Press Release

CHM Partners with Microsoft and SaaS Platform Terentia in Building the 21st Century Digital Museum

Mountain View, California  |  February 10, 2021

Brought together by Microsoft, the organizations will collaborate in executing a powerful technology framework to be shared with other cultural institutions

Computer History Museum (CHM) and Terentia, the innovative SaaS platform solution for the Gallery, Library, Archive, and Museum (GLAM) industry, today announced a strategic partnership in building out the digital asset management (DAM) and collections management technology framework for accelerating digital transformation in museums. 

A strategic alliance for the modern museum

Powered by Terentia’s dynamic, cloud-native software solutions for digital asset management, collections management, and workflow process, CHM, Microsoft and Terentia are partnering to continue the digital transformation of CHM and reimagine the technology landscape for museums. The collaboration is designed to create and integrate next generation tools and services to build a platform that allows museums to manage all aspects of their collections, exhibits and data to enhance and extend the visitor experience more efficiently.  

CHM has developed a digital strategy with the intent of going beyond its physical presence and building an open architecture that unlocks its collections to reach millions. With Terentia as the cornerstone, leveraging Microsoft Azure cloud services, CHM will enable unprecedented access to the Museum’s collection of oral histories, images, leadership programs, and data for research, discovery, and audience engagement.

“CHM is excited to be partnering with Terentia and Microsoft to help us achieve our mission.” said Museum CEO Dan’l Lewin. “At the same time, the collective intent of this partnership is to establish an open, referenceable architecture that will enable participation of like-minded cultural institutions to extend audience reach, make accessible their vast collections and change the way individuals interact with cultural institutions in a digital world.”

Working with CHM’s preeminent computing history collection, which includes over 150,000 items—including 1,000 oral histories, 1200 linear feet of archival documents, 30,000 photographs and moving images, and over 100 terabytes of historic software and source code as well as video at full resolution. The Museum’s collection includes the earliest documents of Silicon Valley, and countless untold stories of the digital revolution, a virtual treasure trove for historians, documentarians, journalists and researchers. Terentia’s DAM and collections management technology solution will be the referenceable framework for Microsoft’s digital transformation approach to enabling the GLAM industry to reach new audiences around the world.

“A 21st century museum requires a 21st century infrastructure for the set of experiences that audiences expect in today’s digital world,” said Dave Evans, CTO of the Computer History Museum. “Building this is complex and requires strategic partnerships to make it happen.” 

The timing is now

The Museum is the first of Terentia’s partners in an intentional group of institutions that will help shape a technology built not just for GLAMs, but with GLAMs. Through its platform, Terentia is focused on empowering cultural institutions to manage data, develop insights and tell compelling stories in the digital age.

The partnership highlights three like-minded institutions with a common goal of bringing more access to what cultural institutions can provide to the public and a shared vision of shaping a stronger future.

“Now is the time to evaluate technology at cultural institutions to ensure it engages, educates, and entertains in a meaningful way and we’re excited to collaborate with the CHM team and Microsoft to do just that,” said Neal Bilow, CEO of Terentia. “Terentia was created because we know that collections management and digital asset management can be seamlessly brought together in one, cloud-based SaaS platform that allows cultural institutions to do what they do best—serve as beacons of humanity.”

“This is a partnership and project that fits Microsoft’s mission and goals of supporting digital transformation in museums with modern scalable platforms—and we’re also pleased that our Azure solution can support this work with the Computer History Museum and Terentia,” said Catherine Devine head of global strategy around digital transformation for libraries and museums at Microsoft.

Moving forward

The Computer History Museum and Terentia will embark on this exciting and powerful digital transformation in showcasing what a 21st Century museum can look like. Both organizations intend to achieve this objective by harnessing the full potential of Terentia, in connection with Microsoft, with a view to provide breakthrough insights and leadership of how this future state can be achieved by other institutions.

About CHM

The Computer History Museum’s (CHM) mission is to decode technology--the computing past, digital present, and future impact on humanity. From the heart of Silicon Valley, we share insights gleaned from our research, our events, and our incomparable collection of computing artifacts and oral histories to convene, inform, and empower people to build a better world.

About Terentia

Terentia is dedicated to empowering cultural institutions to manage data, develop insights and tell compelling stories in the digital age. Through continuous collaboration with GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) organizations, Terentia develops, implements, and supports cloud-native software solutions for digital asset management, collections management, and workflow process for the industry.

With a team that spans the U.K., U.S., and Canada, Terentia combines SaaS technology expertise with extensive experience of strategic change management to help drive and support digital innovation for cultural institutions.

More information about Terentia and how you can collaborate with the team can be found at www.terentia.io or by following:

Press Contact:

Marie Jackson, mjackson@computerhistory.org, (650) 810.1010

Laura Bedrossian, laura.bedrossian@terentia.io, (401) 378.2441

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