Technology >> CEO Interviews >> April 26, 1999

Robert Madge – Madge Networks (madgf)

ROBERT MADGE, Chairman and CEO, founded Madge Networks in 1986, and in the early years, ran the business from the family farm in Buckinghamshire, England. He saw the opportunity to take on IBM by introducing technological innovation, which helped to establish quickly a strong customer base. Under Robert's direction, the company has played a leading role in the development of the networking technology industry, and the company went public on NASDAQ in 1993. Today, he is at the helm of a global company that is leading a portfolio of the world's most demanding customers towards the converged future of one network over Internet Protocol (IP). Robert is one of the industry's most influential figures driving network computing standards. As an industry advocate of high speed networking technologies, Robert continues to drive standards for multivendor interoperability. The company is a founding member of the High Speed Token Ring Alliance, an organisation set up in 1997 to ensure rapid standards adoption, product development and customer education. In addition, Robert previously founded the Open Token Foundation, which promoted consistent, multivendor interoperability standards for Token Ring LAN technology. Before starting Madge Networks, Robert served as Technical Director of Intelligent Software, Ltd. of England, a developer of computer programs and products ranging from custom chips and hand-held devices to computer systems. He has also held the position of General Manager at Enterprise Computers, Ltd., a British manufacturer of personal computers. Profile
TWST: Can you give us a brief overview and a little bit of the history

of Madge Networks, just to set the stage for the readers?

Mr. Madge: Madge Networks is a company that started originally