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Hummingbird Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Hummingbird Ltd., provider of integrated enterprise content management (ECM) solutions, celebrates its 20th anniversary these days. From a small start-up business to a world market share leader, Hummingbird marks this occasion ranked amongst the largest software companies in the world, operating out of 40 offices worldwide. Its enterprise software products serve more than 33,000 customers globally, including 90% of Fortune 100, and are sold and supported across multiple industry sectors in over 50 countries around the world.
Initially founded in 1984 as a consulting firm specializing in mainframe communications, co-founders, Fred Sorkin and Barry Litwin, possessed a vision and business acumen that has proven to be a winning combination. Within five years, the company ventured into software development after recognizing the tremendous growth potential of the PC-X server technology based on an emerging standard called the X Window system.
"When we transitioned from a consulting company to a classical software company, Canada was heading into its biggest recession since the Great Depression and businesses were struggling to survive," said Fred Sorkin, Hummingbird Chairman, CEO and Co-founder. "However, against all odds, the company took flight and Hummingbird became a world leader with highly unique, leading edge enterprise software products."
Hummingbird entered the software market with a progressive, global attitude. Reaching beyond its origins as a connectivity software provider, Hummingbird built and diversified its business by acquiring knowledge-enabling enterprise software technologies for managing unstructured and structured content. Hummingbird was the first to market with an integrated suite of enterprise content management applications branded as Hummingbird Enterprise(TM) - an end-to-end product line to address the content lifecycle management challenges of today's organizations.
Hummingbird's success story is based on organic growth, strategic acquisitions and its ability to identify and develop innovative technology. The company remains a global leader in today's rapidly growing enterprise content management market by continuing to invest in the research and development of its products and introducing new features and functionalities to broaden its enterprise software offering.
"From its inception, Hummingbird has established itself as an industry innovator and technology leader, always intent on leading, never following," said Barry Litwin, Hummingbird President and Co-founder. "That reputation is the cornerstone of Hummingbird's technology philosophy two decades later."
The Hummingbird enterprise software technology has garnered well-deserved praise from industry analysts. Most recently, independent research firm, Gartner, Inc., listed Hummingbird in the Leader Quadrant in the 2004 Smart Enterprise Suite Magic Quadrant, and in the Leader Quadrant in the 2003 Integrated Document Management Magic Quadrant.
"Without a doubt, Hummingbird owes its success to its people, who come from all cultures and nationalities. This diversity has enabled Hummingbird to better operate on a global scale and has given us a truly unique work environment," said Sorkin. "Our employees - a highly talented and innovative group of people from all over the world - have brought the company to the stage we are right now. As well, our wide range of partners, distributors and customers, who have supported us throughout the years, have helped us to remain very stable and successful, and for that, we thank them."
Over the years, Hummingbird has accumulated scores of awards and accolades from magazines and industry sources in recognition of its product excellence and innovation and its outstanding business achievement. In addition, Fred Sorkin has been recognized individually for his entrepreneurial achievement as well as his special contribution to employment and the development of new skills. One of Canada's truly multicultural organizations, Hummingbird's diverse workforce represents over 75 different nationalities. At its head office in Toronto, a significant number of the employees are first generation immigrants.
"We have built a solid foundation for the future of our company and we are in a strong position to maintain our leadership in innovative technologies. The prudent fiscal management of the company along with our highly skilled resources will generate sustainable long term shareholder value," said Sorkin. "In this rapidly changing competitive landscape, we remain focused on the fundamentals of our business and we look forward to serving our customers for many more years to come." 30.09.2004, Hummingbird Ltd.
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