ROLM

ROLM Corporation was a Silicon Valley technology company founded in 1969 by four electrical engineers: Gene Richeson, Ken Oshman, Walter Loewenstern, and Robert Maxfield. The company is best known for creating a computerized telephone switching system. Their initial product was the first portable, off-the-shelf ruggedized computer for the U.S. military. In 1973, the company later expanded into telecommunications with the development of the ROLM CBX, a computerized telephone switching system. ROLM’s "Great Place to Work" (GPW) culture became a model for other companies. ROLM was acquired by IBM in 1984.

When IBM partnered with the company, ROLM Mil-Spec was sold to Loral Corporation and later to Lockheed Martin in 1996 as Tactical Defense Systems. IBM's ROLM division was later half sold to Siemens AG in 1989, whereupon the manufacturing and development became wholly owned by Siemens and called ROLM Systems, while marketing and service became a joint venture of IBM with Siemens, called ROLM Company. After nearly 30 years, phone products with the name "ROLM" were discontinued in the late 1990s, as sales dropped in markets dominated by new technology with other products or other companies.