Oral history interview with Joseph Piscopo

Abstract

After attending the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Joseph A. Piscopo founded Pansophic Systems in 1969 and led it until his retirement in 1987. Pansophic grew rapidly during the 1970s, as its Panvalet source code management system and Easytrieve report generation software ranked among the industry's most successful products. Piscopo discusses his background as a data processing manager, the founding of Pansophic, the development of Panvalet and the acquisition of Easytrieve. Considerable attention is paid to the strategic elements of Pansophic's growth: customer relations, international expansion, product development, staffing, market position, and stock market offerings. At the conclusion of the interview, Piscopo explains the circumstances behind the firm's stumble in the late 1980s and acquisition by Computer Associates in 1991. He also deals briefly with his subsequent career as an "angel" investor in technology firms. This oral history was sponsored by the Software History Center in conjunction with the Center's ADAPSO reunion (3 May 2002).