Attachmate Corporation was an American private software company founded in December 1982 in Bellevue, Washington by Frank W. Pritt. It focused on terminal emulation, legacy integration, and interoperability software connecting IBM-compatible PCs to mainframe and midrange systems. At its peak in the mid-1990s, following its 1994 merger with Digital Communications Associates (DCA), Attachmate held approximately 35% of the worldwide terminal emulation market and was described as the largest company devoted to connectivity software in the world. The company's first product, Extra!, allowed IBM-compatible PCs to emulate IBM mainframe terminals, bridging personal computers with legacy enterprise systems. Pritt deliberately designed Extra! to include features that only a fraction of the initial market required, expecting broader demand to follow.
Attachmate grew rapidly through the 1980s: revenue reached $5.3 million in 1986, $13.6 million in 1987, and $31 million in 1988. KEA Systems was retained as Attachmate Canada. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Merger with DCA (1994)
On November 24, 1994, Attachmate announced a merger with Digital Communications Associates (DCA), a company founded in 1972 and headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. The deal closed December 15, 1994. On April 18, 2005, the same investors—expanded to include JMI Equity and BlackRock Capital Investment—simultaneously acquired Attachmate and announced its merger with WRQ. Frank Pritt retired at that time. The merger closed June 1, 2005, with the combined company named AttachmateWRQ and headquartered at WRQ's Seattle offices. The combined workforce was approximately 1,000 employees. The merged entity was later renamed The Attachmate Group.
Products
Extra!
The Extra! family of terminal emulator packages was Attachmate's original product, present from the company's founding in 1982. It supported 3270, 5250, and VT100 terminal protocols.
Reflection
The Reflection family of products, developed by WRQ and inherited through the 2005 merger, provided terminal emulation and secure connectivity for Windows environments, supporting IBM 3270/5250 and VT/HP terminal protocols.