Digital Communication Associates, Inc. (DCA), was a company in the computer and

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

industry, located in

Alpharetta, Georgia Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818; in 2010, the population had been 57,551. History In the 1830s, ...

, United States.

Overview

Digital Communications Associates was founded by John Alderman, who led the company until 1981, when he was replaced by Bertil Nordin. In February 1983, DCA went public, raising 24 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

. Later, Garry Betty (1957-2007) was CEO of DCA, until he left for

Earthlink EarthLink is an American Internet service provider. Earthlink went public on NASDAQ in January 1997. Much of the company's growth was via acquisition. In 2000, ''The New York Times'' described it as the "second largest Internet service provider ...

in November 1996. Together with

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

, DCA had designed the DCA/Intel Communicating Applications Specification (CAS). It defines a standard, high-level programming interface for data communications applications. The DCX format is the standard file format for storing

FAX Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...

images in CAS. DCA was in the market of producing T-1 multiplexers. In 1995, DCA of Alpharetta, Georgia, was acquired by

Attachmate Attachmate Corporation is a 1982-founded software company which focused on secure terminal emulation, legacy integration, and managed file transfer software. Citrix-compatibility and Attachment ''Reflection'' were enhanced/added offerings. His ...

of Bellevue, Washington.

Acquisitions

In 1981, under the leadership of Bertil Nordin, DCA acquired Technical Analysis Corporation (TAC), the makers of the

IRMA Board Irma board, originally spelled IRMA board, refers to a brand of coaxial interface cards for Personal computer, PCs and Apple Macintosh, Macintosh computers used to enable 3270 emulator programs to connect to IBM Mainframe computer, mainframe comp ...

which enabled PCs to function as 3270 terminals to an

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...

host. In September 1986, DCA bought Cohesive Networks. In 1986, DCA acquired Microstuf, makers of the Crosstalk Communications package together with their flagship product, the

terminal emulation A terminal emulator, or terminal application, is a computer program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture. Though typically synonymous with a shell or text terminal, the term ''terminal'' covers all remote termi ...

program Crosstalk Mk.4. In 1991, DCA acquired Cincinnati-based InterComputer Communications Corporation (ICC), makers of the INFOConnect line of terminal emulation and file-transfer products (focused on the Unisys ecosystem), OpenMind (collaboration) and RLN (remote lan node) In 1992, DCA acquired Westborough-based Avatar Technologies, makers of the Mac Mainframe hardware and software

3270 emulator A 3270 Emulator is a terminal emulator that duplicates the functions of an IBM 3270 Computer terminal, mainframe computer terminal on a computer, usually a Personal computer, PC or similar microcomputer. As the original 3270 series terminals we ...

s, for $8 million.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url= http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2007/01/01/daily8.html , title=EarthLink's Garry Betty passes away , work= Atlanta Business Chronicle , date=January 3, 2007 , via=bizjournals.com , access-date=27 December 2014 {{cite web , url= http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1998/06/15/focus26.html?page=all , title=How Atlanta plays incubator to innovators , work= Atlanta Business Chronicle , date=15 June 1998 , first=Andy , last=Peters , via=bizjournals.com , access-date=27 December 2014 {{cite periodical , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mXEbp4U3AT8C&dq=dca%20microstuf%20acquisition&pg=PA145 , title=Digital Communications acquires micro software firm , magazine=InfoWorld , others=Archived by Google Books , first=James , last=Martin , date=13 Oct 1987 , access-date=28 Apr 2015 {{cite periodical , url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA43 , title=DCA Planning for Upcoming Era of Interdevice Communications , magazine=InfoWorld , type=Archived by Google Books , first=John , last=Gantz , date=10 November 1986 , access-date=27 December 2014 {{cite book , url= http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/11/11.10_DigitalCommunicationAssociates.html , title=Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968-1988 , chapter=11.10: Digital Communication Associates , first=James , last=Pelkey , via=historyofcomputercommunications.info , year=2007 , access-date=27 December 2014 {{cite book , url= http://www.historyofcomputercommunications.info/Book/11/11.25_DigitalCommunicationAssociates.html , title=Entrepreneurial Capitalism and Innovation: A History of Computer Communications 1968–1988 , chapter=11.25 Digital Communication Associates , first=James , last=Pelkey , via=historyofcomputercommunications.info , year=2007 , access-date=27 December 2014 1972 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1995 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) American companies established in 1972 American companies disestablished in 1995 Companies based in Fulton County, Georgia Computer companies established in 1972 Computer companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Networking hardware companies Telecommunications equipment vendors