Headstrong (company)
Encyclopedia
Headstrong is a global IT consulting company with presence across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, operating in more than 14 locations. It was formed in 2000 when Arjun Malhotra
led Techspan was merged with James Martin Associates (by Dr. James Martin) who today sits as Headstrong's chairman emeritus. Arjun Malhotra became Chairman & CEO of Headstrong in 2004. Beginning from the start of 2010 Sandeep Sahai, the president of the company, became the CEO.
April 6, 2011, NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genpact Limited (NYSE: G), a global leader in business process and technology management, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Headstrong Corporation, a global provider of comprehensive consulting and IT services with a specialized focus in capital markets and healthcare, for cash consideration of $550 million. Genpact expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share on a GAAP basis in 2011. The transaction is being funded by a combination of existing cash and acquisition financing, and is expected to close by May 31, 2011, subject to customary regulatory and other conditions
In 2006, Headstrong had 2,000-employees worldwide. The company experiences more than 30% revenue growth year-on-year since 2006.
UPDATE
Headstrong is now acquired by GENPACT for US$550mm
together with Dixon Doll established the information technology consultancy firm Doll Martin Worldwide (DMW) in London
. The company was later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA), whose clients included the United States
and United Kingdom
governments. JMA signed a contract with Texas Instruments
in 1982 to develop and publish the first methodology for translating business needs into systems solutions—Information Engineering Methodology (IEM). A year later, JMA launched international expansion, opening offices in Amsterdam
and Dublin.
In this era, James Martin Associates had spearheaded the development of the Computer-Aided Software Engineering
(CASE) industry. Texas instruments contracted JMA to design, architect and manage the construction of a development tool—IEF, now called CoolGen, which is still in use by numerous companies today.
In 1990, JMA divested its European business and changed its name to James Martin & Company, in a transaction with Texas Instruments.
The company launched business product innovations in the United States like the integration of rules and Object Oriented methods, the first hypertext methodology, and the value stream approach in 1991. The company evolved into a systems integrator. A year later, James Martin & Company acquired PACT Group, strengthening assets of the Global Delivery Center in Manila, Philippines
to support application maintenance outsourcing and related activities.
In 1996, HCL James Martin Inc., a joint venture between HCL and James Martin & Company, was formed to provide systems redevelopment solutions, including Year 2000 renovation.
TechSpan, which would play a significant role in Headstrong’s future, was founded by some Indians. Focusing on three verticals—telecom, financial, and ERP—TechSpan quickly changed to address the emerging e-commerce needs, creating its own version dubbed c-Commerce (Collaborative Commerce).
Headstrong entered into a definite agreement to be acquired by Genpact on April 6,2011 for $550 million.
The company received US$191 million in equity financing – $173 million from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
(WCAS) and $18 million from H&Q Asia Pacific – and changed its name to Headstrong.
Another major milestone for the company in the turn of the century is its acquisition of Chicago-based Faber Consulting, strengthening the firm’s focus on business intelligence.
In 2002, Headstrong released third generation of dPACE (Plan, Activate, Control, End) project management methodology to support distributed projects, and named Kevin Dougherty president and CEO worldwide.
In the next year, Headstrong would enter a new era with its merger with India-based TechSpan, with 400 workers and two centers in India. Also in this year, the Global Delivery Center in Manila would be certified for ISO-9001:2000 Quality Standard by TUV Rheinland Berlin Brandenburg.
Arjun Malhotra, former TechSpan CEO and chairman and co-founder of HCL Technologies, was appointed as CEO in 2004, and continues in his position as Chairman of Headstrong's Board of Directors. Also during this year, Headstrong’s global delivery center in Bangalore is awarded SEI CMM Level 3 Process Maturity rating while its NOIDA and Manila GDCs with CMM Level 5 and CMMi Level 3, respectively.
In the following year Headstrong launches STRIDE CROSS Analysis, which enables buy-side and sell-side institutions to measure potential savings from using an internal crossing engine, and is named by managing Offshore and neoIT in the “Offshore 100 List”.
2006 sees Headstrong surpassing the 2000-employee headcount and continuing to enjoy 40 percent growth. Headstrong is recognized as one of The 2006 Global Services 100 by Global Services magazine and neoIT, and is named to The Global Outsourcing 100 by The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Headstrong joins The Bond Market Association to participate on industry-wide issues in a shared forum.
Also in 2006, Headstrong Philippines receives the Cyberservices Pioneer Award for foreign-owned third-party software developer from the Philippine Commission on Information and Communication Technology. Furthermore, the Global Delivery Center in Manila is re-certified for ISO-9001:2000 Quality Standard by TUV Rheinland Berlin Brandenburg. Lastly, Headstrong Delivery Centers in Bangalore is certified for ISO 27001:2005 by BSI Management Systems.
Headstrong was recognized again, in 2007, in The Global Services 100 by Global Services magazine and neoIT; and named for the second consecutive year to The Global Outsourcing 100 by IAOP. TechSpan India Limited, which changed its name to Headstrong Services India Private Limited, inaugurated its 150000 square feet (13,935.5 m²) capital markets center in NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh. Also the same year, Headstrong was positioned in the Niche Players Quadrant for Magic Quadrant North American Offshore Application Services. Headstrong ranked among top 100 technology providers to the financial services industry by American Banker and Financial Insights, an IDC company, and lastly, in 2007, Headstrong’s Recruitment Ad garnered Times of India Award.
In 2008, Headstrong was recognized in the Global Services 100, and ranked 33rd in The Global Outsourcing 100—receiving such accolades from the two award giving bodies for the third consecutive year. Headstrong was also included for the first time in the VARBusiness 500 as one of North America’s largest solutions providers. Also this year, Headstrong set up its Hyderabad Center of Excellence (CoE) in the Banjara Hills, and formed an alliance with Gallagher Financial Systems.
The American Banker's 2008 Fintech 100 places Headstrong at the 48th spot up from 68 in last year's rankings.
“For the India offshore we identified Harsh Lohit and Bonnie Singh,” Malhotra narrated. “With the founding team in place we had Mr. KPG Nair join us in India as our first employee and Lulu Rius join us in the US.”
TechSpan initially focused on three verticals—telecom, financial, and ERP. The India recruitment and training started in September 1998 while the US sales stated in January 1999. Within the company’s first six weeks in the field, the executives realized that the market was requiring something else. They wanted e-Commerce related work to be done.
“We switched gears and strategy quickly and started addressing the need,” Malhotra said. “We built our strategy in collaboration with the myriad of new product vendors that were mushrooming at that time.”
TechSpan branded its version of e-Commerce as c-Commerce or Collaborative Commerce, which worked well for the company.
TechSpan decided to deliberately slow down its growth in 2000, which helped the company get through the bubble burst during the first quarter of 2001. The management and employees had to adjust to ensure that the company would stay cash neutral.
“Our profits from 2000 really helped us thru the lean patch,” said Malhotra. “I have to acknowledge the management team that took a 28% pay cut and all employees took a 10% pay cut so we did not have to layoff anyone at that time.”
Like other companies who survived the initial shock of the bubble bursting, TechSpan’s leadership was waiting and watching the economy. But waiting would not help. In late 2001, the executive team devised a strategy and focused on the Capital Markets. TechSpan built its expertise in the US and India, through the acquisition of WebTek in Bangalore.
TechSpan was a $30-million company when it merged with Headstrong in October 2003.
“Headstrong seemed to get us want we wanted in our original dream in TechSpan,” Malhotra remarked. “Headstrong had the consulting strength; TechSpan knew outsourcing. We got a global footprint and we got a mature offshore center at Manila.”
Dr. Martin has written several books on the social and commercial implications of computers and technology.
In September 2002, Computerworld, in its 25th anniversary issue, ranked Dr. Martin fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science.
Dr. Martin earned an M.A. and D.Litt. from Oxford, a D.Sc. from Salford in England, and an honorary D.Eng. from Hokkaido Technical University in Japan for his work on information engineering. He was a member of the Software Scientific Advisory Board of the US Department of Defense, and advised the British government on telecommunications restructuring. He has provided consulting services to AT&T, IBM, Honeywell, Texas Instruments, and Xerox.
Dr. Martin is the founder of Oxford University's multidisciplinary 21st Century School, which aims to develop strategies for responding to the most serious problems as well as the most promising opportunities facing the planet in the new century.
The 21st Century School builds on the work of the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, which Dr. Martin had endowed with $100 million. The James Martin Chair of Computing at Oxford, on the other hand, is concerned with advancing the frontiers of system development.
He also established the World Education Corps, a service organization that brings essential education to poor countries and to underserved schools and communities worldwide.
Dr. Martin is also the chairman of WatchIT.com, an Internet-based education company.
Arjun Malhotra
Arjun Malhotra is an Indian businessman who co-founded HCL Technologies with Shiv Nadar in 1976. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He also attended the The Doon School in Dehradun and St. Columba's School in New Delhi. He founded...
led Techspan was merged with James Martin Associates (by Dr. James Martin) who today sits as Headstrong's chairman emeritus. Arjun Malhotra became Chairman & CEO of Headstrong in 2004. Beginning from the start of 2010 Sandeep Sahai, the president of the company, became the CEO.
April 6, 2011, NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genpact Limited (NYSE: G), a global leader in business process and technology management, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Headstrong Corporation, a global provider of comprehensive consulting and IT services with a specialized focus in capital markets and healthcare, for cash consideration of $550 million. Genpact expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share on a GAAP basis in 2011. The transaction is being funded by a combination of existing cash and acquisition financing, and is expected to close by May 31, 2011, subject to customary regulatory and other conditions
In 2006, Headstrong had 2,000-employees worldwide. The company experiences more than 30% revenue growth year-on-year since 2006.
UPDATE
Headstrong is now acquired by GENPACT for US$550mm
History
In 1981, Dr. James MartinJames Martin
-Actors, musicians, and other performers:*James Martin , saxophonist, singer, and record producer*James Martin , actor on EastEnders*James Martin , actor on Still Game...
together with Dixon Doll established the information technology consultancy firm Doll Martin Worldwide (DMW) in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The company was later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA), whose clients included the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
governments. JMA signed a contract with Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
in 1982 to develop and publish the first methodology for translating business needs into systems solutions—Information Engineering Methodology (IEM). A year later, JMA launched international expansion, opening offices in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Dublin.
In this era, James Martin Associates had spearheaded the development of the Computer-Aided Software Engineering
Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
(CASE) industry. Texas instruments contracted JMA to design, architect and manage the construction of a development tool—IEF, now called CoolGen, which is still in use by numerous companies today.
In 1990, JMA divested its European business and changed its name to James Martin & Company, in a transaction with Texas Instruments.
The company launched business product innovations in the United States like the integration of rules and Object Oriented methods, the first hypertext methodology, and the value stream approach in 1991. The company evolved into a systems integrator. A year later, James Martin & Company acquired PACT Group, strengthening assets of the Global Delivery Center in Manila, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to support application maintenance outsourcing and related activities.
In 1996, HCL James Martin Inc., a joint venture between HCL and James Martin & Company, was formed to provide systems redevelopment solutions, including Year 2000 renovation.
TechSpan, which would play a significant role in Headstrong’s future, was founded by some Indians. Focusing on three verticals—telecom, financial, and ERP—TechSpan quickly changed to address the emerging e-commerce needs, creating its own version dubbed c-Commerce (Collaborative Commerce).
Headstrong entered into a definite agreement to be acquired by Genpact on April 6,2011 for $550 million.
Headstrong in the 21st century
James Martin & Company held the global launching of Gantthead.com, a community for information technology project managers. The company then acquired Manila-based NCR Professional Services Group to embrace outsourcing and NCR Teradata data warehousing and enterprise analytics.The company received US$191 million in equity financing – $173 million from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe is a private equity investment firm in the United States. Founded in 1979, it has organized 14 limited partnerships with total capital over $16 billion and is currently in the process of raising a new $4 billion private equity fund Welsh, Carson Anderson & Stowe XI...
(WCAS) and $18 million from H&Q Asia Pacific – and changed its name to Headstrong.
Another major milestone for the company in the turn of the century is its acquisition of Chicago-based Faber Consulting, strengthening the firm’s focus on business intelligence.
In 2002, Headstrong released third generation of dPACE (Plan, Activate, Control, End) project management methodology to support distributed projects, and named Kevin Dougherty president and CEO worldwide.
In the next year, Headstrong would enter a new era with its merger with India-based TechSpan, with 400 workers and two centers in India. Also in this year, the Global Delivery Center in Manila would be certified for ISO-9001:2000 Quality Standard by TUV Rheinland Berlin Brandenburg.
Arjun Malhotra, former TechSpan CEO and chairman and co-founder of HCL Technologies, was appointed as CEO in 2004, and continues in his position as Chairman of Headstrong's Board of Directors. Also during this year, Headstrong’s global delivery center in Bangalore is awarded SEI CMM Level 3 Process Maturity rating while its NOIDA and Manila GDCs with CMM Level 5 and CMMi Level 3, respectively.
In the following year Headstrong launches STRIDE CROSS Analysis, which enables buy-side and sell-side institutions to measure potential savings from using an internal crossing engine, and is named by managing Offshore and neoIT in the “Offshore 100 List”.
2006 sees Headstrong surpassing the 2000-employee headcount and continuing to enjoy 40 percent growth. Headstrong is recognized as one of The 2006 Global Services 100 by Global Services magazine and neoIT, and is named to The Global Outsourcing 100 by The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). Headstrong joins The Bond Market Association to participate on industry-wide issues in a shared forum.
Also in 2006, Headstrong Philippines receives the Cyberservices Pioneer Award for foreign-owned third-party software developer from the Philippine Commission on Information and Communication Technology. Furthermore, the Global Delivery Center in Manila is re-certified for ISO-9001:2000 Quality Standard by TUV Rheinland Berlin Brandenburg. Lastly, Headstrong Delivery Centers in Bangalore is certified for ISO 27001:2005 by BSI Management Systems.
Headstrong was recognized again, in 2007, in The Global Services 100 by Global Services magazine and neoIT; and named for the second consecutive year to The Global Outsourcing 100 by IAOP. TechSpan India Limited, which changed its name to Headstrong Services India Private Limited, inaugurated its 150000 square feet (13,935.5 m²) capital markets center in NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh. Also the same year, Headstrong was positioned in the Niche Players Quadrant for Magic Quadrant North American Offshore Application Services. Headstrong ranked among top 100 technology providers to the financial services industry by American Banker and Financial Insights, an IDC company, and lastly, in 2007, Headstrong’s Recruitment Ad garnered Times of India Award.
In 2008, Headstrong was recognized in the Global Services 100, and ranked 33rd in The Global Outsourcing 100—receiving such accolades from the two award giving bodies for the third consecutive year. Headstrong was also included for the first time in the VARBusiness 500 as one of North America’s largest solutions providers. Also this year, Headstrong set up its Hyderabad Center of Excellence (CoE) in the Banjara Hills, and formed an alliance with Gallagher Financial Systems.
The birth of TechSpan
TechSpan was formed in 1998. Arjun Malhotra, the incumbent president and CEO, gathered players in India’s IT industry including Sandeep Sahai, Aloke Paskar, Puneet Pushkarna, Nicki Mehra, and Curt Terwilliger to meet the standards of Goldman Sachs which was keen on investing in the country’s IT outsourcing sector.“For the India offshore we identified Harsh Lohit and Bonnie Singh,” Malhotra narrated. “With the founding team in place we had Mr. KPG Nair join us in India as our first employee and Lulu Rius join us in the US.”
TechSpan initially focused on three verticals—telecom, financial, and ERP. The India recruitment and training started in September 1998 while the US sales stated in January 1999. Within the company’s first six weeks in the field, the executives realized that the market was requiring something else. They wanted e-Commerce related work to be done.
“We switched gears and strategy quickly and started addressing the need,” Malhotra said. “We built our strategy in collaboration with the myriad of new product vendors that were mushrooming at that time.”
TechSpan decided to deliberately slow down its growth in 2000, which helped the company get through the bubble burst during the first quarter of 2001. The management and employees had to adjust to ensure that the company would stay cash neutral.
“Our profits from 2000 really helped us thru the lean patch,” said Malhotra. “I have to acknowledge the management team that took a 28% pay cut and all employees took a 10% pay cut so we did not have to layoff anyone at that time.”
Like other companies who survived the initial shock of the bubble bursting, TechSpan’s leadership was waiting and watching the economy. But waiting would not help. In late 2001, the executive team devised a strategy and focused on the Capital Markets. TechSpan built its expertise in the US and India, through the acquisition of WebTek in Bangalore.
TechSpan was a $30-million company when it merged with Headstrong in October 2003.
“Headstrong seemed to get us want we wanted in our original dream in TechSpan,” Malhotra remarked. “Headstrong had the consulting strength; TechSpan knew outsourcing. We got a global footprint and we got a mature offshore center at Manila.”
Services lines
- Consulting
- Enterprise ArchitectureEnterprise architectureAn enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
- IT Management Optimization
- Business IntelligenceBusiness intelligenceBusiness intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
- Customer Relationship ManagementCustomer relationship managementCustomer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
- Enterprise Architecture
- Application Outsourcing
- Application Development
- Application Maintenance Outsourcing
- Application Transformation
- Quality AssuranceQuality AssuranceQuality assurance, or QA for short, is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service or facility to maximize the probability that minimum standards of quality are being attained by the production process...
- Product Development Services
- Product Process Consulting
- Product EngineeringProduct engineeringProduct engineering refers to the process of designing and developing a device, assembly, or system such that it be produced as an item for sale through some production manufacturing process. Product engineering usually entails activity dealing with issues of cost, producibility, quality,...
- Product PSO
- Product BPO
- Business Process Outsourcing
- Help-Desk Services
- Back-Office Services
- Data Management Services
- eLearning
- Technical CommunicationTechnical communicationTechnical communication is a method of researching and creating information about technical processes or products directed to an audience through media. The information must be relevant to the intended audience. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products for various...
Industries
- Financial ServicesFinancial servicesFinancial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
- Marketplaces
- Credit Derivatives
- Mortgages
- Securities Financing
- Wealth ManagementWealth managementWealth management is an investment advisory discipline that incorporates financial planning, investment portfolio management and a number of aggregated financial services...
- ComplianceRegulatory complianceIn general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that corporations or public agencies aspire to in their efforts to ensure that personnel are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws and...
- Public SectorPublic sectorThe public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
- Federal GovernmentFederal governmentThe federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...
- State and Local Government
- Non-Profit
- Federal Government
- Service Industries
- High-tech/ISVs
- Retail and Distribution
- Transportation
Dr. James Martin
Headstrong was founded in 1981 as James Martin Associates under Dr. James Martin, who today serves on the Board of Directors.Dr. Martin has written several books on the social and commercial implications of computers and technology.
In September 2002, Computerworld, in its 25th anniversary issue, ranked Dr. Martin fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science.
Dr. Martin earned an M.A. and D.Litt. from Oxford, a D.Sc. from Salford in England, and an honorary D.Eng. from Hokkaido Technical University in Japan for his work on information engineering. He was a member of the Software Scientific Advisory Board of the US Department of Defense, and advised the British government on telecommunications restructuring. He has provided consulting services to AT&T, IBM, Honeywell, Texas Instruments, and Xerox.
Dr. Martin is the founder of Oxford University's multidisciplinary 21st Century School, which aims to develop strategies for responding to the most serious problems as well as the most promising opportunities facing the planet in the new century.
The 21st Century School builds on the work of the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, which Dr. Martin had endowed with $100 million. The James Martin Chair of Computing at Oxford, on the other hand, is concerned with advancing the frontiers of system development.
He also established the World Education Corps, a service organization that brings essential education to poor countries and to underserved schools and communities worldwide.
Dr. Martin is also the chairman of WatchIT.com, an Internet-based education company.
Arjun Malhotra
Arjun Malhotra was named as one of the 50 eminent personalities instrumental in shaping 50 years of Indian computing. CIOL's "Top Sculptor's of Indian IT" write the following about Malhotra:- Arjun Malhora started HCL operations with six colleagues in 1976 from his grandmother's barsati in South Delhi.
- During his 25-year-long stint with HCL, he gave the group an international face, which subsequently had a profound impact on Indian software sector.
- HCL Technologies America, the HCL-HP JV in India and the Australasia operations were his significant achievements.
- After quitting HCL, he launched TechSpan in 1998, focusing on capital markets solution, in the US which subsequently merged with Headstrong in 2003.
- He founded the Prof GS Sanyal School of Telecommunications at IIT Kharagpur, his alma mater, through personal endowment of Rs 3 crore
- Serves as chairman of Vision 2020, an alumni initiative to raise a $200 mn endowment fund for IIT Kharagpur by the year 2020.