Reprinted from the Puget Sound Business Journal 1997
By David Volk – Contributing Writer
Nov 2, 1997
When most people think of moose, they don’t think high tech. Instead, the animal brings to mind the lumbering beast on the set of the television show “Northern Exposure” or Bullwinkle, the none-too-brilliant cartoon character who’s perpetually trying to pull a live rabbit out of his hat.
In fact, the Bullwinkle might seem the perfect spokesman for Woodinville-based Moose Logic, because the company’s most recent innovation is the return of the dumb computer.
Unlike the cartoon character, Moose Logic Inc. didn’t have the wrong hat when it reintroduced the seemingly obsolete technology, but it did have something up its sleeve: an operating system that allows “dumb terminals” to operate better and faster than many computers without all the hassles.
“We’re essentially going back to our roots,” is the way Moose Logic President Scott Gorcester puts it.
That’s because a new computer operating system called WinFrame is allowing Moose Logic to sell companies access to a variety of computer applications through its central network server. In plain English it means the firm’s service allows customers to dial up and use a variety of computer applications without having to download or install them on their hard drives.
As a result, customers not only avoid worry over the cost of software installation and upgrades, they can also run even the most power-hungry programs on old 386 and 486 computers instead of buying newer, faster systems because most of the processing is done on the server.
Customers don’t have to rely on their old computers if they don’t want to, however. Moose Logic also sells a line of Wyse Technology terminals without hard drives and only a small amount of memory.
Regardless of which option customers choose, they may still end up saving a great deal of money because Citrix System Inc.’s WinFrame operating system allows them to use Windows applications such as Excel, Word and Powerpoint over a local area network, corporate intranet or the Internet via a telephone connection, Moose Logic spokesman Dave Hill said.
For example, Hill said, “If you’ve got a number of computers (at your company) and you want to install Windows 98, you would have to pay someone to install it on every one of your computers, which could take weeks. With WinFrame you’re talking about hours” without adding personnel because each Pentium server has enough capacity to handle 15 to 20 people at a time (or more on multiprocessor servers), regardless of whether the server is on site or at Moose Logic.
“That’s where CEO’s get excited because they don’t have to hire more information services people” to manage the load, Hill said.
The technology also allows companies to cut costs on T1 lines for computer networks, Hill said.
“There are businesses that pay $2,000 to $10,000 a month for T1 lines, but if you have the proper firewall, security measures and encrypt your data, then you can go over the Internet for free,” he said.
Gorcester described the result as a virtual private network which “allows you to use the Internet on a side street that only you have access to.”
Companies that don’t want to spend time configuring their systems or installing software aren’t Moose Logic’s only potential customers, however. The service is ideal for software companies that want to provide full working demonstrations of their products without having to spend a lot of money on demo disks; it also allows corporate employees at a variety of locations to dial into the company and use applications on the corporate network.
Smooth sailing for Seattle based craft brewery…
Pyramid Brewery is the perfect example.
Until late 1995, the company had been using a software program called Carbon Copy to allow its staff of 20 salespeople to dial up so they could gain remote access to Pyramid’s accounting applications and update records, but the system began running into problems, said Kelly Starkel, Pyramid’s manager of information services.
Because the company had only one computer running Carbon Copy, it meant that only one person could dial in at a time, Starkel said.
“We were starting to get some busy signals with the system (and) we had to decide whether it was worth it to get a new PC for each user,” she said.
If Starkel hadn’t stepped in to resolve the situation the limited remote access could have become a stumbling block to the company’s plans for expansion because Pyramid was planning to open a regional brewery in Berkeley, Calif., in 1996.
When Starkel explained the situation to a consultant at Pyramid’s long distance telephone service provider, the consultant referred her to Moose Logic and its WinFrame multi-user application software.
“It’s a more efficient solution (than adding computers to run Carbon Copy),” Starkel said. “We knew we’d have to spend more money on computers anyway. With the other system I was having to reboot that computer and handle other quirky problems that have since been eliminated.”
The software not only allows several users to access to the accounting and inventory applications at the same time, it also increases the speed of access because the server does the processing rather than the terminal or computer itself, Hill said.
“There’s only so much information that can fit on a phone line. What WinFrame allows you to do is eliminate all that traffic because you’re only sending a tiny piece of information. You dial into the server and you are just receiving screen updates,” Hill added.
WinFrame reliance…
WinFrame currently accounts for the bulk of the company’s business but, Gorcester says, “We’re working very hard not to be a one-trick pony.”
It helps that the company had a good two-year start before Coral Springs, Fla.-based Citrix developed the WinFrame system.
Gorcester, a former computer sales firm employee, used his own money to start the business in 1992 as a computer integrator focusing on computers and servers. Although the company now sees its specialty as developing custom servers built around Microsoft’s multi-user Windows NT and Citrix’s WinFrame Enterprise operating system, one thing hasn’t changed: Moose Logic is still self-funded.