Timeline
From 300 Baud to Platformz
From one telephone line in St. Louis to a reusable enterprise operating foundation.
1970s
The man who made big ideas feel normal
William Munro “Monty” Roberts III—Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Young & Rubicam, the Walt Disney account, Anheuser-Busch and the Busch Clash, later an ordained Episcopal minister—exposes Tim to projects with capital, machinery and moving parts at national scale.
Family RecordEarly 1980s
Tim and Peter enter the modem world
Identical twins Tim and Peter Roberts begin writing software and exploring bulletin boards, telecommunications and remote computer systems.
Founder RecollectionNov 17, 1985
Phrack is released from Metal Shop
The first issue of Phrack is released under editor Taran King and distributed as electronic files from Metal Shop BBS. (Phrack)
Contemporary ReportingFeb 1986
Whackoland is publicly documented
Phrack identifies Whackoland as a 300/1200-baud BBS operated by the W(hack)o Cracko Brothers with 40 megabytes of storage and a 100-user limit. (Phrack)
Contemporary ReportingMar 1986
The proposed TAP revival
Phrack reports plans for the W(hack)o Cracko Brothers to participate in restarting TAP while questioning whether the name had formally been transferred. (Phrack)
Contemporary ReportingEarly 1990s
J&G Computer Solutions
Tim works with Apple, Novell, Windows, routers and cross-platform business systems—learning to make incompatible systems communicate inside a company.
Family Record1995
Savvis is co-founded
SEC biographies identify Tim Roberts as a Savvis co-founder and place the company’s founding in 1995.
Verified Public Record1996–1997
Apple becomes a defining customer
Tim recalls completing the Apple relationship after being told the company could close. Public reporting later lists Apple among Savvis customers. (Internet News)
Contemporary ReportingFeb 1997
The Savvis Digital Broadcasting Network
A NANOG archive post identifies Tim as Savvis vice president of emerging technologies and R&D and references the Savvis Digital Broadcasting Network. (SecLists)
Contemporary ReportingNov 1997
Savvis records the 4.905-second result
Savvis leads the reported Keynote and Boardwatch backbone-performance comparison. (Forbes)
Contemporary Reporting1997–1998
Tim leaves Savvis and begins Intira
Public biographies state that Tim left Savvis approximately two years after co-founding it to begin Intira.
Verified Public Record1998
Digital Broadcast Network begins
Forbes identifies Tim Roberts, Mark Ivie and Rich Skoba as the original founders of the company that became Intira. (Forbes)
Contemporary Reporting1999
Digital Broadcast Network becomes Intira
Intira introduces the NetSourcing category and expands into New York while operating a broader North American network. (Tech Monitor)
Contemporary Reporting1999–2001
High-density data centers are designed and built
Tim’s account is that the Intira facilities in St. Louis, Pleasanton and New York were designed around approximately seven times the electrical and cooling capability of the legacy data-center models being benchmarked.
Founder RecollectionFeb 2000
Savvis completes its IPO
Savvis sells 17 million shares at $24, raises approximately $408 million and reaches a reported market value of approximately $2.2 billion.
Verified Public Record2000
NetSourcing supports enterprise applications
Intira provides complete managed environments for customers and projects including Games.com, Emerson, Armstrong and DoveBid.
Contemporary Reporting2001
Intira enters bankruptcy proceedings
Divine agrees to acquire substantially all Intira assets through the bankruptcy process.
Verified Public Record2000s
Consumer platforms and digital distribution
Tim’s later ventures explore game delivery, consumer hardware, white-label distribution, media and cloud commerce.
Contemporary Reporting2011
CenturyLink acquires Savvis
Savvis becomes part of a global managed-hosting, colocation, network and cloud-services operation.
Verified Public Record2023
Platformz is formed
Platformz is established to productize a lifetime of platform architecture, integration, multi-tenant software and operating experience into one reusable enterprise foundation.
Corroborated Recollection2025–2026
Platformz becomes production infrastructure
FUR4, Rockerz and DMV Rawfeeders become proving environments for Platformz portals, integrations, workflows, data and control surfaces.
Corroborated RecollectionToday
The complete architecture becomes visible
Platformz positions DIaaS as its flagship product, Looking Glass as its executive command layer and SaaS Foundry as the path for creating new client-owned software companies.
Corroborated Recollection