About OutreachSystems

In 1982, OutreachSystems began its journey as a division of MCR Technology, a research and development company whose primary objective was to develop safer cars for the federal government. The primary object of the division, known as Softshare, was to locate federal contracts for MCR Technology. To support itself, Softshare rented out the use of its VAX computer for the purpose of providing high-speed time-sharing services to other federal contractors.

In 1988, Softshare was purchased by its present-day owners. The company continued its focus on contracting with the release of DOS Link, a modem-to-modem software application that was used by Softshare clients to retrieve the relevant Commerce Business Daily (CBD) bid opportunities that Softshare located on their behalf. At about the same time, Softshare released DOS Link's sister application, CBD Link, which was used by government agencies to electronically submit their bid opportunities to the CBD.

As its contractor client base grew, Softshare caught the attentions of a few Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) who began using Softshare's services to distribute bid opportunities. Intrigued by the role of PTACs in government contracting, Softshare decided to broaden its offerings by creating a client activity tracking system that PTACs could use to track assistance efforts. Thus, in 1989, DOS CATS was born.

DOS CATS quickly gained a following to become the leading client activity tracking system in the PTAC market. Other outreach programs like Small Business Development Centers took notice and, over the years, DOS CATS has evolved into today's WebCATS, a sophisticated online database application that is widely used by all types of outreach organizations.

WebCATS isn't the only thing that has evolved over the years. In 2008, Softshare spun its WebCATS product line into a new division called OutreachSystems. OutreachSystems is still owned by the same great company (Softshare) and supported by the same great people, but because its client base is so vastly different than that of Softshare's e-commerce software suite, it was decided that WebCATS (and all the components and services that come with it) deserved unique attention and branding.

On July 1, 2009 OutreachSystems became its own corporate entity. Ever-evolving, OutreachSystems is devoted to bringing cutting-edge client activity tracking and outreach services to economic outreach programs across the United States and around the world.