Microsoft Development Center Norway

Microsoft Development Center Norway is a Norwegian software-development organization based in Oslo. It originated as Fast Search & Transfer ASA, commonly known as FAST, a company founded in 1997 by researchers and entrepreneurs associated with the Department of Computer and Information Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Before its acquisition by Microsoft, FAST developed search infrastructure for large collections of structured and unstructured information and supplied products to enterprises, publishers, online services, software vendors and other organizations. FAST's central technology was the FAST Enterprise Search Platform, or FAST ESP. Rather than being only a consumer web-search engine, ESP was designed as a service-oriented platform for collecting information from multiple sources, transforming and enriching it, building searchable indexes, and exposing search and discovery capabilities to applications. The platform supported enterprise information access, content discovery, online and mobile search, publishing workflows, market intelligence, e-commerce catalogs and embedded-search scenarios. FAST also built specialized applications on top of the platform, including tools for advertising, data cleansing, commerce search and business-intelligence dashboards. The company grew through alliances with technology and distribution partners and through contracts with large international customers. Its early history included work connected with Internet search, including FAST Web Search and AlltheWeb, but in 2003 it sold its Internet division to Overture Services, later acquired by Yahoo!, and concentrated more heavily on enterprise search. FAST introduced FAST ESP commercially in 2004, expanded its international office network and partner ecosystem, and developed sector-specific offerings such as FAST Impulse and FAST Advisor. It also participated in research programs addressing next-generation information access and audiovisual search, including the Norwegian Information Access Disruptions center and the European PHAROS project. FAST became a public company on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2001. Its rapid expansion was followed by serious financial and governance problems in 2007. The company disclosed that revenue recognition practices had overstated earlier expectations, including recognition associated with unsigned memoranda of understanding. Revenue forecasts were reduced, operating losses increased, customer receivables were written down, staffing reductions were announced, and trading in the shares was suspended while prior accounts were reviewed. Norwegian authorities subsequently investigated possible accounting irregularities, and Økokrim searched the company's Oslo offices in 2008. These events formed a major part of FAST's final independent-company history. Microsoft announced an agreement to acquire FAST in January 2008. The transaction received support from major shareholders, and Microsoft controlled approximately 97.37 percent of FAST shares by April. FAST was delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange in May 2008 and became part of Microsoft's search and enterprise-software activities. The organization was subsequently known as Microsoft Development Center Norway. In 2009, John Lervik left the Microsoft subsidiary and Bjørn Olstad assumed leadership of the enterprise-search group. Microsoft later sold FAST's Folio and NXT businesses to Rocket Software in 2009. The present-day entity is therefore best understood as a Microsoft development center rather than as an independent FAST-branded public company, although FAST remains the historical identity associated with its technology and products.

Fast Search & Transfer began in 1997 in an academic and research environment connected with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Professor Arne Halaas contributed to the company's early development, while John M. Lervik, an NTNU student and early employee, became its chief executive. The company announced alliances with organizations including Lycos, Dell and TIBCO and made its first commercial product launch in 1999. During the early 2000s, FAST built an international customer and partner base that included major technology companies, online services, publishers and enterprise-software providers. It completed an initial public offering in June 2001 and traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under FAST. In 2003, FAST sold its Internet division, including AlltheWeb and related search properties, to Overture Services. This transaction marked a strategic shift away from consumer and general Internet search toward enterprise information access. FAST introduced the FAST Enterprise Search Platform in January 2004. ESP used a service-oriented architecture to support data extraction, transformation, indexing and search across heterogeneous repositories. The company expanded offices and partnerships across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, and added specialized applications for commerce, advertising, publishing, portals, mobile search and business intelligence. FAST was placed in Gartner's Leader's Quadrant for information-access technology during this period. It also hosted or participated in research initiatives, including Information Access Disruptions and the European Commission-supported PHAROS audiovisual-search project. The company's rapid growth deteriorated in 2007. FAST disclosed that changes to its financial controls had reduced expected revenue substantially and that some revenue had been recognized without signed contracts. It later reported large operating losses, declining license revenue and significant write-offs of customer debt. The company announced a staff-reduction program and sought to concentrate resources on its advertising and monetization products. Governance turmoil followed, including board resignations and shareholder demands for changes to the board. Trading in FAST shares was suspended in December 2007 while the company reviewed its accounts for 2006 and its preliminary 2007 results. Microsoft announced in January 2008 that it would acquire FAST. The transaction was supported by major shareholders, Microsoft obtained control of most shares in April, and the stock was delisted in May. FAST became part of Microsoft's enterprise-search activities and was subsequently known as Microsoft Development Center Norway. Norwegian authorities continued to examine possible accounting misconduct: the Financial Supervisory Authority referred anomalies to police, and Økokrim searched FAST's Oslo offices in October 2008. John Lervik resigned from the Microsoft subsidiary in January 2009, with Bjørn Olstad taking over leadership of the enterprise-search group. Microsoft sold the Folio and NXT businesses to Rocket Software later in 2009. The historical FAST business is consequently both a former publicly listed search-software company and the predecessor of Microsoft's Norwegian development center.

1. 2010Known as Microsoft Development Center Norway

   The former FAST organization operates under Microsoft's Norwegian development-center identity.

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2. 2009Folio and NXT divested

   Microsoft sells the Folio and NXT businesses to Rocket Software.

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3. 2008Microsoft acquisition completed

   Microsoft takes control of FAST and the company is removed from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

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4. 2007Financial controls and accounting crisis

   FAST revises revenue expectations, reports heavy losses and begins reviewing prior financial statements.

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5. 2004FAST ESP introduced

   The company launches its enterprise-search platform for indexing and retrieving information from diverse sources.

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6. 2003Internet division sold

   FAST sells its Internet-search activities to Overture Services and focuses on enterprise search.

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7. 2001Initial public offering

   FAST lists on the Oslo Stock Exchange under ticker FAST.

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8. 1999First commercial product launch

   FAST moves from early research and alliances into commercial product delivery.

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9. 1997Fast Search & Transfer is founded

   The company is established in Norway with roots in the NTNU computer-science research community.

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Historically positioned as an enterprise search and information-access technology specialist, with a platform approach combining content ingestion, extraction, transformation, indexing, retrieval and application-specific search experiences. After Microsoft's acquisition, the business became part of Microsoft's software-development organization in Norway.

• FAST Enterprise Search PlatformEnterprise search platform2004

  FAST ESP was the company's principal enterprise-search platform. Its service-oriented architecture supported connectors and ETL-style processing for collecting content from multiple repositories, transforming structured and unstructured data, creating searchable indexes and delivering retrieval capabilities to applications. It was used for internal information access, external websites, mobile experiences, publishing, commerce, market intelligence and embedded search.

• FAST Ad MomentumOnline advertising technology

  FAST Ad Momentum was a search-related advertising and monetization application. During the company's 2007 restructuring, management emphasized this area as a potential source of growth while reducing attention on some older product functions.

• FAST Data CleansingData-management software

  FAST Data Cleansing addressed the preparation of structured information held in multiple repositories. It was intended to improve consistency and quality before data was indexed or exposed through enterprise-search applications.

• FAST ImpulseE-commerce search

  FAST Impulse was a commerce-oriented search and discovery application built on FAST's underlying platform. It targeted online catalogs and e-commerce experiences where product indexing, navigation and retrieval were central to the customer journey.

• FAST RadarBusiness intelligence

  FAST Radar was a dashboard and business-intelligence application designed to help users monitor information and trends through search-derived views. It represented FAST's effort to extend search technology into analytical and decision-support use cases.

• FAST AdvisorPortal and directory search

  FAST Advisor was a specialized search solution aimed at Internet yellow pages, portals and related directory-style services. It used FAST's indexing and retrieval capabilities for focused, domain-specific information access.

• FolioReference-content publishing software

  Folio was an application suite for publishing and indexing reference material to discs, network workstations and online destinations. Microsoft sold the business to Rocket Software after acquiring FAST.

• NXTContent publishing and indexing software

  NXT was a complementary content-publishing and indexing suite associated with FAST's reference-information business. It was transferred to Rocket Software along with Folio in 2009.

• 2007FAST Ad Momentum monetization focus

  International

  As financial pressure increased, FAST directed more attention toward Ad Momentum and search-related advertising monetization.

  Outcome. The initiative did not prevent the company's acquisition by Microsoft in 2008.

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• 2009Divestiture of Folio and NXTM&A

  Following the acquisition, Microsoft held complementary reference-content publishing businesses that were not retained within the core organization.

  What changed. Microsoft sold Folio and NXT to Rocket Software.

  Aftermath. The divestiture narrowed the portfolio associated with the former FAST business.

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• 2008Microsoft acquisitionM&A

  FAST's accounting crisis and strategic position created pressure for a change in ownership.

  What changed. FAST's board unanimously accepted Microsoft's takeover offer, supported by major institutional shareholders.

  Aftermath. Microsoft obtained control, FAST was delisted, and the organization became Microsoft Development Center Norway.

  Announced transaction value. Approximately US$1.2 billion (Announced January 2008)

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• 2007Cost reduction and monetization strategyStrategy

  Revenue revisions, customer-payment problems and large operating losses placed the independent company under acute financial pressure.

  What changed. FAST announced staff reductions, sought to reduce its operating-cost base and emphasized its Ad Momentum monetization business.

  Aftermath. The company remained financially unstable and accepted Microsoft's takeover offer the following year.

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• 2004Launch of FAST ESPProduct launch

  Customers needed to search across increasingly diverse structured and unstructured information sources.

  What changed. FAST introduced a service-oriented enterprise-search platform supporting content ingestion, transformation, indexing and retrieval.

  Aftermath. ESP became the foundation for FAST's sector-specific search applications and enterprise deployments.

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• 2003Refocus on enterprise searchStrategy

  FAST operated both Internet-search properties and enterprise-search activities.

  What changed. It sold the Internet division, including AlltheWeb, to Overture Services and concentrated on enterprise information access.

  Aftermath. The decision established enterprise search as the company's principal strategic identity before its Microsoft acquisition.

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• 2008Norwegian criminal investigationControversy

  Norwegian financial authorities referred suspected anomalies in FAST's accounts to police, and Økokrim searched the company's Oslo offices as part of an investigation into possible pre-acquisition misconduct.

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• 2007Revenue-recognition and financial-control controversyControversy

  FAST disclosed that revenue expectations had been materially overstated and attributed the problem to financial-control weaknesses, including recognition associated with unsigned memoranda of understanding and difficulties collecting customer payments.

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• 2007Account restatement and governance turmoilControversy

  The company reviewed prior accounts, suspended share trading and experienced board-level conflict and resignations during a period of severe losses and declining software-license revenue.

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• 2009FAST leadership changes after acquisition

  John Lervik left the Microsoft subsidiary and Bjørn Olstad assumed responsibility for the enterprise-search group.

  Leadership change
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• 2009Microsoft sells Folio and NXT businesses to Rocket Software

  Microsoft divested the Folio and NXT application suites, which were used to publish and index reference content.

  M&A
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• 2008Microsoft agrees to acquire FAST

  Microsoft announced a takeover valued at approximately 1.2 billion US dollars, with backing from major FAST shareholders.

  M&A
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• 2008FAST is delisted after Microsoft acquisition

  Microsoft obtained control of the overwhelming majority of FAST shares, and FAST was removed from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

  M&A
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• 2003FAST sells its Internet search division

  The company sold its Internet-focused operations, including AlltheWeb, to Overture Services and refocused on enterprise search.

  M&A
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• 2001FAST completes its initial public offering

  FAST became publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the symbol FAST.

  Other
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• 1999FAST launches its first commercial products

  Fast Search & Transfer moved from research and development into commercial product delivery.

  Product launch
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1. Microsoft Development Center Norway