Editing Wang Laboratories (section)

==Final years==
{{plain image with caption|File:Wang Global wordmark.svg|Wang Global wordmark|200px}}
Wang Labs emerged from bankruptcy on September 20, 1993.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/21/business/company-news-wang-laboratories-emerges-from-bankruptcy.html |title= Company news; wang laboratories emerges from bankruptcy |date=September 21, 1993 |work=New York Times |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref> As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, the company's iconic headquarters, [[Wang Towers]] in Lowell, was sold at auction. The complex, which cost $60 million to build and housed 4,500 workers in over a million square feet (100,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of office space, was sold in 1994 for $525,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/17/business/company-news-wang-headquarters-auctioned-for-525000.html |title=COMPANY NEWS; Wang Headquarters Auctioned for $525,000 |agency=Associated Press |date=February 17, 1994 |work=New York Times |access-date=August 20, 2014 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The renovated complex, which is now known as Cross Point, was sold in 1998 to a joint venture of Yale Properties and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors for a price reported to be over $100 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2000/08/14/story7.html?page=all |title=Wang Towers team shifts focus onto development |date=August 14, 2000 |work=Boston Business Journal |access-date=March 1, 2013 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

The company emerged from bankruptcy with $200 million in hand and embarked on a course of acquisition and self-reinvention, eschewing its former role as an innovative designer and manufacturer of computers and related systems. Later in the 1990s, and under the guidance of then CEO [[Joseph M. Tucci|Joe Tucci]], with the acquisition of the Olsy division of [[Olivetti]], the company changed its name to Wang Global. By then, Wang had settled on "network services" as its chosen business.

The most advanced VS system, capable of supporting over 1,000 users{{snd}}the VS18000 Model 950{{snd}}was released in 1999, and smaller models based on the same CPU chip were released in 2000{{snd}}the VS6760 and the VS6780. These were the last VS-based hardware systems.<ref>{{cite web|title=VINTAGE COMPUTER: WANG LABORATORIES |website=horniger |url=http://www.horniger.de/computer/wang/index.html#links |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121121051/http://www.horniger.de/computer/wang/index.html |archive-date=21 January 2022}}</ref>

[[Kodak]] acquired the Wang Software arm in 1997, strengthening its position in the then-booming document imaging and workflow market.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB920851519832467500|title=Kodak Seeks to Sell Software Unit It Purchased From Wang in 1997|last=Klein|first=Alec|date=March 8, 1999|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=December 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160520190153/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB920851519832467500|archive-date=2016-05-20|url-status=dead|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

In 1999, Wang Global, by then back up to $3.5 billion in annual revenues, was acquired by [[Getronics]] of The Netherlands, a $1.5 billion network services company active only in parts of Europe and Australia. Joe Tucci departed Wang after the acquisition. Wang Labs then became Getronics North America.

In 2005, Getronics announced<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transvirtualsystems.com/getronics-tvs-release.pdf |title=GETRONICS AND TRANSVIRTUAL SYSTEMS DELIVER GETRONICS' NEXT GENERATION OF WANG VS COMPUTER SYSTEMS |website=Transvirtualsystems.com |access-date=2016-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611085842/http://www.transvirtualsystems.com/getronics-tvs-release.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> New VS (VSGX), a product designed to run the VS operating system and all VS software on [[Intel 80x86]] and [[IBM Power microprocessors|IBM POWER]] machines under Linux or Unix, using a [[hardware abstraction]] layer. The product was a joint commercial effort of Getronics and [[TransVirtual Systems]], developers of the Wang VS virtualization technology that makes the New VS possible. VS software can be run under New VS without program or data conversion. The New VS combines configured mainstream [[IBM PC compatible|PC]] or [[PowerPC]] server hardware running virtualization software. It is interoperable with SCSI-based Wang VS tape and disk drives, which provide a means of restoring VS files from standard backup tapes or copying VS disk drives. Wang networking and clustering are supported over TCP/IP.

In 2007, Getronics operations worldwide were divided and sold to companies in respective local geographies. Dutch telecommunications operator [[KPN]] acquired Getronics in North America and some parts of Europe. In July 2008, Getronics North America (now an arm of KPN) announced the ending of support for the legacy VS line as existing contracts expired,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transvirtualsystems.com/press_release.pdf |title=Getronics Announces End of Support For Legacy Getronics Wang VS Systems |website=Transvirtualsystems.com |access-date=2016-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611085814/http://www.transvirtualsystems.com/press_release.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and that TransVirtual Systems would be exclusive reseller of the New VS platform. In August 2008, KPN sold Getronics North America to [[CompuCom]] of Dallas, Texas.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/06/23/afx5141779.html | work=Forbes | title=KPN's Getronics enters partnership with CompuCom, sells North American ops | date=June 23, 2008}}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The Wang VS product line, not actively marketed since the 1993 bankruptcy and a tiny portion of the Getronics business, survived in use into the 21st century; by 2006, about 1,000 to 2,000 systems remained in service worldwide. In 2014, CompuCom announced that all support for legacy VS systems would cease at the end of 2014, while support for New VS systems would continue through TransVirtual Systems.<ref name=VS.End2014>{{cite web |url=http://www.transvirt.com/VSGX-Support.pdf |title=Re: VGSX Ongoing Support |author=Hack Gostl |date=July 1, 2014 |publisher=TransVirtual Systems |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref>