Groupe Bull

On 31 July 1919, a Norwegian engineer named Fredrik Rosing Bull filed a patent for a "combined sorter-recorder-tabulator of punch cards" machine that he had developed with financing from the Norwegian insurance company Storebrand.[2] Storebrand integrated his device into its operations in 1921. The following year Bull sold his second machine to the Danish insurer Hafnia who had learned of the technology through an article in an insurance trade magazine.[3] At the time of Bull's death of cancer in 1925 at the age of 43, a dozen of his machines had been sold to different companies throughout Europe.[3] The commercial and technical development of the machines continued under the direction of Bull's childhood friend and long-time collaborator Reidar Knutsen along with his brother Kurt Andréas Knutsen.

As the business grew several outside investors were brought in, leading to the incorporation of the company H.W. Egli Bull in 1931.[4] In 1933, more investors joined and the company changed its name to Compagnie des Machines Bull, a name it would keep until 1964.

The company has undergone many takeovers and mergers since its formation.[5][6][7][8] In particular, it has had various ownership relations with General Electric, Honeywell, and NEC from the 1960s to the 1980s; and with Motorola, Debeka, and France Télécom more recently. It acquired Honeywell Information Systems in the late 1980s, and later also had a share of Zenith Data Systems and Packard Bell. Bull was nationalised in 1982 and was merged with most of the rest of the French computer industry.

Groupe Bull bought Zenith Electronics in late December of 1989. It kept Zenith Data Systems' headquarters and plants in Chicago and St. Joseph, Michigan.[9] In 1994, the company was re-privatised.

In August 2014, the French IT company Atos announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in Bull SA through a tender offer launched in May.[10] Atos announced plans in October, 2014 to buy out or squeeze out the remaining share and bondholders.[11]

Bull launched the Hoox m2, the first integrally secured European smartphone, which in June 2014 was approved for use with data classified as 'Restricted Information' ('Diffusion Restreinte') by the Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d'information (ANSSI).[12] The Hoox range of secure mobiles and smartphones ensures confidentiality of voice, SMS, e-mail and data communication.

• Supercomputers
• NovaScale servers (Linux and Windows), Escala servers (AIX) and mainframes GCOS (design, manufacturing, distribution)
• Data storage and backup systems, cloud computing infrastructure
• Mobile/smart phones (Hoox)

• Open source (Novaforge.org portal)
• Information technology consulting and services, custom solutions development for clients
• Systems integration
• Human resource and social welfare management systems
• Managed services and web hosting
• Support
• Training

• Public key infrastructure
• Electronic signature solutions
• Encryption solutions (hardware and software)
• Digital payment security
• Identity, authentication and access management
• High availability and disaster recovery
• Systems and network monitoring