Deltek’s rebirth focuses on Earned Value Management (EVM)

Deltek was founded in 1983 by Donald and Kenneth deLaski. The
father and son partnership originally developed accounting
solutions for government contractors.

It was a traditional old fashioned business model based on high
quality engineering, good customer service, and word-of-mouth
recommendations. Deltek quietly went about its business and
gradually moving into project-based ERP solutions primarily for the
Architectural / Engineering / Construction (AEC) industry
specialising in the Project and Portfolio Management (PPM)
market.

Deltek grew and in 1998 on reaching $50m turnover and 5,000
customers, it felt confident enough to acquire some smaller
players, Harper and Schuman and A/E Management. In 2003 it topped
revenue of $100m, but all was about to change in Sleepy Hollow.

In 2005 the venture capital company New Mountain Capital bought
a 75% share and the ex-CFO of PeopleSoft, Kevin Parker, took on the
CEO role with a mandate to grow the business. Since then, the
company has made two rapid acquisitions (Welcom and CS Solutions
Inc) from which it acquired 750 customers and valuable expertise in
Earned Value Management (EVM). CS Solutions Inc specialised in BI
tools for the EVM market.

EVM is similar to Stern Stewart’s EVA (Economic Value Added)
concept. EVM tracks projects in a real-time, multi-dimensional
manner. It helps both suppliers and customers manage project risk.
EVM enables a contractor and customer to both monitor project
progress in terms of integrated cost, schedule and technical
performance measures.

The US government is driving this initiative, as it is in
performance-based budgeting. EVM is considered best practice for
project management for the US Department of Defense (DoD), Federal
government, and the commercial sector. EVM compliance is required
on US defense contracts greater than $20 million. Australia and
Canada have followed suit, and now the UK MoD has mandated all
Category C defence contracts over £20m must incorporate EVM.
Suppliers are also encouraged to consider payment via EVM
metrics.

Deltek has since acquired Wind2 Software which added 3,000 more
customers to their roster. Deltek will develop its presence in the
professional services market (Wind2 Software provided financial
management software for professional services companies), which now
requires more sophistication than Microsoft Project, the lead
player in the project management software market.

Deltek believes that, along with EVM, the 2012 Olympic Games in
London will be a key demand driver for UK project-orientated
businesses. Currently Deltek is recruiting channel partners to
complement its technology partnerships with Microsoft (Gold
Partner), Primavera, Cognos (an OEM agreement), and Hyperion.

Deltek offers a full-suite of project-focussed solutions that
include ERP, CRM, HCM, BPM, and EPM primarily for the mid-market
(100 to 1000 man corporations). Their products run on all the usual
platforms—UNIX, Windows, SQL Server, Oracle, and Internet
Explorer; and it plans to have SOA-enabled versions available in
2007.

Kevin is instilling a PeopleSoft-like mentality into Deltek.
Work hard, play hard, but above all look after your customers with
a smile on your face. It served PeopleSoft well—let’s hope it
can do the same for Deltek.