminals could be connected to the 8818. In the integrated network, the 8818 system could serve up to around 12,000 extensions. The switching capacity of the 80-600 models enabled 246 participants, and even up to 512 participants for the 3000 model, to speak or hold conference calls with up to six participants at the same time. A phone number memory for ten phone numbers as well as a quick redial was available to every user. The high point of the system was reached with the introduction of software releases 5.1 and 5.2, with which the full network capability of the system and multi-customer capability was introduced. Network capability means that all subscriber functions are available in every system in the case of systems installed in different locations. All systems with a maximum of 255 star or mesh-like network behave like a single physical system with cross-system performance features (for example, call back from one node to the other), transferring calls, number porting and transferring performance features from one node to the other. Multiple and system capability means that different independent or interlinkable company configurations can be programmed in a physical system.
Octopus E model 300/800 is its fully compatible successor and also uses the NICOS operating system, but the hardware was developed in parallel to the Hicom 150H office Com / Hipath 3700. It is to be administered just like an 8818. The system was marketed until 2006. All pure UP0 and UP0-E devices (except for OpenStage and newer) from the Siemens range and the ISDN system telephones from Nixdorf as well as all Gigaset Professional handsets can be used on it. The maximum expansion is 800 participants with 1024 switching points, up to 255 systems can be fully networked across systems to form a physical system, the 8818 can be largely integrated. Network modules enable IP system telephony and system networking, call center operation with up to 1024 agents can be implemented with on-board resources without additional servers.
Digifon, digital telephone (Digifon Basis, Digifon Solo, Digifon Komfort, RNG, Digifon Solo / 2S, Digifon Solo / 2U, Digifon Comfort / 2, RNG / 2, AFT / 1, AFT / 2 AFT / 3, only for System 8818 (partly also Octopus E model 300/800), no standard procedure).
Logofon, analog telephone family (Logofon Basis / Logofon Info / Logofon Hotel / Logofon Comfort / Logofon Mobile).
Octophon, digital telephone for the Deutsche Bundespost (Octophon 21S, 21U, 23 and 24, RNG, RNG / 2, AFT / 1, AFT / 2 AFT / 3, only for System 8818 (partly also Octopus E model 300/800), no standard procedure).
Training
Siemens Nixdorf also offered appropriate training courses for all systems .
literature
- Christian Berg: Heinz Nixdorf. A biography, (Studies and sources on Westphalian history, Vol. 82), Schoeningh , Paderborn / Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-506-78227-4 , sub-chapter: Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG - “The bottom line is everything Well".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b pressrelations.de: Press release from November 13, 1997
- ↑ K200 PC keyboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020 (English).
Laboratory for Impulse Technology (1952–1968) |
Nixdorf Computer (1968–1990) |
Siemens Nixdorf (1990–1999)
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Computer division: |
Banking and retail IT: |
IT services: |
Coordinates: 51 ° 43 ′ 52.6 " N , 8 ° 44 ′ 9.4" E