Data General Corp and its partner, Microsystem RT, one of Hungary’s highest profile private companies, are talking about setting up an assembly and testing site for AViiON servers in the country. Microsystem technical director Andras Csicseri said that although no firm decision had been taken, comprehensive local support and the availability of technical expertise were critical to the region. He suggested that Hungary may act as a support centre for Data General’s entire Eastern European operations, while a local manufacturing site could help the company secure more of the large projects currently being financed under the European Community’s PHARE scheme European-based suppliers are favoured under PHARE criteria. Data General is a relative new-comer to Hungary. But in December 1992, a month after taking a 5% stake in Microsystem, Microsystem won a contract from the National Labour Council to supply the central servers for a project, intended to computerise the management of unemployment claims. Details of the deal were previously unavailable due to the political sensitivity of unemployment issues in the country. Microsystem will supply Data General’s AViiON 6280 and 6225 servers with an FDDI link, plus a 30Gb CLARiiON RAID 5 storage subsystem. The estimated total value of the contract is between $10m and $20m, but tenders are still being assessed for the mid-range and front-end sections of the project. The Council rejected a mainframe bid from IBM Corp, even though it has supplied equipment to the organisation previously. Csicseri estimates that for Microsystem’s financial year ending September 1993, it will generate $2.5m turnover from its Data General hardware business, up from $500,000 last year. The company’s total 1991 revenues were $30m. Foreign investors include the Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction & Develop ment, and Microsystem shares its Budapest headquarters with Professor Erno Rubik of cube fame. The company was also included on the Prince of Wales’ itinerary during his 1991 tour.
