Rubinstein paid Gary Kildall $25,000 for the right to run CP/M version 1.3, which eventually evolved into an operating system called IMDOS, on IMSAI 8080 computers. In 1977, IMSAI marketing director Seymour I. In 1976, IMS was renamed to IMSAI Manufacturing Corporation because by then, they were a manufacturing company, not a consulting firm. IMS shipped the first IMSAI 8080 kits on 16 December 1975, before turning to fully assembled units. Full-scale development of the IMSAI 8080 was put into action using the existing Altair 8800's S-100 bus, and by October 1975 an ad was placed in Popular Electronics, receiving positive reactions.
Intel had announced the 8080 chip, and compared to the 4004 to which IMS Associates had been first introduced, it looked like a "real computer". Millard and his chief engineer Joe Killian turned to the microprocessor. Eventually product development was stopped. Five of these workstations were to have common access to a hard disk drive, which would be controlled by a small computer. IMS planned a system including a terminal, small computer, printer, and special software. In 1974, IMS was contacted by a client which wanted a " workstation system" that could complete jobs for any General Motors car dealership. Millard soon found funding for his business, and received several contracts, all for software. By 1973, Millard founded IMS Associates, Inc. In May 1972, William Millard started businesses individually as IMS Associates (IMS) in the areas of computer consulting and engineering, using his home as an office.