ADP Plans Server For UNIX, OS/2, NT; Reorgs Retail Staff

ADP is developing a successor to its PC-based FS Partner quote service which it expects to release by the middle of the year; the new service will feature a server running under three multitasking operating systems: Unix, OS/2 and Windows NT. At the same time, ADP has reorganized its retail account management group in the wake of the recent departures of vice presidents Andrew Reres and Bruce Bachman.

At press time, the reasons behind the departure of Reres and Bachman could not be determined. Reres headed up retail account management, while Bachman was in charge of retail account development. ADP officials decline to comment as to what lay behind the moves, as does Reres. Bachman didn't return calls seeking comment.

According to an ADP spokesperson, the vendor announced Feb. 21 that the two vice presidents would be moving on. Thereafter, she says, on Feb. 22, the vendor implemented a series of changes in its retail account management group. Foremost among them were the selections of replacements for Reres and Bachman: Yvonne Ivey, a former executive vice president of a software development company, replaced Reres; Mike Marcigliano, who had been working in ADP's infrastructure group, took over for Bachman.

ADP's project to develop its new so-called portable server has been in the works for nearly a year, the spokesperson says. The development is part of the vendor's plan to build a platform that will support both front- and back-office personnel in the retail brokerage industry.

The spokesperson says that the vendor has not yet determined the hardware that will support the first release of the portable server. However, ADP last year turned to Sun Microsystems Inc. Unix/Risc-based processors to support its data center-based news server (IMD, Oct. 11, 1993). Meanwhile, sources say that IBM's RS/6000 and Data General Corp.'s Aviion processors are in the running to support the portable server.

The new server will likely eventually phase out the vendor's current DOS/Mondrian-based server, which supports Microsoft Corp. Windows-, DOS/Mondrian-, OS/2- and Unix- based desktop display devices (IMD, Jan. 17); the spokesperson says that if the current server is replaced, it would only happen as a longer-term effort.

For the past year, ADP has also been at work on a so- called object-oriented workstation platform that will be supported by the vendor's existing server, as well as by the portable server -- when it is released. The spokesperson declines to comment on which hardware vendors are being considered for the workstation.

She says that Multex Systems Inc., a former systems development unit of ADP, is playing a "minor role" in the development of the platform. She adds, however, that Multex is not involved in the portable server development.

Christine Berthet, vice president of strategic investment and the person heading up the server development project, declines to comment. Berthet, who joined ADP on the same day the vendor announced the replacements for Reres and Bachman, replaced strategic architecture vice president Len Hoerst (IMD, Feb. 14). Hoerst left the vendor in January to take a post with First Data Resources (IMD, Jan. 17).

As part of the reorg, the retail account management group has undergone additional hirings, firings and reassignments. The spokesperson says that majority of the retail accounts will now fall to three executives: Ivey, Glenn Gurgul and Jeanne Frangias.

Gurgul, whose title is vice president of client management, will share responsibility for most of the larger retail accounts with Ivey. Frangias, who has been reassigned from director of order management to director of client management, will handle the smaller so-called Heartland accounts, the spokesperson says.

All the maneuvering has jostled Dennis Morgan -- vice president of client services for the retail account group. Morgan, who now handles accounts which, according to the ADP spokesperson, require "specific, special attention," lost some of his accounts to Ivey. The spokesperson says that some of Morgan's accounts were given to Ivey only to allow Morgan to "focus on the high priority areas." The spokesperson would not elaborate. Morgan declines to comment.

Marcigliano, Bachman's replacement, will oversee development projects that "have an effect on retail accounts," the spokesperson says; his new title is director of retail market development.

ADP's development of a portable server and an object- oriented workstation software system comes just in time for Reuters' imminent purchase of Quotron, the vendor's main rival. Citicorp, Quotron's parent, had been looking to dump the vendor for the past two years, effectively making ADP's rival a lame-duck competitor.

Now, with the firepower of Reuters' billions behind it, Quotron may be poised to make a run at ADP -- the largest retail quote vendor in the U.S. with an installed terminal base of 85,000. However, the ADP spokesperson asserts that both the portable server and workstation platform have been in development for months.

Another source close to ADP says that the vendor's development projects are not knee-jerk reactions to Reuters' purchase of Quotron. "You're always looking at what you're going to do next and why. I don't think any one event sets you off," the source says. "If they [ADP] want to retain their presence and grow that business, they have got to continue to invest in technology."

This source asserts that ADP is developing portable server technology to keep the edge it has on its main competitors. The source points out that neither Quotron nor ILX have Windows NT as server technology. "The reason why NT makes as much sense as anything is that NT is fairly platform- independent," the source says.

However, it is harder to fathom why ADP would develop OS/2 server technology. The majority of ADP's clients operate in either the Unix or Windows NT operating systems. Prudential Securities Inc. and Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. are the only ADP clients that use OS/2 to any significant degree.

Indeed, it's possible that ADP is developing OS/2 solely to meet the needs of Prudential, which uses OS/2-based display devices. However, while the ADP spokesperson admits that the development of a portable server that could function in OS/2 is client driven, she declines to comment on whether OS/2 is being developed specifically to meet the needs of Prudential.