Speridian Technologies, LLC

2400 Louisiana Boulevard Northeast, Building 3
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110-4362
U.S.A.
Telephone: (505) 217-3725
Fax: (505) 242-6036
Web site: http://www.speridian.com

Private Company
Founded:
2003 as Karma Consulting Services
Employees: 1,100
Sales: $31.5 million (2016)
NAICS: 541511 Custom Computer Programming Services

Speridian Technologies, LLC, is a global provider of information technology (IT), business consulting, enterprise applications, and business process services. Traditionally, the company has focused on the health care sector, but Speridian also serves the manufacturing, media and entertainment, telecommunications, travel, and transportation industries, as well as government agencies. Speridian is an Oracle Platinum Partner, specializing in five Oracle software platforms: Healthcare, Business Intelligence Applications for CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Siebel CRM, Service-Oriented Architecture, and Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation.

The subsidiary Xelleration LLC is a technology consulting and services firm that specializes in Microsoft systems. Besides its corporate headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Speridian maintains domestic offices in Rockville, Maryland; Irvine, California; and Portland, Oregon. International operations are located in Toronto, Canada; Bangalore, Cochin, Kozhikode, Mumbai, and Trivandrum, India; Lahore, Pakistan; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Singapore. Founder Girish Panicker serves as executive chairman.

FOUNDER: BORN IN INDIA

Girish Panicker was born in India and raised in Mumbai. After receiving a degree in computer engineering in 1992 from Pune University, he worked for MFS Technologies and WorldCom before continuing his education in the United States. In 2001 he earned a degree in computer science from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started a computer consulting services company in New Jersey in July 2003 under the name Karma Consulting Services. He spent less than $10,000 to launch the business, the funds primarily used to purchase computers and internet services. To fulfill his contracts, he relied on independent computer technicians but was often disappointed with their technical capabilities. In 2004 Panicker moved with his wife to Albuquerque, where she took a position at Eclipse Aviation Corporation and he resumed his consulting business. This time, however, he began hiring recent computer science graduates that he trained for as long as six months before dispatching them to the field.

COMPANY PERSPECTIVES

Speridian is a global business and technology solutions provider, offering an array of integrated services that combine technology, design and management consulting practices with deep sector expertise.

OPENING OF INDIA DATA CENTER: 2006

After generating revenues of about $475,000 in 2004, Panicker began product development operations the following year, and revenues soared to $3.1 million. In 2006 he opened a 10,000-square-foot data center in India, where soon half of his workforce would be located. As a result, Panicker's software development costs were 40 percent lower than in the United States. By passing some of those savings on to clients, he gained a competitive edge in the marketplace. In addition, Panicker opened a sales office in Dubai. With international expansion came the need for a new brand because Karma was a common business name overseas. Panicker adopted the Speridian Technologies name and incorporated Speridian Technologies, LLC.

In the fall of 2006 Speridian launched two new offerings: the Pay Lynxs International Money Remittance Service for banks and financial institutions and a migration tool kit (Version Synchronizer) to facilitate the smooth upgrade from Siebel 6.x CRM to Siebel 7 and beyond. Revenues improved to $3.2 million in 2006.

In May 2007 Speridian signed a multiyear contract with the Dubai-based International Turnkey Systems, a provider of telecommunications and IT services in the Middle East. Speridian would host and manage the software for its partner's billing and call-center operations. Speridian also signed a major software development contract with Presbyterian Health Plan in New Mexico in 2007 and opened an office in the United Kingdom. Revenues grew to $4.7 million for the year, a performance that made it the fastest-growing company with revenues under $10 million on the Albuquerque Journal's New Mexico Flying 40 annual ranking of the largest companies based in New Mexico.

FURTHER MARKET DIVERSIFICATION

Speridian unveiled a new product in 2008, as it continued its effort to diversify into new markets. Dubbed TaxCube, it was developed with Indian partner Karismatic Solutions and allowed taxpayers in India to file their tax returns online without reliance on a certified public accountant. The following year, Speridian worked with video-branding company RPM Visual Media to develop web-video applications to help customers create, distribute, and manage informational videos. Also in 2009, Speridian launched end-to-end business transformation consultancy services.

In 2010 Speridian enjoyed accelerated growth in the United States and the Middle East. For the year, revenues improved to $11.2 million. By now Panicker was running the company from Washington, DC, to be closer to Speridian's key customers in the Northeast. Nevertheless, the company continued to maintain its corporate headquarters in Albuquerque and Panicker continued to own a home in the area. He made regular visits, at least once a month. Speridian also maintained a presence on the West Coast with an office in Irvine.

Speridian expanded on multiple fronts as the new decade unfolded. Key to the company's success was its status as an Oracle Platinum Partner. As a result, Speridian received exposure to a wide range of potential customers. Additionally, the company bolstered its comprehensive services portfolio in 2011. The following year, it became involved in cloud services and developed industry specific products. The company also announced a major expansion of its operations in Kerala, India, in 2012. The city's Technopark location already housed the bulk of Speridian's workforce, which grew to more than 600 in 2013.

INTRODUCTION OF BENEFITALIGN

Much of the growth in the number of employees was the result of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. To connect consumers with the law's mandated health exchanges, Speridian formed the benefitalign subsidiary. Powered by Oracle Siebel software, benefitalign provided a cloud-based software solution connecting health plans, health insurance exchanges, retailer, brokers, and their members. In October 2013 benefitalign made its debut in Arizona, Florida, and Virginia.

KEY DATES
2003:
The company is founded in New Jersey as Karma Consulting Services.
2004:
The company relocates to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
2006:
A data center opens in India.
2013:
Speridian unveils benefitalign.
2017:
Xelleration is acquired.

In June 2014 Speridian was recognized by the Albuquerque Journal as New Mexico's eighth-highest technology company in terms of revenues and second fastest in revenue growth on the Flying 40 list of New Mexico technology companies. Revenues in 2013 approached $28 million.

To maintain its momentum, Speridian pursued additional industry verticals and technologies in 2014. A year later, Speridian established the Health and Human Services Solutions and Consulting unit. It also moved into larger accommodations in Albuquerque. In the summer of 2015 it exchanged its 5,000-square-foot space for a 21,000-square-foot building that the company purchased for $1.5 million. Another $1 million was spent on renovations.

The company supplemented organic growth through external means as well. In May 2015 Speridian acquired a Canadian company, Helm Innovations, for an undisclosed amount. Speridian had already been doing business in Canada, but without a local presence, winning government contracts had proven especially difficult. Helm was a professional services firm that provided IT services to the public sector as well as to the financial services and insurance industries. The addition of Helm not only helped Speridian's efforts to win government contracts, but Speridian also added to its talent pool and was now better able to serve existing clients in Canada. Helm became part of the newly created Speridian Technologies Canada unit.

Speridian completed a pair of acquisitions in 2016. First, in July of that year it added Ingenuity Consulting Partners, Inc. The company, based in Lee's Summit, Missouri, had been founded in 2002 as a business and technology consulting firm, focusing on data management, IT security, and data center optimization. It brought particular expertise in customer-facing web and mobile applications, IT infrastructure, and IT operations. Ingenuity Consulting significantly expanded Speridian's midwestern footprint and roster of clients in the region.

One month later, in August 2016, Speridian acquired a controlling interest in Sesame Software Solutions Pvt., Ltd. Based in Kerala, India, the company was established in 1993 and provided banking software and other financial technology solutions. Sesame was already a leader in its field, claiming that it provided its core banking solutions to numerous customers, including cooperative banking institutions with nearly 1,000 branches. It enjoyed a market share of more than 20 percent among urban banks in Kerala. With Speridian's investment, Sesame was now able to attract and retain top talent, strengthen its brand, and expand into other service verticals. Speridian achieved the same goal while also adding value and differentiating its own brand.

ACQUISITION OF XELLERATION: 2017

Speridian diversified its customer base further in September 2017 through an acquisition that had the potential to be transformative for the company. It added Xelleration LLC, which was based in Irvine. The technology consulting services firm was established in 2001 to help companies fully exploit the Microsoft platform. It initially built workflow automation solutions with the platform and Lotus Notes. Xelleration served more than 30 active clients, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations. All told, it had worked with more than 300 clients around the world. Xelleration was now a Microsoft Managed Partner and Cloud Solutions Provider with six Gold Certifications and seven Silver Certifications, serving clients in the education, financial, health care, manufacturing, and retail sectors. Xelleration maintained branch operations in Pakistan and Dubai.

The combination of Speridian and Xelleration was advantageous to both parties. “We build Oracle-based software solutions for businesses and Xelleration builds products and services on top of the Microsoft platform,” Speridian President and COO Ali Hasan told Kevin Robinson-Avila for a September 20, 2017, article that appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. “By bringing our individual areas of expertise together, we can offer the best of both platforms to our customers.” Aside from health care, there was little overlap in the companies' customers. The health and human services industries accounted for about 70 percent of Speridian customers. Xelleration, in contrast, served retail, manufacturing, and other more traditional markets. Furthermore, Xelleration served the education market, including kindergarten to 12th-grade schools as well as higher education institutions. As a result of the union, Speridian and Xelleration hoped to take advantage of each other's capabilities to offer a wider portfolio of technologies and pursue a greater range of industries.

Speridian now possessed capabilities with both the Oracle and Microsoft platforms. It employed some 1,100 people around the world and served scores of active clients. The company was likely to expand and diversify that roster and continue to expand its capabilities. The future, as a result, appeared bright for the New Mexico–based company with a global footprint.

Ed Dinger

PRINCIPAL SUBSIDIARIES

Xelleration LLC.

PRINCIPAL COMPETITORS

Datacom Group Limited; IntellectSpace Corporation; TCC Software Solutions.

FURTHER READING

Hartranft, Michael. “Speridian Experiences Dizzying 4-Year Ascent.” Albuquerque Journal, June 13, 2011.

Robinson-Avila, Kevin. “New Contracts to Double Speridian's Revenues This Year.” Albuquerque Business First, June 10, 2007.

———. “Speridian Merges with Calif. IT Firm.” Albuquerque Journal, September 20, 2017.

———. “Speridian Spins a Global Web of Success through In-Depth Training.” Albuquerque Business First, March 4, 2007.

Sams, Rachel. “Deal of the Week: How a Merger with a California Company Could Bring More Jobs to ABQ.” Albuquerque Business First, September 22, 2017.

Webb, Andrew. “Speridian Keeps Up with Big Competition.” Albuquerque Journal, June 12, 2008.