"With immediate effect, all persons are free"

"East Germans are free to travel where they wish, with immediate effect."

These were the words of East German Politburo spokesman, Guenter Schabowski.  They were uttered on November 9th, 1989 as suddenly free East Berliners crossed the crumbling Berlin Wall for the first time since it was built in 1961.   The Fall of the Berlin Wall caused a new paradigm in the world order. 

The statement was profound, but it was not an original thought.

That same year in Irvine, California, Triconex CEO Bill Barkovitz and Wonderware Founder Dennis Morin were challenging investors, markets, and employees who wanted to be part of a new world order (and make more money).  The world of industrial applications was a conservative one.  Much of the industry had their own proprietary safety systems and operator interfaces.   They supplied the control and process systems for their factories from established vendors, who ofter were as large as themselves.

It was time for something new, with a stamp from the evangelical sun culture of Southern California, and time for insanely cool products to enter the world of automation.  It was time for Wonderware's InTouch and the world's premium safety system from Triconex.  Their products were not new technology, nor where they incremental changes.   They were business solutions of relentless quality and reliability.   Through users groups and steering committees, users became part of the experience, an unheard phenomenen in non-consumer product markets. 

With immediate effect, the fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the start of the History of a Safer World.  Within two years, both Triconex and Wonderware were mentioned by Business Week as two of the fastest growing companies in America.  A New World Order indeed.  This revolution was complete by 1995, and was broadcast on the World Wide Web.