Our history

The Beginning
During the 1983-84 academic year, two business students compiled an assessment of the computer market in Iceland. It revealed that Hewlett-Packard (HP) had a strong market share abroad, but none in Iceland. The pair of students wrote HP in Geneva, expressing their interest in opening an office for HP in Iceland. They received the answer that if the financial basis could be assured, and more knowledge of the Icelandic computer market was available, then HP was open for discussion. After more detailed discussions, it was HP's assessment that the best optionwould be for HP to open a branch of it's own, rather than taking the route of finding a distributor in Iceland. Frosti Bergsson was hired as managing director of the branch, which began rather modestly, in fact at the kitchen table in his home. The first business letter he received, from VST Consulting Engineers, stated: "Thank you for your prompt action in obtaining the motor for our HP plotter sent from Denmark last week. We will make payment immediately once you have informed us how you wish to receive it".

1985-1990
The company, Hewlett-Packard á Íslandi, was "100% foreign" the newspapers reported. It's operations caused some anxiety on the computer market and certain parties even requested tha the former Verðlagsstofnun (Public Price Control Authority) examine the legality of it's activities. The branch, Hewlett-Packard á Íslandi, was formally opened on 8 May 1985. To mark the opening, the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Iceland was presented with a system for computer aided design (CAD). A large number of Icelandic and foreign guests wished HP success in Iceland, among them the current Prime Minister, Steingrímur Hermannsson.
HP was the second multinational computer company to establish a branch in Iceland, as IBM had opened a branch a year earlier. It was considered a major event at the time, requiring special legislation to authorise the establishment of the branch. The Minister of Industry and Commerce at that time, Matthías Á. Mathiesen, lent his support to the project. HP á Íslandi had five employees. They had big plans for the future, however, and rented premises at Höfðabakki 9, where the company is still located, although the square metres of building space it's occupies have grown. The company's first major contract was with the Pension Funds' Data Centre. The system had 200 users and connections throughout Iceland. This was the first acid test of connections through Iceland Post and Telecom's X-25 network. In partnership with software developer TOK, HP á Íslandi sold complete hardware and software solutions for example to many of Iceland's accounting firms.
In 1986, RISC technology was introduced. Major clients such as the National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun), the University of Iceland Data Centre and the data centre of Iceland Post and Telecom were added. Right from the beginning, emphasis was placed on co-operation with Icelandic software houses. This was reflected in the company's advertisements from this period:
"Icelandic know-how plus global experience ensure a positive result". An ever-growing number of clients realised HP's advantages. In 1987, the Akureyri co-operative KEA joined the club, followed by the City of Reykjavík. A contract was concluded with Pharmaco for sale of HP geographic information system (GIS) medical and analytical equipment in 1990.

1991-1995
Frosti Bergsson, together with other company employees and Pharmaco, purchased a 75% holding in the company in 1991, converting it to an Icelandic limited-liability company, under the name HP á Íslandi hf. The objective was to increase the flexibility of it's operations and build up the company to suit conditions in Iceland. An advertisement announcing the changes stated: "Open systems and a good foothold on the Icelandic market will mean unlimited opportunities for the new company and it's customers". Contracts were concluded with resellers Tæknival hf., Örtölvutækni-Tölvukaup hf. and Heimilistæki in 1992. This could be said to mark the beginning of the company's wholesale operations, which continue today practically unchanged. HP Vectra personal computers (PCs) enjoyed growing popularity. A contract concluded in 1992 for a wide-area network (WAN) and network equipment with the Directorate of Internal Revenue and all the country's revenue offices marks a milestone in the company's development.
In 1994 HP held a conference in Iceland with the theme "The Shape of Things to Come" (Í Nýjan Ham). This referred, on the one hand, to new emphases in the company's activities and, on the other, to HP's introduction of noteworthy innovations, in line with changes in the business environment. Turnover at HP á Íslandi exceeded ISK 500 million and the company had 17 employees.
In 1995, Hewlett-Packard sold it's 25% holding in HP á Íslandi, following which the name was changed to Opin kerfi hf (Open Systems). It's investment operations commenced with acquisitions of holdings in Tæknival hf. and Teymi hf. (Oracle). The holding in Tæknival was resold in 1996 at a substantial profit. Many major clients were added, including Húsasmiðjan, Kaupfélag Skagfirðinga and ÍSAL (now Alcan Iceland Ltd.). The company has kept it's eyes open for opportunities to increase it's market share on the Icelandic market.

1996-2000
In 1996, Opin kerfi hf. opened it's website, with direct links to HP's own website, providing information on all HP products and services. This was a veritable revolution in accessibility to information and international communications, making it possible to download drivers and BIOS updates. The new PA-8000 microprocessor outperformed all competition this year. Among the first purchasers were the Pension Funds' Data Centre and the data centre of the Savings' Banks. Activities for sale and service for Cisco networks and Microsoft software commenced.
The year 1997 was another milestone on the way. For the first time the company's turnover exceeded ISK 1 billion (totalling ISK 1,210 million) and employees were 35 in numbers. The company acquired the majority holding in Skýrr hf. (the former data processing centre of the state and the City of Reykjavík) and turnover in it's consolidated accounts surpassed ISK 2 billion. The number of group employees was 159. Holding was acquired in the IT company ACO and a signifant share in Tæknival 1998. Last but not least, the company's shares were listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange (ICEX). In 1998 shares in Opin kerfi hf. were the leaders in price increase on ICEX, rising by 128.4%.
In 1998, the Directorate of Internal Revenue concluded a leasing contract for HP Finans with Opin Kerfi which included 250 PCs and drew considerable attention. The IT sector soared in 1998 and 1999, boosted by the general economic upswing in Iceland. There was also considerable work involved in preparing computer systems for the millennium changeover.
In 2000, income from operations for Opin kerfi Group was ISK 5,446 million and ISK 3,168 million for the parent company. Pre-tax profit for the group was ISK 632 million and ISK 463 million for the parent company. That year the laptop revolution of upper secondary schools and universities began and Opin Kerfi participated actively with HP Omnibook laptops. In cooperation with Opin Kerfi, HP held a European press conference at Bifröst School of Business, presenting HP laptops and wireless connections in a university environment.

2001-2005
Opin kerfi's expansion abroad got underway in 2001 when the company acquired the entire share capital of Datapoint Svenska in Sweden for around ISK 1700 m. The company had about 120 employees. Enterprise Solutions was also founded in Denmark on 1 December 2001.
In 2002, Hewlett-Packard acquired Compaq and the two companies were merged as HP. A letter to Opin kerfi from Hewlett-Packard's CEO at the time, Carly Fiorina, declared that the merger would be to the advantage of customers of both companies, both with regard to product lines and expertise. Following this, Opin kerfi became the sole importer, seller and service provider for HP in Iceland. Emphasis was put on professionalism in investors relations resulting among other things IR awards in 2002 and 2003.
A new company, Opin kerfi ehf., was founded on 1 January 2003 to handle sales and service activities in Iceland. At the same time, the parent company's name was changed to Opin Kerfi Group hf. It's principal subsidiaries were Opin kerfi ehf., Skýrr hf., Datapoint AB (now Kerfi AB) and Enterprise Solutions A/S (now Kerfi A/S). Virtus AB was acquired and merged with Datapoint Svenska AB under the name Kerfi AB, with the legal consolidation effective as of 1 January 2004. In March 2003, Enterprise Solutions acquired all the share capital of the IT companies Delta Teamco and Delta Consulting, as a step towards increasing the scope of it's activities in Denmark. The first EVA 5000 array was sold and a supercomputer, or 130 computers in a cluster was installed at the University of Iceland.
Kerfi A/S aquired DataRex A/S in Denmark in 2004 and by that doubled it's size.Turnover for Opin Kerfi Group hf. amounted to ISK 14.7 billion and it's employees numbered around 600. The company's market value was just over ISK 8 billion. In the latter part of 2004, Kögun hf. made a takeover bid for all the company's shares which was accepted, after which the company was delisted from ICEX. The new owners transferred operations of Skýrr hf. and Teymi ehf. to Kögun's operations, leaving Opin Kerfi Group hf. with Opin kerfi ehf., Kerfi AB and Kerfi A/S. The companies which formed Opin kerfi Group hf. worked in close co-operation with HP.
 
2007-date
In November 2007 OK2 ehf. a company owned by Frosti Bergsson acquired Opin kerfi ehf. from Opin Kerfi Group hf. Shortly after, the boards of Opin kerfi ehf. and Titan ehf. agreed to merge the companies. The merge preparations began in December 2007 and completed on March 14th. The turnover in 2007 was 3.3 billion ISK with 101 employees. Early spring 2008 started with cost cutting measures which endured until late 2009. These measures produced lower cost and more economical business. The turnover of 2008 resulted in 3.5 billion ISK with 119 employees and 2009 in 3.6 billion ISK with 95 employees.
In 2008 Gunnar Guðjónsson was appointed CEO of Opin kerfi. Gunnar implemented structural and organizational changes within Opin kerfi. The budget for 2010 calls for about 4 billion ISK in turnover and around 110 employees. (Exchange rate information can be found at Central Bank of Iceland: http://sedlabanki.is/?pageid=194).