It all began in a garage. No, no - this is not the story of a Californian tech pioneer, but of a Swiss one. It's about the beginnings of the company Syslogic.
We recently had a visit from Walter Gloor, one of our founding fathers. Together with our former managing director and current chairman of the board Christian Binder, he reminisced about the beginnings of Syslogic. The two of them also went into the warehouse and unearthed some amazing treasures.
Together with Dr. Frank J. Furrer, Walter Gloor founded Furrer + Gloor AG in 1980, which later became Syslogic. The two had met during their studies at the ETH. When their paths crossed again, it was clear to both of them that they would start their own company together. At that time, computer technology was still in its infancy. Companies such as large banks and insurance companies relied on mainframe computers from IBM, Digital Equipment or Honeywell. Electronic data exchange between these systems was virtually impossible.
This is where the two pioneers Frank Furrer and Walter Gloor came in. They developed interface hardware that allowed data to be exchanged between mainframe computers. The pair quickly made a name for themselves. Before long, they were supplying workstations to some 25 banks from Rome to Oslo. These workstations were used for foreign exchange trading. They networked internal bank services with external services such as Reuters or Telekurs.
These workstations gave rise to the EUROLOG microcomputer card kit, which was sold throughout Europe and was very popular at the time. The development and production of electronics began in the Gloor family's workshop, which was located in a garage. Inevitably, we are reminded of the story of another IT pioneer.
At Stolz AG, the leading electronics distributor at the time, Frank Furrer and Walter Gloor became aware of Christian Binder, a magician's apprentice. He had a burning interest in everything to do with computers. Thanks to his employer, he had access to the best computer systems of the time. Christian learned his first IT skills on his own and began programming applications in his spare time. At the same time, the young Stolz employee had a flair for sales, which prompted Frank Furrer and Walter Gloor to bring Christian Binder into the company.
