Expert systems pioneer Exsys Inc – one of the few companies in this area to have survived for more than a decade – has been acquired by MultiLogic Inc, the company it has had a development partnership with for the past year. Exsys, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has centred its business solely around the development of problem solving applications, and has been working with MultiLogic to develop facilitated decision-making business applications, available on the World Wide Web. Formed way back in 1983, Exsys has built a range of software products, including the Exsys RuleBook expert system builder, which it says are now used by 11,000 people around the world. It has agreements with companies such as AT&T Corp, Eastman Kodak Co and DuPont Co. MultiLogic will strengthen sales and marketing channels for Exsys products, and plans to expand its operations in both New Mexico and Albuquerque. The emphasis will be on proving Internet and intranet access to application that will perform low-level or routine tasks. Both companies will trade under the MultiLogic name and be based in St Paul, Minnesota with Exsys’s Albuquerque office continuing to trade. MultiLogic, which was only formed at the beginning of 1996, said from the outset that it was looking to acquire a specialist development company to expand its business and expertise.
