Our History
The Rationale for Founding Gardenia Software Systems
The concept for what has become Gardenia Software Systems Inc. was developed in 1988 when Frederick Thomas and Irmgard Hehmann left the Brandt Systems Group, a technology firm serving the banking industry, to form their own technology company, Gardenia Programs, Inc. At the time of their departure, Frederick was Brandt Systems' General Manager and Irmgard its Marketing Director.
Frederick’s and Irmgard’s decision to leave Brandt Systems arose when Triangle Industries, Brandt Systems' parent company, chose to divest itself of its subsidiary. In preparation for the sale, Brandt Systems' R&D in technologies was cut back substantially in order to maximize short-term profits (this despite major sales successes). Frederick and Irmgard saw an opportunity. They determined to develop their own brand of technology and to create unique systems that would meet future technological requirements and demand in the financial industry. Financial institutions, they foresaw, were going to need highly flexible, adaptable software technologies and none of their soon-to-be competitors were offering the range of features and options that they knew to be essential:
The concept for what has become Gardenia Software Systems Inc. was developed in 1988 when Frederick Thomas and Irmgard Hehmann left the Brandt Systems Group, a technology firm serving the banking industry, to form their own technology company, Gardenia Programs, Inc. At the time of their departure, Frederick was Brandt Systems' General Manager and Irmgard its Marketing Director.
Frederick’s and Irmgard’s decision to leave Brandt Systems arose when Triangle Industries, Brandt Systems' parent company, chose to divest itself of its subsidiary. In preparation for the sale, Brandt Systems' R&D in technologies was cut back substantially in order to maximize short-term profits (this despite major sales successes). Frederick and Irmgard saw an opportunity. They determined to develop their own brand of technology and to create unique systems that would meet future technological requirements and demand in the financial industry. Financial institutions, they foresaw, were going to need highly flexible, adaptable software technologies and none of their soon-to-be competitors were offering the range of features and options that they knew to be essential:
- PC and LAN-based Operations. Competitors had “fat calculator” designs which were slow, expensive, inflexible, which required a special version of software for each new customer need.
- Open Peripheral Attachment. Competitors each attached to only one brand of peripherals, printers, validators, currency scanners, and note and coin sorters.
- Open Architecture. Competitors attached to only one host computer system or protocol, limiting the passing of data to host systems and vault to vault.
- Windows API. Competitors offered DOS systems under dBase/Clipper for many years, then changed to inefficient “bloatware” interpreter-based Windows environments, requiring several times the memory and far slower response than Cash Information Management™ (CIM™), Gardenia’s system, which uses the fully compiled Windows API exclusively.
- Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC). Competitors offered only early database products such a dBase/Clipper, or later rigidly restricted selection to only one modern database product, such as DB2 or SQL Server. The customer had no choice.
- User Configurability. Competitors did not (and still do not) offer the full user-configurability critical to optimal operation in any cash management context, and to this day must create costly special versions of software for highly specific customer needs, or force the customer to compromise. In response to Gardenia’s successes, competitors have made small improvements, adding additional “miscellaneous buckets,” for example. These are promoted as user-configurable, but there is simply no comparison. None of them, for example, could do what CIM did for Barclays in the Caribbean: currency exchange for the many currencies cruise-ship tourists brought in, and cash settlement – at every teller station.
- Ongoing Innovation. Technology must adapt to business needs. Financial institutions continually require new technologies to meet new processes – Check 21 early truncation, for example. Gardenia’s founding commitment to meeting new challenges with ongoing innovation enabled the company to meet the challenge as soon as it arose. The Check 21 truncation process can now, using Gardenia’s CIM application, be carried out easily with low-cost peripherals, right at the teller station.
Chronology
Frederick’s and Irmgard’s ideas took shape as the Cash Information Management or CIM Software System, a suite of highly versatile applications. The system was beta tested at a large bank in San Antonio in 1992. After proving remarkably successful in San Antonio, it was installed at the bank's other Texas sites. In the following year, it was implemented at numerous locations of another large banking concern, and at several sites of a bank in the Caribbean, -- Gardenia’s first branch banking installation, first signature verification installation, and first multi-currency installation, with 18 currencies supported at 3 rate levels.
Many other banks followed.
CIM soon moved into other industries, including retail, gaming, and the armored carrier business.
In 2006, Irmgard Hehmann retired, following an unmatched lifetime contribution to the industry. Frederick Thomas assumed the helm upon Irmgard's retirement and appointed longtime employee Garry Welch to VP, Product Development and Customer Support, and Margaret Champion to Controller. Maya Callahan came aboard in late 2007 as VP, Sales and Marketing. Garry, Margaret, and Maya will provide ongoing customer support and product service when Frederick retires. It is often said that succession planning is an executive’s most important function. We at Gardenia are proud to have assembled a talented team to carry on the company’s name and traditions.
After 19 years as Gardenia Programs Inc., we have changed our corporate name to Gardenia Software Systems, Inc. to better convey the sophisticated systems integration role we see as our most important function going into the future.
Frederick’s and Irmgard’s ideas took shape as the Cash Information Management or CIM Software System, a suite of highly versatile applications. The system was beta tested at a large bank in San Antonio in 1992. After proving remarkably successful in San Antonio, it was installed at the bank's other Texas sites. In the following year, it was implemented at numerous locations of another large banking concern, and at several sites of a bank in the Caribbean, -- Gardenia’s first branch banking installation, first signature verification installation, and first multi-currency installation, with 18 currencies supported at 3 rate levels.
Many other banks followed.
CIM soon moved into other industries, including retail, gaming, and the armored carrier business.
In 2006, Irmgard Hehmann retired, following an unmatched lifetime contribution to the industry. Frederick Thomas assumed the helm upon Irmgard's retirement and appointed longtime employee Garry Welch to VP, Product Development and Customer Support, and Margaret Champion to Controller. Maya Callahan came aboard in late 2007 as VP, Sales and Marketing. Garry, Margaret, and Maya will provide ongoing customer support and product service when Frederick retires. It is often said that succession planning is an executive’s most important function. We at Gardenia are proud to have assembled a talented team to carry on the company’s name and traditions.
After 19 years as Gardenia Programs Inc., we have changed our corporate name to Gardenia Software Systems, Inc. to better convey the sophisticated systems integration role we see as our most important function going into the future.