Wikipedia:PAR Technology Corporation

PAR Technology Corporation (PAR) is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in New Hartford, New York selling its computer-related products and services in 110 countries around the world.

PAR went public in 1982 and traded on NASDAQ until 1987 when it moved to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE – PAR).

Business
PAR Government sells computer products and services to the federal government, civilian agencies, state and local governments, and first responders. The company operates through the legal entity of PAR Government Systems Corporation (PGSC) and a wholly owned subsidiary, Rome Research Corporation (RRC). PAR Government is 9001:2015 certified.

Specific program support encompasses a variety of technical domains to include tactical drone controls, telemedicine in tactical settings, software defined radio, digital media forensics, and artificial intelligence/machine learning in support of human-machine teaming.

PGSC customers include the Air Force Research Labs, National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as deployable forces across all the US armed services and Special Operations Command.

RRC provides communications operations and maintenance (O&M) activities, related network and system administration, information security and service desk services.

Specific program support includes industry-leading O&M for satellite ground systems, satellite earth stations, and satellite operations centers on five continents (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia). RRC efforts have resulted in over 80 DISA SATCOM Facility of the Year Awards and exceptional CPARS. RRC customers include the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and US Agency for Global Media.

In 2019, PAR Government initiated a software product business drawing on decades of R&D image processing and GIS experience. Currently the company offers two software products.

The GV image processing suite is used by the international defense and intelligence community to analyze still and video imagery.

A second product line provides situational awareness solutions used by government and private organizations to manage rapid response teams or deployed field units. Customers include global geospatial software providers, NATO partners, public safety organizations, and the US senior intelligence agencies.

Origin (as Pattern Analysis & Recognition Corporation)
The foundation for PAR started in 1962 with the assignment of first lieutenant John W. Sammon Jr. to the Air Force's Rome Air Development Center (RADC) located in Rome, New York. Upon graduating with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1960, Sammon was selected by the Air Force to attend MIT to pursue studies in support of the Air Force's newly evolving space technology programs. Upon graduating with a master's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1962, he was assigned to the Information Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory located in Rome.

His early research work focused on pattern recognition and machine learning. This interest led to a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Syracuse University where his thesis delved further into machine learning. In 1965, Dr. Sammon programmed a neural net Machine Learning algorithm to recognize hand drawn shapes. The successful demonstration of machine learning led to the award of $1,000,000 to establish a Pattern Recognition Lab within RADC to extend his research in pattern recognition and machine learning. Over the next three years, the section grew to 26 engineers, dedicated to research applications of machine learning and pattern recognition, firmly establishing PAR's roots.

In 1968, Sammon incorporated Pattern Analysis & Recognition Corporation (later known as PAR) as a part-time consulting company while working full time at the RADC. Dr. Sammon left RADC in 1969 to work full time for his company. Charlie Constantino, Dr. Sammon's COO at RADC, joined him, and for the next 42 years they worked together to build PAR Technology Corp.

1970–1982: early years of PAR
PAR's initial business, beginning in 1970, derived solely from government sponsored contractual research and development in the new field of pattern recognition, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The company quickly gained a reputation for innovation in pattern recognition and other cutting edge areas of computer research. Its technical prominence, along with a strong relationship with the government, resulted in rapid growth.

In the early 1970s, the company was awarded numerous government R&D contracts to develop algorithms to find and classify patterns embedded in signal data (i.e., acoustic, radar, and seismic) and image data (i.e., aerial and satellite imagery, alphanumeric printing).

After a few years, Pattern Analysis & Recognition became known as simply PAR.

PAR grew rapidly from a handful of key employees to approximately 150 people by the mid-seventies This growth resulted from successful wins of an increasing number of government R&D contracts, awarded by the DoD and Intelligence Agencies. The innovative nature of these research contracts required the hiring of creative engineers and mathematicians. Staffing to support these contracts quickly became the most critical element in PAR's success. To answer this demand, the company recruited heavily from local Upstate New York universities, including RPI, Syracuse University, Clarkson University, SUNY, and Cornell University, hiring top students with PhDs and master's degrees. As a result, the company established a reputation as an innovative, high tech organization with special expertise in image and signal processing, pattern recognition, algorithm design and programming.

The company developed the On Line Pattern and Analysis System (OLPARS) which served as the test bed to create learning algorithms for numerous applications including speech recognition, optical character recognition, acoustic and seismic pattern recognition, and the detection and recognition of military targets in aerial and satellite imagery.

As PAR's reputation as a trusted DoD contractor grew within RADC Labs, in 1974, the company established Rome Research Corp (RRC) as a wholly owned subsidiary to expand its business to include technical services involving the operation of Air Force radar test sites. Over the subsequent decades, RRC expanded its technical services business to include the operation of DoD owned communications and radar sites located across the globe. Later, RRC added information technology services as a line of business.

In 1974, PAR was awarded a contract to devise and implement computer algorithms to track and predict the future location of vehicles as they moved across the ground using data from airborne radar systems. Under a Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA) funded technology demonstration program, PAR's solution was successfully tested in a 1975 White Sands test using an early version of the Army's SOTAS helicopter borne radar system. The Air Force and DARPA continued the technology demonstration under the code name Pave Mover where PAR provided tracking/prediction algorithms as a subcontractor to Hughes Aircraft Corporation. By 1985, Pave Mover evolved into Northrup Grumman's Joint STARS program under which PAR, became the subcontractor to Grumman for the next 30 years, providing computer software to detect and track ground based moving vehicles. The JSTARS system, while still in development, was very successfully used in the 1990 Desert Storm Iraq War to locate, track and strike Iraq force movements.

By 1976 the company had developed skills in algorithm development, programming, and microprocessor hardware implementation. These skills were employed to initiate a technology transfer project to develop a unique POS system targeted for McDonald's. The system was architected with no single point of failure, assuring the high reliability required in a busy QSR restaurant. In order to pursue this commercial business, the company created PAR Microsystems Inc. (PMI) as wholly owned subsidiary. In 1980, PAR Microsystems became McDonald's sole approved supplier of POS systems. Over the next two years, growth accelerated with the capture of the Taco Bell and KFC accounts, and the international expansion to England, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.

In 1982, with exponential growth of both revenue and profits, PAR went public listing its stock on NASDAQ.

1982 to present: PAR the holding company
After completing a very successful public offering in 1982, PAR Technology Corp. began operating essentially as a holding company composed of two wholly-owned subsidiaries. PAR Microsystems Inc. (PMI) (renamed PAR Technology Inc. (PTI) in 1997) focused on commercial business. The second, PAR Government Services Corp (PGSC), along with its wholly owned subsidiary Rome Research Corp (RRC), focused on government contractual business.

In 1983, PAR acquired Transaction Control Industries (TCI) from Church's Fried Chicken and integrated it into PTI, along with new accounts including the Church's and Roy Rogers chains.

The company experienced exponential growth in the early 1980s. In 1984 Financial World Magazine ranked PAR 117th among the top 500 growth companies in America based on a five-year earnings history.

In 1985, with average annual organic growth in excess of 32 percent, Forbes ranked PAR as 26th of the 4,000 Best Small Businesses in America; Over the Counter Review named PAR the 9th-fastest growing NASDAQ company based on a five-year history.

In 1986 Business Week ranked PAR 88th of 4,400 Public Companies with sales less than $150,000,000.

Starting in the mid 1980s and continuing in the 1990s, following the success of it first technology transfer resulting in the capture of the McDonald's' POS business, PAR initiated several technology transfer projects in efforts to create new commercial businesses.

In 1987, PAR moved from the NASDAQ exchange to the NYSE (and in 2009 changed its symbol tag to "PAR.")

In 1988, PAR acquired the POS Division of Norand and integrated it into PMI, thereby acquiring major accounts in the convenience store market including the 7-Eleven, Cumberland Farms, and Stop & Go.

In 1990, PAR exited the convenience business with the bankruptcy of the two largest client chains, 7-Eleven and Circle K.

In 1996, PAR acquired ISSI, a small Boca Raton-based POS software company in order to move from its proprietary POS software to an open client-server technology platform.

In 1996, PAR executed a secondary capital raise via the sale of 1.9 million shares at $15.

In 1997, PAR officially changed the name of its commercial subsidiary to PAR Technology Inc. (PTI). Prior to this event, the name was PAR Microsystems (PMI).

In 2004, PAR acquired two software companies, Springer Miller Systems and Pixel Point Technologies. Springer Miller was the largest supplier of property management systems to the luxury hotel and spa market. The purchase of Pixel added a complementary POS table-service software product and a new distribution channel via third party dealers.

In 2005 PAR executed a 3 for 2 stock split.

In 2014, PAR acquired Brink Software Inc. Brink's cloud-based POS software would provide the strategic foundation for the future growth of PTI's restaurant technology business.

PAR's acquisition of Brink fulfilled a strategic objective to offer native cloud based POS software. This acquisition, led by CEO, Karen Sammon, marked the beginning of PAR's transformation to a software driven company.

In 2018, Savneet Singh joined PAR's board and became CEO & President of PAR. Following his appointment as CEO, Singh initiated a dramatic restructuring in order to accelerate PAR's strategy to grow its cloud-based software restaurant technology solutions business.

In 2019, PAR raised $80 million through a convertible debt offering.

In 2019 PAR acquired 3M's Drive Thru Business and also acquired Restaurant Magic, a provider of cloud-based, SaaS back office software. Both acquisitions operate within the PTI organizational structure.

In 2020, the company executed a second convertible debt offering, raising $105 million. The second offering allowed PAR to pay down $60 million of the earlier debt, resulting in additional investment capital and more favorable terms on its outstanding debt.

In September 2020, the company sold 3,350,000 of its common stock at $28/share.

History of Par Tech, Inc. (prior to 1997 known as PAR Microsystems (PMI))
In the mid 70s, PMI captured the McDonald's account transforming the company.

While working at PAR, Chief Operating Officer Charlie Constantino acquired ownership of a McDonald's franchise in Canandaigua, New York. After noticing the inefficient way customer orders were tallied, PAR began internal research to build a prototype model of what is today a POS terminal.

In 1976, Dr. Sammon met with McDonald's executives at its headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois with the intent to demonstrate a crude prototype of a new type of POS terminal. This meeting was a transformative event in PAR's history. Unknown to PAR, McDonald's had been working with two large companies to develop POS systems and had progressed to the point of rolling out one of the systems. During the meeting, Dr. Sammon observed that both systems were CPU architected which meant that the counter terminals depended on the in-store central processor to function, whereas PAR's terminals were self-contained with internal stored programming. This was a critical difference in PAR's architecture since it had “no single point of failure” meaning that if one terminal failed, the remaining in-store terminals would continue to operate, whereas in the CPU design, a failure of the central processor would bring the entire store down.

At the time, McDonald's felt that their solution was adequate and so PAR's offering was rejected. Recognizing the potential superiority of PAR's design, the company continued building and installing POS systems in other restaurants. By 1978, after experiencing many instances of CPU failures shutting down restaurants at busy times; McDonald's agreed to run a 30 stores test of PAR's stand alone POS. After initial success, the test expanded to 50 stores and then 130 stores. In 1980, the company became the sole approved POS vendor for McDonald's. With this event, PAR became a fast growing technology company supplying solutions to both the commercial and government markets.

Upon winning the McDonald's account, PAR spun out its newly created commercial business to a wholly owned subsidiary, PAR Microsystems Inc (PMI), which would go on to become PAR Tech, Inc (PTI).

By 1988, PAR Microsystems became the largest supplier of computer-based POS systems to the international restaurant sector with customers including McDonald's, Taco Bell, and KFC. plus other smaller chains.< In the late 80s, the company Initiated a business partnership with IBM. IBM sought to sell ruggedized data collection terminals to their factory floor customers to complement their newly released ruggedized Personal Computer. Noting PAR's success in producing ruggedized POS terminals for the harsh QSR market, IBM contracted with PAR to fulfill this need.

This relationship served as the foundation for PAR's Industrial Transaction Processing Systems (ITPS) business. Over time, PAR moved beyond manufacturing terminals for IBM and developed a data collection software suite which was also sold under the IBM logo.

Over the next decade, IBM installed PAR's data collection products widely in their manufacturing sector business. As this business accelerated, the company incorporated Ausable Systems as a wholly owned subsidiary to pursue the ITPS business. Over the next decade, PAR's products were widely used by many manufacturing companies involving several industries including: Cargill, Goodyear, Mercedes Benz, NEC America, Nissan, TeePac, Wainwright, and Whirlpool, GE Lighting, Spartan Mills, Hilton Casino, McDonnell Douglas, Cabletron, Wacker, Samsung, and Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Boeing, Monsanto and Harrah's.

Over the next few decades, PTI added several versions of its ruggedized line of POS terminals, releasing both keyboard and touch screen models. Beginning in 2009 PTI released the EverServ line of POS terminals including its Models 6000, 7000, and 8000.

In 1996, PAR acquired ISSI, a small Boca Raton-based POS software company in order to move from its proprietary POS software to an open client-server technology platform. In 1998, PTI released the Infusion Enterprise POS software suite consisting of lntouch, a POS front of store module; Inform, a back of house reporting software module; and Insight, an enterprise reporting product.

In 1997, in order to stress the increasingly important role of software in its restaurant solutions, PAR Microsystems Inc was officially renamed PAR Technology Inc.

Beginning in 1995, PAR's government company PGSC, was funded by various government organizations, including the Department of Transportation, to develop logistical technology to track intermodal cargo transported over road, rail and sea. In 2003, via technology transfer, PAR transitioned its government sponsored-logistics technology to PTI in order to pursue the commercial applications of its Logistics Management Systems (LMS). The LMS division developed, manufactured, sold, and supported the Cargo•Mate mobile tracking system focused on the safe transport of refrigerated food products. Customers included McDonald's, Tyson, Sysco, Whole Foods, CR England, and JB Hunt.

In 2004, PAR acquired Springer Miller, the largest supplier of property management software to the luxury hotel and spa market. The newly named PAR Springer Miller company supplied property management software to more than 500 luxury hotels and resorts located around the world. Customers included the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Pebble Beach Resorts, Amelia Island Plantation, Delaware North Companies, Kohler's American Club, New York Palace Hotel, and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel chain.

Also in 2004, PAR acquired Pixel Point Technologies, a Toronto-based table service POS software company with distribution via a dealer channel. Up to this time, PTl 's primary focus was on QSR restaurants which were almost exclusively operated by large national or international chains requiring a direct salesforce. Table serve restaurants were typically owned and operated by smaller businesses and were best served via an indirect dealer channel. Thus, the Pixel acquisition rounded out PTl's restaurant offerings by adding 5,000 new customers with POS software installed in 20,000 table service restaurants, all sold via an established dealer channel.

In 2010, PTI expanded it technology product line by creating SureCheck, a Food Safety reporting system. The system consisted of a handheld device with a temperature probe and a mobile app used to check the temperature of food products in order to assure HACCP food safety compliance. Product checklists were downloaded from a native cloud system and data from the mobile devices were in turn uploaded to produce management reports and archival records of compliance. Beginning in 2012, PTI rolled out SureCheck to all of the Walmart and Sam's Clubs throughout the world. Other customers were Wegman's, Whole Foods, Microsoft and IKEA. In 2019, in order to better focus on its growing restaurant POS business, PAR sold Surecheck to Procurant

From 2010 to 2014, PAR focused PTl's business on its restaurant technology business, divesting Ausable Systems, Springer Miller, and its Logistics Management businesses.

In 2014, after several failed attempts to create a native cloud-based POS system, PAR acquired Brink, a San Diego software company with an installed base of 1,300 stores running its native cloud-based POS software. The acquisition, lead by then CEO, Karen Sammon, marked a seminal event in PAR's history with the successful start of PAR's transition to cloud-based SaaS for its POS products.

In 2015, Brink was selected by Five Guys to be installed in all of its 1,500 restaurants.

In 2017, Arby's committed to installing Brink in all 1,050 corporately-owned restaurants.

At the end of 2018, Brink software was installed in 7,257 stores. The next year, Brink was selected by Dairy Queen for its 6,000 stores. It was also tapped for the 3,600 locations of CKE Restaurants, parent company of the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito fast food restaurant brands.

In 2019 PAR acquired 3M's Drive Thru Business and also acquired Restaurant Magic, a provider of cloud-based, SaaS back office software.

In October 2020, PTI launched PAR Payment Services, an all-in-one payment solution for restaurants.

By the end of 2020, Brink solutions were installed in 11,515 restaurants and Restaurant Magic back office was installed in 5,892 restaurants. Total SaaS annual recurring revenue ARR grew to $33.1 million.

History of PAR Government Systems Corp: 1982 to present
In 1983, as part of President Regan's Star Wars Program, the company was awarded a contract to develop algorithms to track and predict the path of Soviet launched objects (i.e. space weapons) using data from satellite IR sensors. These algorithms were developed for the Space Defense Operations Center located in the North America Defense Command (NORAD) located in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado Springs, CO.

In 1985, PAR formalized the organizational structure of its government businesses creating PAR Government Systems Corp (PGSC) as a wholly owned subsidiary of PAR Technology Corp (PAR). In turn, RRC became a wholly owned subsidiary of PGSC.

During the 1990s PAR was supported by a growing and profitable government contractual business that permitted the funding of several experimental transfers of technology in efforts to create new commercial business opportunities. Specifically, the company initiated three development projects involving advanced image processing and pattern recognition technology; one involving X-Ray imaging, a second involving imaging of the human retina, and the third involving precise mapping of the human cornea. A fourth project was funded to develop ruggedized plant floor data collection terminals for the manufacturing industry.

The application of image processing and pattern recognition technology to X-Ray Inspection resulted in the Qscan system which was used in food production facilities to detect and reject packaged/bottled containers with foreign contaminants such as glass, metal shards and stones, as they moved along a conveyor belt at speeds up to 1,100 packages per minute. Qscan was installed in a variety of manufacturing environments including Heinz, Beechnut, and Unilever.

Two commercial systems were created for the ophthalmology market, one focused on retinal imaging and the other on corneal topography mapping. The retinal imaging system involved the computerized imaging of the retina coupled with innovative algorithmic image enhancement techniques thereby enhancing a physician's ability to diagnose and treat retinal diseases. The corneal topography mapping system involved computerized imaging to precisely map the topology of the cornea in preparation for, and execution of, reshaping the cornea using lasers. This system was widely deployed in many prestigious ophthalmology teaching hospitals and laser surgical centers.

By the time of the September 11th 2001 attacks and the subsequent sharp market decline, the company had decided to wind down and divest its interests in these four experimental technology transfer efforts in  order to focus on its hospitality and government businesses.

In 1995, PAR received a contract from the National Institute for Environmental Renewal to investigate the application of technology to improve the safe transport of hazardous materials. This work led to a contract from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to design and prototype a logistics management system for tracking cargo as it moved through an intermodal transportation system (rail, road, and sea). This funding resulted in the Cargo•Mate product. PAR would later establish a Logistics Management System division within PTI with Cargo•Mate as its principle asset.

In 2000, the company's government business celebrated 30 years of profitable performance, growing from a few hundred thousand dollars in 1970 to over $25 million.

In the early 2000s, based on its long experience with image processing technology, the company won several contracts involving flood plain mapping. These contracts strengthened the company's capabilities in the emerging field of geographic information systems (GIS) and served as a foundational basis for future intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) products, including situational awareness.

During the mid to late 2000s, PGSC's Rome Research subsidiary was awarded several large contracts in support of Navy and Army communications facilities strategically located around the world, including the company's largest contract at $46 million in 2009.

By 2010, PGSC achieved 40 years of profitable performance, growing to over $76 million with a record backlog of $190 million.

In 2014, based on extensive experience in image and video processing, and GIS, PGSC was awarded a contract to develop a mobile situational awareness product to be used by DOD Special Forces to coordinate and communicate the activities of team members by displaying on an Android mobile device, the location of each member on a map background along with data such as video from overhead drones. This contract subsequently provided significant growth in the area of ISR, and led to a commercial partnership with Esri, the global market leader in GIS. Beginning in 2015, PGSC expanded its business in several growing areas: the military use of drones focusing on countermeasure exploration for dealing with adversary UASs; high performance computing for NSA; and with DARPA, the computerized detection of fraudulent data in text, video, images, and audio.

By the end of 2020, PGSC had completed 50 consecutive years of profitable performance.