Norsk Data (ND) was a Norwegian manufacturer of minicomputers which operated between 1967 and 1992. The company was established as A/S Nordata – Norsk Data-Elektronikk on 7 July 1967 and took into use the Norsk Data brand in 1975. The company was founded by Lars Monrad-Krohn, Rolf Skår and Per Bjørge, three computer engineers working at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment which had just built the minicomputer SAM 2. ND's first contract was the delivery of a Nord-1 computer to Norcontrol. Initially in competition with Kongsberg, ND started delivering computers to Norwegian institutions. By 1972 the company had developed Sintran operating system, the 32-bit Nord-5 and a time sharing system.

The international break-through came with the 1973 delivery of computers to CERN and the company soon had half their sales abroad. Two years later the database program SIBAS had been completely ported and made available, and the following year a 150-terminal system connected via X.21/X.25 based XMSG and a flight simulator backbone for the F-16 were delivered. In 1978 Norsk Data both bought Tandberg and launched its office suite Notis, although Tandberg was sold again in 1980. ND became the first foreign-listed Norwegian company in 1981, which also saw the launch of the 32-bit ND-500. Throughout the 1980s ND acquired a series of domestic and foreign hardware and software companies, many loosely oriented at increased hardware sales. At the peak in 1986 and 1987, Norsk Data had 4,500 employees, 2.5 billion Norwegian krone (NOK) in revenue and was Norway's second-largest company by market capitalization—having increased fifty-fold between 1977 and 1985.

Despite late attempts to develop Ndix, ND never succeeded at entering the Unix market which started to dominate in the late 1980s. The company's share value halved on 19 October 1987 and never recovered. The company went through a series of reorganizations, but the company never succeeded at making money on open systems and the last area with profits was sales to existing Sintran customers. From 1988 the company was gradually split up; parts were sold to foreign competitors while others were spun off as subsidiaries or sold. By 1993 all equity had been lost and the remaining parts of the company sold off or taken over by the creditors. The main parts of company were bought by Telenor.

Establishment

Norsk Data grew out of the development Simulation for Automatic Machinery 2 (SAM 2), a minicomputer developed at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE). The computer was ordered in 1966 for analysis of satellite data at Tromsø Satellite Station (TSS) and was the third computer built by NDRE.Heradstveit: 33 The main developers of the system were Rolf Skår, Per Bjørge, Lars Monrad-Krohn and Yngvar Lundh. SAM 2 was the first in Europe and among the first three in the world which used integrated circuits.Heradstveit: 29 The project was risky, as TSS originally had proposed buying an American computer and NDRE would have to buy such a computer if SAM 2 failed.

As there was time between SAM 2 was completed and it had to be in Tromsø, the designers took it on a tour to Bergen and Trondheim. While in Bergen the group met an old fellow student, Ivar Aanderaa, who was working as an entrepreneur. He inspired the others of the joys of being self-employed and a discussion went on all night on the 23 April 1967 about starting up a computer-manufacturing company. Based on that they had a technological edge and believed to have good timing, a decision to start a company was made.Heradstveit: 34

For the entrepreneurs the main challenge was that their newly created computer was the property of the NDRE, which again had a strategic cooperation with Kongsberg, both government-owned. They expressed interest in the technology and considered themselves putting it into production. The other company which showed interest for the technology was the Horten-based Norcontrol, which was working on a project for ship automation but needed a computer to run the system.Heradstveit: 35 To raise capital, Skår took contact with his former college-mate Terje Mikalsen, who was working at Norcontrol. Mikalsen had married into a ship-owning family and was thus able to provide capital the others could not.Heradstveit: 36

At this time NDRE was working with Kongsberg for plans to build a computer for a field artillery system.Heradstveit: 38 Monrad-Krohn proposed that their company should try to get this contract,Heradstveit: 39 but after it was awarded to NDRE, they had increased difficulty finding investors. The company had estimated a need for NOK 600,000.Heradstveit: 40 A founding meeting was held on 7 July 1967 with fifteen people present. The largest investor was Mosvold Shipping Group which invested NOK 100,000, while remaining investors put in NOK 94,000. The company was established as A/S Nordata – Norsk Data-Elektronikk.Heradstveit: 41 As "Nordata" was already registered by a company in Trondheim, the name was changed to A/S Norsk Data-Elektronikk on 20 July.Heradstveit: 47 The name would change again somewhat later in 1977 to the more concise and recognisable Norsk Data, this being more accessible to the company's increasingly international audience.

The company's first offices were located at Ole Deviks vei 10 in Oslo, which was located in the facilities of a fan manufacturer. Operations commenced on 19 September with the three founders, Monrad-Krohn, Skår and Bjørge.Heradstveit: 43 They received the same wages as they had at NDRE. None of the entrepreneurs had any education or experience in business and operations started without a budget. The company's culture was inherited from NDRE—technology-oriented with focus on creativity and challenges.Heradstveit: 45 The first other employee was Tove Pedersen; she had an interview with the fan company, but had instead met up at ND. Monrad-Krohn did not let her inn on the error and instead carried out an interview and offered her a job, which she accepted.

Nord-1 Bjørge was responsible for hardware, Skår for software and Konrad-Mohn for sales. The company's first computer was Nord-1, which was a further development of SAM 2. It offered 0.5 million instructions per second (MIPS) and would sell for a few hundred thousand krone. To secure a bank guarantee for the first loan, life insurance was taken out on the three founders, with the beneficiary going to the bank.Heradstveit: 46 The development work started while the trio were working at NDRE, which was cooperating with the Institute for Energy Technology and Kongsberg. Preliminary work was therefore sent to both organizations to allow them to build computers.Heradstveit: 48

A strategic cooperation with Norcontrol started in November 1967, when Norsk Data bought shares for NOK 200,000 in Norcontrol, which again bought shares for NOK 70,000 in Norsk Data.Heradstveit: 55 Norcontrol placed the first order for a Norsk Data computer on 26 January 1968.Heradstveit: 53 Shortly afterwards computers were ordered by the Central Institute for Industrial Research and the Chr. Michelsen Institute.Heradstveit: 54 Norsk Data and Kongsberg signed a market sharing agreement on 23 April 1968, in which Kongsberg would deliver computers to the military industry while Norsk Data would deliver to the civilian sector.Heradstveit: 50 In the early years, Kongsberg would continue to be Norsk Data's main competitor as the only other Norwegian manufacturer of minicomputers.Heradstveit: 52 Additional Norsk Data shares were issued in May 1968, bringing the share capital to NOK 894,000. New investors included Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri (NEBB), Habberstad and Tharald Brøvig Jr.Heradstveit: 56

The first Nord-1 was inaugurated on 21 May 1968 and sent to the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) to have instruments installed.Heradstveit: 57 It spent a year in Trondheim and was constantly needing repairs. However, once it was not constantly being tweaked by engineers it operated for eighteen months without any failures. The Nord-1 was installed on MS Taimyr—a newly constructed Wilh. Wilhelmsen freight vessel—on 16 June 1969. This was the world's first such on-ship computer, which both featured an automatic radar plotting aid and an automated machine room.Heradstveit: 59 By 1973, Norsk Data had delivered 105 units to Norcontrol.Heradstveit: 60

Ibb Høivold, Norcontrol's chief executive officer (CEO), was appointed chairman of the board in June 1968. This created some conflict of interest, as Kongsberg CEO Jens Christian Hauge sat on Norcontrol's board. For 1968 Norsk Data had a revenue of NOK 730,000, sold four computers plus additional memory for SAM 2, had thirteen employees at the end of the year and had a profit of NOK 21,000.Heradstveit: 63 That year a cooperation started with NEBB to develop an automatic hydroelectricity reservoir regulation system with a Nord-1 at its heart. The first system was installed in 1970 and remained in use for eighteen years.

Originally every user of the Nord-1 coded their own operating system (OS). This was highly inefficient and ND decided to launch a common OS. Sintran was developed at SINTEF in Trondheim. Later Sintran II was launched. This was the first major competitive edge ND had on Kongsberg. In 1969 the company relocated to a larger facility.Heradstveit: 68 The following year, fifteen Nord-1s were manufacturedHeradstveit: 69 and the company had 88 employees. During these years Norsk Data secured a customer base in universities, college and research institutions in Norway. By 1971 nearly every such institution had a Nord-1 computer. NOK 2 million in venture capital was received in 1971.Heradstveit: 148

Internationalization

Monrad-Krohn was appointed professor of digital technology at NTH in December 1969. He chose to combine the professorship with the position as CEO of Norsk Data.Heradstveit: 70 Stord Verft took delivery of the first Nord-20 the following year and Norcontrol took delivery of the first of its 28 Nord-4s. The first major conflict in top management took place in February 1971 regarding a new organizational structure, with Monrad-Krohn on the one side and Bjørge and Skår on the other. Although revenue continued to rise, the company failed to create good profit margins. The issues caused two board members to resignHeradstveit: 71 and in June ten employees were laid off after orders were NOK 3 million below budget.Heradstveit: 72

The company was saved by a NOK 6-million contract with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute which ND won in February 1971 in competition with major international players. The Nord Integrated Computer System (Nordic) was completed in April 1972 and consisted of three Nord-1s and a new Nord-5. This configuration was claimed to be the first 32-bit minicomputer in the world,Heradstveit: 73 employing the Nord-5 as a number cruncher while the Nord-1s would handle smaller tasks. One of these was used to collect information from a global network of weather stations.Heradstveit: 74