This study examines the privately held company InterSystems, looking especially at its database management system (DBMS) Caché, which is a postrelational DBMS sold largely through the indirect channel of ISVs and software service providers. It considers the company's history and technology, its innovations and achievements, and the future implications of InterSystems' continued success for customers, partners, and competitors.
"InterSystems is a successful, growing software company with interesting innovative technology, yet it seems to be virtually unknown in the database world outside its sphere of dedicated, loyal users and partners, and among those seeking specific database technology characteristics that they seem to be able to find with InterSystems' flagship product, Caché, and nowhere else," says Carl Olofson, IDC's research director for information management and data integration software research. "As a privately held firm, InterSystems can afford to take the long view regarding product development rather than worry about investor reaction to decisions regarding technology investment versus income on a quarter-by-quarter basis."