Joseph Caropepe A Journey

Theme: 20 Years of Remedy Action Request System – How did we get here? (Part 1)

Introductions by Doug Blair/Quick Review by Dan Bloom

Three founders: Larry Garlick, Dave Mahler, and Doug Mueller

Larry Garlick had history working for companies like Xerox and Sun during the 1970’s & 1980’s, while Dan & Doug came from HP. When HP relocated some of their offices Dave & Doug left the company.

Although they didn’t know each other, Larry & Dave were simultaneously forming similar ideas to break the existing vendor-software-on-vendor-hardware model of the time. There were looking to create, “a family of applications to manage network & systems, across multiple vendor platforms.” (LG).

Dave & Larry met at InterOp in the late 1980’s when a VC – hearing the similarity of their ideas – suggested they get together. Larry asked hard questions then, and continues to do so today.

Together, the 3 set out to “solve existing problems with deployable technology” (DM) and started by asking technology leaders about their biggest pain points. Two issues rose to the top of the list: Event Correlation & Help Desk. Event correlation was “too hard” according to Doug Mueller, so they choose to pursue the Help Desk space.

Remedy Corporation was formed in 1990 and they spent $900 to have the logo/bug designed. They had all come from big companies and were very interested in creating a culture that was very different. Customer focus and a bias for action (as opposed to inaction) were their basic tenants. Additionally, they encouraged a culture which:

* Had no respect for authority.
* Managed to keep fun everything fun.

Easy to say, hard to do.

With the early version of the AR System being sold, everyone in the company was considered a sales person. The box of software & documentation cost $100.00 and was made possible by the fact that the installation was easy and could be performed by anyone, including on Unix-based systems (very unusual for the time). This ease of install became a “big trust factor” with their core customers, indeed the founders wanted ARS to be a “virus” within IT organizations that became difficult to remove once it was in place.

Remedy Corporation went public in 1995 and in 1996, there was an article in Newsweek featuring Larry’s picture. There were a number of companies interested in buy Remedy Corp. during this time, but “organic Remedy” always had a higher potential ROI, so they were never seriously pursued.

Until 2001 came along…

End of Part 1