urer . ▁It ▁was ▁the ▁world ' s ▁third - most ▁prof itable ▁and ▁had ▁the ▁sevent h - high est ▁growth ▁rate . ▁That ▁year ▁the ▁company ' s ▁prof its ▁hit ▁a ▁record - high ▁N OK   4 7 5 ▁million ▁from ▁a ▁N OK   2 , 5 7 6 ▁million ▁re venue . ▁The ▁peak ▁re venue ▁was ▁ 2 , 9 3 4 ▁million ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 9 , ▁while ▁the ▁peak ▁employ ment ▁was ▁ 4 , 4 8 8 ▁employees ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 7 . ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 7 ▁Nor sk ▁Data ▁had ▁the ▁ 5 0 th ▁highest ▁re venue ▁of ▁Norwegian ▁companies , ▁but ▁had ▁the ▁second - high est ▁market ▁capital ization , ▁behind ▁Nor sk ▁H ydro . ▁ ▁B ust ▁During ▁the ▁mid - 1 9 8 0 s , ▁the ▁market ▁shift ed ▁such ▁that ▁customers ▁went ▁away ▁from ▁purch asing ▁hardware ▁and ▁instead ▁wanted ▁complete ▁systems ▁including ▁software , ▁prefer ably ▁tail or - made ▁for ▁the ▁industry . ▁This ▁was ▁a ▁dis adv antage ▁for ▁N D , ▁as ▁they ▁had ▁their ▁advantage ▁in ▁design ing ▁hardware ▁systems . ▁Their ▁lack ▁of ▁industry - specific ▁software ▁was ▁combined ▁with ▁that ▁all ▁software ▁development ▁was ▁out s our ced , ▁which ▁meant ▁that ▁N D ' s ▁most ▁important ▁sales ▁arguments ▁were ▁being ▁determined ▁by ▁a ▁third ▁party . ▁Another ▁development ▁was ▁the ▁open ▁standards , ▁especially ▁Unix , ▁which ▁was ▁dis