Company History
The company was founded as a proprietorship in 1981 as Martin Business Associates. The following year, the business was incorporated, along with other interest, as RAM Distribution Company and continued to operate under the trade name of Martin Business Associates or "MBA." In its early years, the company specialized in accounting software for mini-computers as an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) for MAI Basic Four, authorized to sell and support MAI's accounting and vertical application software. MBA Business Software was incorporated in 1987, along with two sister organizations, MBA Business Systems and MBA Business Services, as wholly owned subsidiaries of RAM Distribution Company. The MBA Business Systems unit was created to market emerging microcomputer hardware as the company sought to gain independence from a "closed architecture" hardware vendor. Martin Business Associates became the MBA Business Software operating unit and expanded its offerings to include accounting software designed for microcomputers. MBA Business Services was created to provide write-up accounting services using the software and hardware resources of the other two units. Clients for these services were companies too small for in-house systems but potential prospects as their businesses grew.
As part of its migration from mini to microcomputer software, the company became an authorized reseller for State of the Art's M•A•S 90 Evolution/2 accounting software. This software shared the same design heritage as the MAI Basic Four application allowing the company to leverage its previous experience. In 1988, MBA Business Software became the first Master Developer in Atlanta and one of the first in the southeast with the ability and authorization to engineer software modifications and enhancements to the now Sage 100 Standard, Advanced, and Premium products. Over time, with the lowering margins on computer hardware and the reduced cost of in-house system ownership, the Software unit assumed the business activities of the Systems and Services units and the activities of those individual operating units were discontinued.
As the company passes through the 40-year mark, the market and products have changed with the times and so has the company. New skills are required to meet the challenges of the Internet and interoperability of applications within the Windows framework. New products and services have been added to meet the requirements of our customers. But our basic mission is still the same. We are an Information Technology resource for each of our clients. Our goal is to provide quality software with prompt and professional implementation and support services to meet the accounting needs of our customer's business.
Recently, our professional offerings have been expanded to provide operational and procedural services to clients needing administrative and organizational assistance in their business. These services are provided to clients regardless of their accounting system. Businesses on manual systems or using Quick Books, Sage 50, Sage DacEasy or other entry level accounting systems can benefit.