Thursday, November 5, 2015

Virtusa to acquire majority stake in Polaris

Polaris Consulting and Services Ltd. (“Polaris”), an innovator in digital transformation and financial technology, has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Virtusa Corporation (“Virtusa”) whereby a subsidiary of Virtusa will acquire approximately 53% of the paid up share capital of Polaris from certain promoter entities led by Arun Jain and certain other shareholders, including OrbiTech Private Ltd (formerly known as Orbitech Limited).
In accordance with the terms and conditions of the SPA, Virtusa will purchase the shares at a price of approximately INR 220.73 per share, aggregating to approximately INR 1,173 crores.

In addition, Virtusa will make an unconditional mandatory offer to the public shareholders of Polaris to purchase up to an additional 26% of the outstanding shares of Polaris.

The board of directors of Polaris approved the execution of the SPA as Virtusa would be a complementary partner offering a compelling alternative to drive the digital agenda of the global BFS industry. The deal will expand presence in key markets and enhance the ability to pursue larger consulting and outsourcing contracts.

Arun Jain, Chairman of Polaris Consulting & Services Ltd., said, “I am delighted to have identified Kris Canekeratne and his team at Virtusa to pass on the baton to grow Polaris by offering greater value to customers and more opportunities for the team. I wish all Polaris associates who contributed to building Polaris into a world class company in the BFSI space, continued success in their journey under the larger canvas of Virtusa and Polaris. This will also enable me to establish and pursue innovative models for social impact using Design Thinking in the areas of health and education, in addition to my focus on steering Intellect Design Arena Limited into a global digital products powerhouse”.

Kris Canekeratne, Virtusa’s Chairman and CEO, said, “Polaris brings a terrific team and an attractive, blue-chip client base to our organization. The combination of Virtusa and Polaris enables us to provide end-to-end global BFS services and solutions, expand our addressable market, and position us to pursue larger consulting and outsourcing opportunities. We are enthusiastic about working with the Polaris team to build out our platform and offer clients a distinctive set of offerings.”

Jitin Goyal, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, Polaris Consulting & Services Ltd.s, said, “Virtusa and Polaris combined will create an indisputable brand to reckon with in the digital space. Both organisations share a common goal of delivering best-in-class solutions and the highest level of service excellence to our clients. I believe the combination of the two companies will enable us to better address our clients’ most critical business objectives.”

Upon closing of this transaction, Citigroup Technology, Inc. (“Citi”), has agreed to designate Virtusa and Polaris as a preferred vendor for Global Technology Resource Strategy for the provision of IT services to Citi on an enterprise-wide basis. In addition, Polaris and Virtusa agreed to certain productivity savings and associated reduced spend commitments for a period of two years, which, if not achieved, would require Virtusa/Polaris to provide certain minimum discounts to Citi. The parties agreed to amend Polaris’ master services agreement with Citi such that Virtusa Corporation would also be deemed a contracting party and would assume, and agree to perform, or cause Polaris to perform, all applicable obligations under the master services agreement. The Preferred vendor status provides an opportunity to competitively bid for additional/new work. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2016. The transaction is subject to certain conditions to close, including regulatory approvals.

read more: http://finextra.com/news/announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=62027

Monday, November 2, 2015

Leo George Woerner, consulting engineer

Leo George Woerner, a consulting engineer in Baltimore for 45 years who was known for using his abilities to help others, died Oct. 27 of heart failure at his Mays Chapel home. He was 88.

Mr. Woerner was trained as an electrical engineer but found himself better suited to mechanical engineering. He worked as a consultant for some big names nationally and locally — Black & Decker, Caterpillar, Northrup Grumman, Pritchard Brown and Hedwin — but found joy in fixing things for family and neighbors when they needed it.

Or if he thought they did.

"There was always a list of things around the house to fix, and he did want us to know how to maintain our cars so we weren't helpless," said Susan Graham of Bloomington, Ind., one of his three daughters. "But he definitely was a Mr. Fix-It and a Mr. Helpful, and he loved being able to do it."

Aid extended to neighbors who had car or plumbing troubles, and a nearby building of people who called on him to fix, among other things, their elevator. It also extended to young engineers, who found a mentor in Mr. Woerner.

He was born in Manhattan, the son and Leo Woerner, an accountant, and the former Elsie Heinrich, a medical technologist. He served two years in the Navy and graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1949.

He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1950, and then married Gloria Evelyn Duff, with whom he celebrated a 65th wedding anniversary just before his death.

Mr. Woerner worked in engineering for 70 years until 2013. He began his career at 16 at the Bartol Research Foundation, part of the Franklin Institute, as a laboratory assistant. After getting his degree he worked on computer systems with the Burroughs Adding Machine Company Research Laboratory and designed magnetic computer memory components that were patented.

Later he worked for the International Resistance Corporation, an electronic parts manufacturer, and then moved onto Schick Inc. in Lancaster, Pa., where he expanded their product line from plug-in shavers to battery-operated shavers, as well hair dryers and electric toothbrushes.

He was awarded more patents for mechanical equipment in his next post at AMP Inc. in Harrisburg, Pa. At the Head Ski Co. in Timonium, he oversaw expansion into fiberglass skis and a new tennis racket design. When the company moved, he stayed in the area and became a consultant, designing and improving technology, as well as inspecting other equipment, investigating accidents and giving expert testimony.

Mr. Woerner was a member of Sigma Xi, American Institute of Steel Construction, American Consulting Engineers Council, American Concrete Institute and a lifetime member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Charles Gears of Lewes, Del., a fellow engineer and a friend for the past several decades, said he hired Woerner for one job and then kept on hiring him as Gears moved from company to company. Among other things, the pair worked on 100,000-pound generators that back up energy to hospitals and data centers.

Belying the seriousness of the work, Mr. Gears said Mr. Woerner was quick with a pun or joke. He also seemed to revel in the construction of language as much as equipment, finding delight in the way his fellow Baltimoreans pronounced words, Mr. Gears said.

"He was a longtime friend and mentor, a really good guy," said Mr. Gears, who got a call from Mr. Woerner about seven weeks ago. Mr. Woerner wanted to say goodbye when he knew his time was short. Mr. Gears drove to Baltimore the next day.

"We spent a half a day together," he said. "I took couple of old engineering books home with me, and he was happy about that, that someone could get some use out of them. That's how he was."

Mr. Woerner was active in other pursuits, including the Knights of Columbus. He served as chaplain for American Legion Post 174, assisted in the installation of a Phi Delta Theta chapter at the Johns Hopkins University and served as a pastoral visitor and a lector at Nativity parish and then St. Joseph's parish for more than 40 years.

A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Monday at the St. Joseph Parish, 100 Church Lane in Cockeysville. Visitation with family was scheduled for Sunday at Peaceful Alternatives Funeral and Cremation Center in Timonium.

read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bs-md-ob-leo-woerner-20151101-story.html

Friday, October 23, 2015

Huron Consulting tops 3Q profit forecasts

The Chicago-based company said it had profit of 86 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.14 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.13 per share.

The consulting company posted revenue of $209.9 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $231.6 million.

Huron Consulting expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.60 to $3.70 per share, with revenue in the range of $835 million to $850 million.

Huron Consulting shares have fallen 10 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $61.48, a decline of slightly more than 1 percent in the last 12 months.


read more: https://news.yahoo.com/huron-consulting-tops-3q-profit-214738269.html

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Line Blurs Further Between Jeb Bush’s Campaign And Super PAC

While hitting the campaign trail in Iowa earlier this month, former Florida governor and current Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush said in a radio interview, “We just started to advertise — actually the Right to Rise PAC started to advertise, not our campaign.”

His confusion is understandable. The line between Bush’s official campaign and nominally independent super PAC have found many ways — some of them of questionable legality — to work in concert in the 2016 race, safe in the knowledge that a gridlocked Federal Election Commission (FEC) has publicly declared they are unable to enforce campaign finance law.

Buried in the most recent round of FEC filings is evidence Bush’s Right to Rise super PAC paid the firm Wisecup Consulting LLC at least $16,000 this April and May for “political strategy consulting,” while the campaign paid the same firm about $60,000 for the exact same service — despite the two entities being legally barred from any coordination. Additionally, Wisecup Consulting’s founder and president Trent Wisecup, is serving as the campaign’s director of strategy, and has helped Bush prepare for debates and write his new e-book, among other contributions. Such an arrangement would be legal only if a strict, documented firewall is in place to prevent information sharing, but the Jeb Bush campaign did not respond to ThinkProgress’ inquiries as to whether such protections exist. ThinkProgress made multiple attempts to reach Wisecup and his company but could not do so at press time.
Each day that goes on, the campaigns get bolder and bolder ignoring the law.

A veteran Republican strategist, Wisecup is perhaps best known for a viral video of him berating an anti-war activist as “un-American” while working as a staffer for Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) — an episode that resulted in him taking medical leave. He has also worked on PR campaigns for General Motors, Wal-Mart, the cigarette conglomerate Philip Morris, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

“What you have here is strong evidence of coordination,” Campaign Legal Center general counsel Larry Noble told ThinkProgress. “It’s very hard for a strategist to divide up his brain and say, ‘I’ll only think about the super PAC today,’ and then switch gears and only think about the campaign the next day. This is a very big deal, because the super PAC has raised so much money, donations in amounts that couldn’t be made to a campaign, but if there’s coordination it would essentially make them illegal contributions to the campaign. At the very least this warrants a serious investigation.”

This is far from the first time Jeb Bush has tested the legal limits of a post-Citizens United world.

In March, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 accused Bush, Martin O’Malley, Rick Santorum, and Scott Walker of skirting federal campaign finance laws by soliciting unlimited money for their campaigns before formally launching them. Bush has also made time to film videos for his super PAC which they later used as ads.

Bush’s campaign and super PAC have also paid the same data firm — Digital Core Campaign — for various services, though its founder Andy Barkett has insisted the company has “procedures in place to ensure that we comply with all regulations.”

source: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/10/19/3713611/blurred-line-jeb-campaign-super-pac/

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Oyster Consulting Hires Compliance Consultant

Oyster Consulting [Bermuda] Ltd announced that Henry Komansky has joined the financial services consulting firm.

Mr Komansky will be providing general compliance consulting with an emphasis on AML/CFT consulting, client due diligence, investigations, targeted training and MLRO services.

Mr Komansky brings more than a decade of expertise in international financial services, including the international banking and insurance arenas.

In addition to his management experience as a Chief Compliance Officer, he has extensive depth with AML and CFT regulation as an attorney, a MLRO and as Head of Analysis for the Bermuda Financial Intelligence Agency.

Mr Komansky has criminal and investigatory experience as a criminal prosecutor and as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he was commended for his work on the 9/11 investigation in Washington, DC.

“Henry brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in many different areas which will complement the existing suite of services provided within the Bermuda market,” explains Alison Morrison, Oyster Consulting [Bermuda] Managing Director.

“Together with our US-based operation, Oyster Consulting LLC, we are able to provide comprehensive regulatory expertise in multiple jurisdictions.”

Throughout his career, Mr Komansky has focused on compliance and, specifically AML/CFT procedures and programs in support of the business objectives of a company. He will help Oyster Consulting’s clients proactively run and manage their businesses, providing strategy and structure that support long-term success and day-to-day confidence.

Mr Komansky said, “Today, enhanced corporate governance, compliance and risk management are at the forefront of the minds of regulators, investors and investment managers alike.

“I am pleased to be working with a firm with a proven track record which is focused on delivering solid results based upon experience, and to offer practical solutions to the financial industry.”

“We are thrilled to have Henry join Oyster, and look forward to the contributions he will be making to our team,” added Rob Hall, a Bermudian and founding principal of Oyster Consulting LLC in Richmond, Virginia.

“His expertise in AML/CFT and regulatory compliance will enhance the services we offer to our clients.”

source: http://bernews.com/2015/10/oyster-consulting-ltd-hires-compliance-consultant/

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

IBM launches cognitive computing consulting practice

IBM today launched its latest strategic initiative: a 2,000-employee consulting unit devoted exclusively to business that builds on the cognitive computing capabilities of IBM Watson.

"Our work with clients across many industries shows that cognitive computing is the path to the next great set of possibilities for business," Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Business Services, said in a statement today. "Clients know they are collecting and analyzing more data than ever before, but 80 percent of all the available data — images, voice, literature, chemical formulas, social expressions — remains out of reach for traditional computing systems. We're scaling expertise to close that gap and help our clients become cognitive banks, retailers, automakers, insurers or healthcare providers."
" "Before long, we will look back and wonder how we made important decisions or discovered new opportunities without systematically learning from all available data." "
Stephen Pratt, IBM Cognitive Business Solutions
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The new practice, IBM Cognitive Business Solutions, will draw on the expertise of more than 2,000 consulting professionals spanning machine learning, advanced analytics, data science and development, all supported by industry and change management specialists.

IBM Senior Vice President John Kelly defines cognitive computing as systems designed to ingest vast quantities of different kinds of data, reason over the information, learn from their interactions with data and people and interact with humans in natural ways. "Though cognitive computing includes some elements of the academic discipline of artificial intelligence, it's a broader idea," he says. "Rather than producing machines that think for people, cognitive computing is all about augmenting human intelligence — helping us think better."

"Over time, it will be possible to build cognitive technologies into many of the IT solutions and human-designed systems on earth, imbuing them with a kind of 'thinking' ability," Kelly says. "These new capabilities will enable people and organizations to accomplish things they couldn't before — understanding more deeply how the world works, predicting the consequences of actions and making better decisions."

see more at: http://www.cio.com/article/2989787/business-intelligence/ibm-launches-cognitive-computing-consulting-practice.html

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Don't Pay One Large Consulting Firm -- Invite 100 Small Ones

I believe that the holy trinity of business is Innovation, Agility and Scaling.

Yes, I believe your company can innovate and scale while it stays agile. You can embrace change and even thrive on it. And it’s possible to create a habitat for change in your company. Netflix has done it. Spotify has done it. Tesla has done it. A whole new generation of firms, that didn’t exist a decade ago, have done it.

The only thing you need to do is transform your company from a hierarchical monolith into a networked economy.

OK, that probably sounds easier than it is.

But you have no choice.


read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jurgenappelo/2015/09/30/dont-pay-one-large-consulting-firm/