LogicaCMG is a telecommunications and IT consultancy company. They are headquartered in London and Amsterdam, and are active in 34 countries, have 21,000 employees and, in 2003, realised a turnover of 1.7 billion GBP | 2.6 billion EUR.

Overview and History

Logica was founded in 1969 by Len Taylor, Philip Hughes and Pat Coen. The company stared life as a systems integration business at the same time as the birth of the mini computer. The majority of projects undertaken at that time exploited the flexibility and power of these machines. Important projects included the control systems for the natural gas grids in the UK and the Netherlands, the automated clearing system for the UK banks, the computerization of the new stock exchange in Hong Kong, and the customer service system for British Telecom, the control system for the Eutelsat satellite constellation as well as numerous projects for the European Space Agency. Logica undertook significant product developments or IBM. Logica is credited with the development of the Teletext system for the BBC.

Logica set up operating subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, the United States and elsewhere as well as joint ventures in Hong Kong with Jardine Matheson and Italy with Finsiel and one with British Airways.

The Company was the first software company to be floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1984.

Mergers

The Company has made a number of acquisitions in the United States, Germany, Sweden, France and Australia; however none of these has proved to be very successful. The acquisition of Aldiscom in Ireland brought Logica into the text messaging business which was to prove very lucrative. In 2002 the Company merged with CMG.

The merger of Logica (60%) with CMG / Admiral (40%), on December 30, 2002, represented the union of an established technology firm (Logica) with an established consulting firm (CMG). The move was generally considered by commentators at the time to be of good strategic value for both companies. Profit rises since the merger further validate the decision.

Activities

LogicaCMG are not one of the most prominent IT consulting firms and they do not advertise widely, except to fulfill their recruitment goals. The average member of the public cannot afford, say, a £5m electricty trading system, but the clients who need their services know who they are and often have had relationships with Logica or CMG that have lasted over 40 years. As a consequence of this relative obscurity, the LogicaCMG marketing literature that does exist lists various 'wow factors' that people may be surprised by:

• LogicaCMG systems supports the missions of over 150 orbiting satellites.
• LogicaCMG solutions handle more than half the world's foreign exchange traffic.
• LogicaCMG systems process two out of every three text messages sent in the world.
• LogicaCMG has delivered one out of every four multi-media messaging centres installed by wireless service providers across the globe.
• LogicaCMG HR outsourcing services process more than $90 billion of salaries globally each year.

Logica during the IT Slump

LogicaCMG's strategy for success and survival has, for many years, been to be broadly-based by sector. In the 90s, city analysts were recommending that they pull out of the public sector and concentrate on telecoms. Come the IT slump of 2000, Logica still had their public sector business to fall back on, hence avoiding the worst tribulations of the dotcom slump.

External link

• LogicaCMG (http://www.logicacmg.com/)