HR ANALYSIS
Headstrong is a global IT consulting company with headquarters in Virginia, USA. Its 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.
Headstrong is a global IT consulting firm with a specialized focus in financial services. In particular, it is the world’s leading offshore outsourcing company focused in thecapital markets and securities industry space.
Headstrong has deep domain knowledge and proven expertise in verticals like asset and wealth management, mortgages, reference data, securities financing, prime brokerage, derivatives and compliance and risk. Range of services span the complete value chain, from high-end consulting to application outsourcing to product development to operations management.
With a nearly 30 years track record of proven results and 2009 revenues of $170 million, Headstrong’s model of specialization in the financial industry has yielded sustained year-on-year growth in earnings, profitability and market recognition. Headstrong operates in 8 countries with over 3000 employees. Outsourcing services are provided from three offshore centers in Noida, Bangalore and Manila and ‘near-shore’ centers in the US.
OFFER BY THE COMPANY
Placement Procedure
Written Test – 50% C and 50% Quants/DI
Interview : Technical Round followed by an HR Interview
Campuses Visited
IIT-KGP, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-G, Thapar University ,Amity University
CTC & Profile Offered (2009) : 5.2 LPA for IITians and 3.50 for other engineering graduate(Avg.)
Other benefits and Bond Details:
Bond for 2 years, Accommodation for first 15 days etc
Locations placed
Noida, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Though first three months of training will be at Noida centre
Campuses Visited
IIT-KGP, IIT-Madras, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-G, Thapar University ,Amity University
CTC & Profile Offered (2009) : 5.2 LPA for IITians and 3.50 for other engineering graduate(Avg.)
Other benefits and Bond Details:
Bond for 2 years, Accommodation for first 15 days etc
Locations placed
Noida, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Though first three months of training will be at Noida centre
MARKET IMAGE OF HEADSTRONG
Working Environment
Flexible (9 hrs average),Nice Office, Average food, dress code none, gym, relax room, TT tables
Flexible (9 hrs average),Nice Office, Average food, dress code none, gym, relax room, TT tables
Technology, Domain & Quality of work
-Almost all Technologies.(C ,C++,Java, Dot net, SQL etc)
-Verticals : Finance and healthcare domain
-All kind of work development as well support.(Depends on the project allocated)
Learning Opportunities
Learning Opportunities
Both Outsourced and house training. Sponsors certifications in technology as well financial domain. No Sabbatical policy/No policy for full time MBA but have collaborations with IIMB for executive programs.
Appraisals/Career Growth Ladder
Average appraisal of 5-10% .Can be as high as 30% for a few employees
Average appraisal of 5-10% .Can be as high as 30% for a few employees
Associate>> Sr. Associate >> Lead>>Consultant >>>>
Exit Options
IT/ITes Companies, I-Banks and other Financial Services Firms
Job Security
Not much in present scenario
Recommendations
Recommended strongly for students looking for an MBA after a year or so.
Headstrong – “A place where you can learn a lot during 2-3years and then move on.” The above statement is a general review of a few people I interacted with who are presently employees at Headstrong.Below is a snapshot of a conversation with one of the employees.
Pros
Only reason to be in Headstrong is to treat it as a bridge to reach a compensation you desire. Suppose if you are at 3 lpa with an IT giant and want to double your salary figures come to Headstrong get a good raise , work for a year and move on . Headstrong can really boost your salary because when they are in desperate need they do give a good hike and most of the time they are because there is hardly anybody who sticks to this company for more than 2 years.
Cons
DAG sucks , they’ve got some unusual processes which will suck the blood out of you . Processes generally take 30% of your time, come to Headstrong and see the number grow. HR policies are the most annoying , Ever heard of a company with no sick leaves, if not “Welcome to Headstrong”. See more of these when you join. Extremely billing oriented , if you are billing all is well , does not matter what you do , even if you have a 6 years experience and end up with crappy work , company is Ok as long as you are billed. Management mowed down by clients and probably they would go to any level to win deals. NEVER heard of a person who wants to build his/her career with Headstrong
Products and Services Offered:
The company provides consulting services to help clients analyze and improve business operations and strategies. It is also involved in application outsourcing, application development, management and maintenance. Its Product Development Services are designed as per the needs of the client’s organization. Headstrong also offers BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) products and services, which capitalize on the company’s project-management expertise. The firm operates SEI-CMM-certified Global Delivery Centers in the two leading outsourcing destinations – India and the Philippines.
Financial Information:
Net Sales: $113.1 million
Number of employees: 1,015
Officers:
· Arjun Malhotra - Chairman & CEO
· Sandeep Sahai – President & COO
· Adarsh Mehra – VP Finance
· Eric J. Lee – Director
· David Fairbearn – Director
Top Competitors:
· Computer Sciences Corp.
· IBM
· Sapient
· HCL
· Infosys
· Accenture
HEADSTRONG IN 21st CENTURY & POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION
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 (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 150,000 square feet (14,000 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.
Headstrong at SIFMA
The American Banker’s 2008 Fintech 100 places Headstrong at the 48th spot up from 68 in last year’s rankings.
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.”
Headstrong executive leadership and management, and MGDC leadership
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.”
Services lines
-Consulting
-Enterprise Architecture
-IT Management Optimization
-Business Intelligence
-Customer Relationship Management
-Application Outsourcing
-Application Development
-Application Maintenance Outsourcing
Products and Services Offered:
The company provides consulting services to help clients analyze and improve business operations and strategies. It is also involved in application outsourcing, application development, management and maintenance. Its Product Development Services are designed as per the needs of the client’s organization. Headstrong also offers BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) products and services, which capitalize on the company’s project-management expertise. The firm operates SEI-CMM-certified Global Delivery Centers in the two leading outsourcing destinations – India and the Philippines.
Financial Information:
Net Sales: $113.1 million
Number of employees: 1,015
Officers:
· Arjun Malhotra - Chairman & CEO
· Sandeep Sahai – President & COO
· Adarsh Mehra – VP Finance
· Eric J. Lee – Director
· David Fairbearn – Director
Top Competitors:
· Computer Sciences Corp.
· IBM
· Sapient
· HCL
· Infosys
· Accenture
HEADSTRONG IN 21st CENTURY & POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANSION
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 (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 150,000 square feet (14,000 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.
Headstrong at SIFMA
The American Banker’s 2008 Fintech 100 places Headstrong at the 48th spot up from 68 in last year’s rankings.
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.”
Headstrong executive leadership and management, and MGDC leadership
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.”
Services lines
-Consulting
-Enterprise Architecture
-IT Management Optimization
-Business Intelligence
-Customer Relationship Management
-Application Outsourcing
-Application Development
-Application Maintenance Outsourcing
-Application Transformation
-Quality Assurance
-Product Development Services
-Product Process Consulting
-Product Engineering
-Product PSO
-Product BPO
-Business Process Outsourcing
-Help-Desk Services
-Back-Office Services
-Data Management Services
-eLearning
-Technical Communication
UPDATE
Headstrong is now acquired by GENPACT for US$550mm.
-Quality Assurance
-Product Development Services
-Product Process Consulting
-Product Engineering
-Product PSO
-Product BPO
-Business Process Outsourcing
-Help-Desk Services
-Back-Office Services
-Data Management Services
-eLearning
-Technical Communication
UPDATE
Headstrong is now acquired by GENPACT for US$550mm.
