Homegrown software.

• Author: Gibbs, John R.

Indiana a big software player? Believe it--from statistical-process-control systems to the "Data Digger" program for funeral homes.

Quick. Think of a software industry hub. Northern California or Eastern Massachusetts? How about Indiana!

According to Dun & Bradstreet, the number of companies within the Indiana software industry include 350 in computer-programming services, 192 in prepackaged software, 143 in computer-integrated systems design, and 206 in computer-processing and data-preparation-and-processing services. For a state known for agriculture and manufacturing, that's pretty good.

The Indiana Department of Commerce supports the growth of this industry and has helped many software companies. The Indiana Software Association recently received a Strategic Development Fund grant for matching dollars to help develop the industry within the state. The Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corp. has also helped several software companies and has a Software Technology Committee.

Further, the universities in Indiana have strong computer-science programs. Purdue University is a world leader in simulation technology, and at Indiana University, more than 7,000 students are currently enrolled in computer-science/computer-technology courses.

What is not surprising is that the following sampling of Hoosier-homegrown companies deal with quality control, information management, productivity and efficiency. What is impressive is that most of these Indiana companies have a strong international presence.

Software Artistry Inc., Indianapolis--Founded in 1988, Software Artistry produces help-desk/customer-service software that incorporates artificial intelligence and multimedia to provide diagnostic techniques for efficient problem resolution. This is a company to watch, as it expects to go public in 1995.

Software Artistry programs centralize information from a company's internal experts at the help desk. When a customer calls with questions, the help-desk employees identify and solve problems, rather than referring customers to the right technicians.

The company has grown from five to 60 employees, with a 150 percent sales growth average the last two years and more than 250 percent growth expected for 1993.

Success has brought its product into 125 locations throughout the world, including Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Senate.

Pathology Computer Systems Inc., Madison--In a world of thirty-something computer whiz kids, it is refreshing to...