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`!Interlink Computer Sciences, Inc.`!, of `F33f`_`[Fremont, California`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Fremont,_California]`_`f, was a developer of hardware and software that allowed `F33f`_`[IBM`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=IBM]`_`f `F33f`_`[mainframe computers`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Mainframe_computer]`_`f running the `F33f`_`[MVS`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=MVS]`_`f operating system to be connected to non-IBM networks.`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f]

Interlink was founded in 1983 by Lambert Onuma, Fred Wright, Karl Johnson and Greg Thompson, formerly of `F33f`_`[Digital Equipment Corporation`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Digital_Equipment_Corporation]`_`f. The company's first product, called simply `*Interlink`*, allowed IBM MVS mainframes to be connected to `F33f`_`[VAX`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=VAX]`_`f computers on a `F33f`_`[DECnet`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=DECnet]`_`f network. Later a VM/DECnet product was developed in cooperation with Dupont to link IBM VM/CMS systems with a DECnet network interconnecting e-mail, file, tape, and storage access, terminal emulation, a program-to-program API, and enabling DECnet to be tunneled over an SNA LU6.2 network.

In 1990, Interlink acquired a product called `*ACCES/MVS`* from Advanced Computer Communications, which implemented a native `F33f`_`[TCP/IP`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=TCP/IP]`_`f protocol stack on the MVS and VM operating systems and within CICS regions. First released in 1986, ACCES/MVS had been the first commercial TCP/IP implementation for MVS mainframes. Interlink developed and marketed this product as `*SNS/TCPaccess`*. The prefix was later dropped, and `F33f`_`[TCPaccess`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=TCPaccess]`_`f became the company's main focus of development by the mid-1990s.

Meanwhile, in 1989, IBM had introduced its own TCP/IP offering on MVS. This product had been `F33f`_`[ported`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Porting]`_`f from the `F33f`_`[VM`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=VM_(operating_system)]`_`f operating system, and required expensive and inefficient protocol conversions. Interlink was able to successfully sell TCPaccess as a more efficient and better-performing alternative, and as late as 1996 it still held 25% of the TCP/IP market on MVS. As the decade progressed, IBM improved its product, and Interlink's market share steadily eroded.

In August 1996, Interlink became a public corporation, with an initial offering of $10 per share on the `F33f`_`[NASDAQ`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=NASDAQ]`_`f exchange. In December of that year, a strategic agreement was announced with `F33f`_`[Cisco Systems`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cisco_Systems]`_`f to jointly develop and market the TCPaccess product as `*Cisco IOS for `F33f`_`[S/390`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=S/390]`_`f`*. Shares of Interlink stock jumped to $15 on this news, and ultimately approached $18. Sales of the re-branded Cisco product fell below expectations, and Interlink struggled to rebuild its own sales channel. Interlink stock eventually fell below $4 per share.

In 1998, Interlink introduced `*e-Control`*, a new TCP/IP network management product for the mainframe. The company came to the attention of Dallas-based `F33f`_`[Sterling Software Inc.`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Sterling_Software]`_`f, which had its own product in this space. In March, 1999, Sterling announced it had agreed to acquire Interlink Computer Sciences Inc. for $7 per share. The deal was valued at $64 million. On May 3, 1999, the acquisition was completed.`:cite-ref-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-2]`_`f]

>>References

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f "Interlink Computer Sciences - Company Profile and News". `*Bloomberg.com`*. Retrieved 2024-09-18.

`:cite-note-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-2]`_`f `:citerefwriter1990`aWriter, CBR Staff (1990-04-03). "INTERLINK BUYS ACCESS/MVS TCP/IP LINK FROM ADVANCED COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS". `*Tech Monitor`*. Retrieved 2024-09-18.

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