Open Solutions priced its IPO at $17 a share, above the $14 to $16 range it had set. The Glastonbury, Connecticut company sold core systems: the software that tracks a bank's deposits, loans and every transaction. Large banks built their own or bought from a few giant vendors. Open Solutions served community banks and credit unions, with modern software built on open, standard databases. It went public in November 2003, as smaller banks replaced aging systems to compete online.

One Database for Small Banks

Open Solutions bet that smaller banks wanted the same flexible, modern technology as the giants. Its core platform used a single shared database. That made it easier for a bank to add new products and connect other software. The company grew by winning new banks and by buying other vendors in the same market. Customers tended to stay for years, since replacing a bank's core system is slow and risky.

Carlyle, Then Fiserv

Open Solutions listed on Nasdaq under the ticker OPEN in November 2003. It kept buying smaller companies to widen its offering. In 2007 the private equity firms Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners took it private in a deal valued at about $1.4 billion. Fiserv, one of the largest providers of bank technology, acquired Open Solutions in 2013. Its software kept running inside many small banks and credit unions.

Cover: Young Woman at an Open Half-Door, Workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an open door.