Quark Publishing System example essay topic

Quark Incorporated develops software for use in professional electronic publishing and communication technologies. Quark software is used by customers to create everything from catalogs, brochures, and packaging to newspapers, magazines, and books. Quark is also at the forefront as the communications mediums move from print to electronic distribution In 1981, Tim Gill found himself out of work after more than 10 years in the computer industry. Not wishing to continue being rejected by employers who did not need his skills, he went into business for himself. Since he was more interested in software than hardware and since developing software was a less expensive proposition, that's where he started. He founded Quark Inc. in his Denver, Colorado apartment.

He named the company after the subatomic particle generally considered the building block for all matter. He also considered that a word starting with a Q would stand out in lists. Gill's first project was to tackle the word processing program that Apple had been promising for the Apple but had not delivered. Knowing people were anxiously awaiting this program, Gill spent 10-12 hour days on a borrowed Apple computer writing the program.

Three months later, Quark produced the first word-processing program for the Apple before any other vendor, including Apple. The new program was called Word Juggler and within six weeks Gill was able to pay back the $2000 he'd borrowed to pay for its development. Gill then set to work on a project he'd been thinking about for 10 years. In its original conception, Gill considered it to be a "very fancy" word processing program. But Gill and a handful of his programmers kept adding features until it suddenly wasn't a word processing program anymore, bu a desktop publishing program. In 1987, QuarkXPress was born.

Quark was not the first company to present a desktop publishing program. Aldus had introduced its program called PageMaker the year before. But Quark's designers were not concerned about PageMaker or Apple's requirements while doing their development. Instead, they contacted potential users, like typesetters, and discovered exactly what they wanted in a product.

Their subsequent program contained many desirable high-end features that appealed to a number of customers. At first, Apple threw its support behind Aldus. Although this could have been the death knell for Quark, instead of fighting on the same field, Quark changed tactics. It priced QuarkXPress $100 more than PageMaker and presented it as a superior product for companies that needed and could handle its expanded features. The ploy worked and QuarkXPress began to sell. Even smaller companies that did not need all of the features Quark offered, began to buy the program so that they would be using the same software as the larger printing companies.

Over the next few years, Quark effectively took the desktop publishing market away from Aldus. In 1986, Gill, who preferred the technical over the administrative part of the business, sold half of the company to Fred Ebrahimi, an experienced business manager, who became president and CEO. Gill continued as Quark's chairman and chief technology officer. Under Ebrahimi's leadership, Quark expanded to include international operations by opening a distribution and manufacturing facility in Cork, Ireland in 1988.

By 1996, Quark had customer service and technical support offices in Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The office in Germany also develops client / server and communications technologies. In 1992, Quark restructured its growing company into teams, with each team responsible for a single project and operating like its own small company. In another departure from normal corporate operations, Quark created XChange, a distribution and marketing firm that it does not own, for small companies that build XPress peripherals. And Quark encourages small companies to create these peripheral products, believing that any programs they develop will only add value to QuarkXPress and open new customer markets. Also in 1992, Quark introduced a version of QuarkXPress for Windows, expanding its market beyond the Apple Macintosh for the first time.

With the Windows-based PC platform in mind, Quark subsequently introduced Quark XPress Passport which provided desktop publishing in 13 languages and launched the Quark Publishing System. In mid 1994, Quark was growing so rapidly that it launched a nationwide search for skilled employees and experienced management. The successful personnel recruitment helped the company become more departmentalized and increased their ability to handle the ever-expanding workload. In 1990, Quark had approximately 70 employees. By the fall of 1994 there were 425 employees worldwide, with 350 of those in Denver. Although, by the end of 1995 Quark had cornered more than 70 percent of the publishing software market with QuarkXPress, it was faced with increased rivalry from Adobe Systems Inc., which had merged with the Aldus Corp. (whose founder, Paul Brainerd, actually coined the term "desktop publishing").

Throughout 1995, rumors circulated that Quark was about to go public as a means to raise capital for the battle against Adobe. Gill and Ebrahimi denied the rumors by pointing to the fact that the company had $50 million in the bank and zero debt. The end of fiscal 1995 saw Quark post record sales of $200 million. Despite these successes, industry insiders still believed the company was laying the groundwork for a move. In February 1996, Quark acquired part ownership of Colossal Pictures, a 20-year old company that produces and designs films. Colossal specialized in live action, cell animation, photo and stop-motion techniques, motion control, as well as clay, computer, and performance animation.

The acquisition of Colossal provided Quark with access to TV commercial, cable television programming, CD-ROMs, and interactive movie production. In October 1996, Quark entered into an agreement with Oracle Corporation to develop a line of Internet publishing solutions that combined Quark's print, multimedia, and Internet technologies with Oracle's WebServer and Universal Server products. The Quark / Oracle electronic publishing venture would allow customers to deliver a wide variety of services and online-storefronts to Internet users. Quark's major products include: QuarkXPress - a desktop publishing software that allows users to lay out text, photographs, and graphics. QuarkXPress Passport - contains all of the features and capabilities of QuarkXPress but adds the ability to handle multiple-language documents QuarkImmedia - Multimedia and Internet communications software that can be used to create projects for the Internet, Intranet, CD-ROM, kiosk, and print marketplace. Quark Publishing System (QPS) - high-performance, server-based editorial management system that provides page layout, word processing, and file tracking software for workgroup publishing environments.

Quark Digital Media System - The solution for digital content management. Like many successful companies in the computer industry, Quark started with one man and an idea. Unlike many other start-up entrepreneurial companies in the industry, Quark is still around, still growing, and still successful. The company has followed a simple premise-find out what the customer needs and wants and develop it.

Today, Quark is a leader in the high-end, professional electronic publishing and design industry. More than 1 million users in more than 100 countries worldwide rely on Quark products to create, design, and manage the production of their documents - from newspapers, magazines, books, and CD-ROMs to catalogs, brochures, packaging, and online material. Quark is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has more than 550 employees. The company is privately held.

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