Logica
CGI Group | |
Website | www.cgi.com |
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Logica plc was a multinational IT and management consultancy company headquartered in London and later Reading, United Kingdom.
Founded in 1969, the company had offices in London and in a number of major cities across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as in other countries around the world. It was responsible for many telecommunications infrastructure projects, such as the design of the SWIFT network for international money transfers, the Euronet packet-switching network, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco. Following the acquisition of CMG in 2002, the company was known as LogicaCMG from then until 2008, when it changed its name back to Logica. The company's main business at that point was in providing consulting, systems integration, and IT outsourcing in both the public and private sectors.
Logica was acquired by Canada-based
History
Origins
Logica was started as a
The other founders were Pat Coen,[7] Steve Feldman,[8] and John McNeil.[3] Another important figure, David Mann, joined the fledgling outfit a few weeks later.[8] Together these people, in the later words of the Financial Times, "gave the company its distinctive character."[8]
Early projects and expansion
The new firm's first major contract came in 1970 for a computerized hotel reservation system that would operate on a nationwide basis and was worth £100,000.[7] Another early project was the control system for the United Kingdom's natural gas grid in 1971.[4] In its early years the company focused on adapting software to specific customer needs and requirements and advising customers on trends in information technology.[9] The company was premised on the idea that there was tremendous promise in communications technology and that an international approach was warranted.[4] Accordingly, Logica's first overseas office, in the Netherlands, was opened in 1973,[4] the same year that turnover exceeded £1 million for the first time.[7] Overall, Logica played a role in putting into use many of the components that later made the Internet a large-scale success.[6]
Logica had a major success that gave it visibility when it won the design of the SWIFT network for international money transfers in 1972–73.[5][7] The company produced a whole new production, transmission and management system for the BBC in the late 1970s.[10] Another involved the first bank cash dispenser in the UK.[3] The company's staffing levels were around 200 employees in the early years, and their successes at pulling off large-scale and difficult projects garnered them a reputation for technical excellence and able management.[4]
McNeil led the teams that did many of the company's early projects.[3] He left Logica in 1977 and ended up in a successful career as a novelist and a writer for BBC dramas.[3]
In 1974, Logica, together with the French company SESA, set up a joint venture, Sesa-Logica, to undertake the
Logica set up operating subsidiaries in the Sweden and the United States in 1977.[7]
While there were many other British computer services firms started up during this period, most ended up being bought out by bigger companies or overseas services firms.[5] As such Logica became the dominant independent UK computer services company.[5]
The firm was involved in the development of the original automatic train control system for San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the late 1970s and early 1980s as part of the original construction of BART.[15]
Logica VTS
In 1975, Logica developed the first electronic
With the support of the UK's
The advent of the personal computer, and software such as WordPerfect, led to the decline of this business and its ultimate closure.[16]
In connection with office automation, Logica VTS also engaged in product work related to
By the end of 1985, Logica had decided to exit the office automation business, and Logica VTS was shut down over the course of 1986.[21]
Software Products Group, Rapport, and Xenix
Most of Logica's software products were used only internally, as part of reusing implementation parts of the contracting projects it engaged in.[15] However, Logica staged a foray into the wider software products world in the early-mid 1980s, creating the Software Products Group.[22] The director of the group was Gordon Kirk.[23]
Logica Rapport was an early
This Logica group put out several releases, including Xenix 3.0 in 1984, which was based on
The Software Products Group was acquired by SCO in December 1986;
Public company and the David Mann era
The company floated on the London Stock Exchange on 26 October 1983.[7] The company had 1,000 employees at this time, and they were major shareholders, owning some 40 percent of the firm.[7] However the stock price remained flat during this time, and indeed would for much of the next ten years.[5]
In 1985 they were faced with a
In 1984 the company developed the automated clearing system for the UK banks (CHAPS)[35] as well as the Customer Service System for British Telecommunications (BT/CSS), the £1bn total implementation, represented largest computer project undertaken in Europe and the largest integrated database in the world.[36]
Logica pioneered the automated ticketing system for
Logica set up joint ventures in Hong Kong with Jardine Matheson to undertake the real time trading system for the new integrated Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1984, in Italy with Finsiel in 1993,[37] and in the UK with British Airways in 1990 to undertake the development of computer systems for the airline and then sell them to other airlines.[38] The company's research and development arm was known as Logica Cambridge and located in Cambridge, England.[39]
Logica's competitors in the IT services and contracting realm in general included not just EDS but also
Near-original employee David Mann became managing director and CEO of the company in 1987.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s the company was led by David Mann.[40] During this period the company's turnover fell flat, and it suffered a loss in 1991, as it struggled with the effects of the early 1990s recession, especially among customers in the financial services industry.[4][8] There were also problems in the Logica US subsidiary, and changes in the software marketplace.[4] The company gained a reputation for emphasizing the creation of technically difficult, bespoke solutions, but ones that did not always maximise customer or shareholder value.[7] Logica was a pioneer in the development of Text messageing systems for Mobiles making their first sale to Vodafone.[36] By February 1994, Mann was out as CEO.[8]
Martin Read era
Martin Read was recruited from
By 1994 the company had some 3,400 employees.[4]
Defence work was still going on within the company, being done both by both Logica plc and by a specific group known as Logica, Defence and Civil Government.[42]
By the close of the 1990s, Logica had seen large-scale growth, with an average annual earnings increase of 35 percent over the previous five years and an increase in the company's market capitalisation from £130 million in August 1993 to £6.1 billion in December 1999.
In 1999 the buyout of the in-house Customer Care and Billing product division took place leading to the founding of the company that would become Cerillion.[43]
In 2000, Logica acquired the German computing services business PDV for £370 million, increasing the size of the German workforce by 1,200 in the process.[44]
In 2001 the company secured an outsourcing contract to create and operate a new case management system for the Crown Prosecution Service.[45] At this time the level of Read's remuneration received attention when it was revealed that he enjoyed a £28 million pay packet.[46][47]
LogicaCMG
The merger of Logica (60 percent) with British company CMG (40 percent) to form LogicaCMG on 30 December 2002 united an established technology firm (Logica) with an established consulting firm (CMG).[48]
In December 2003, LogicaCMG’s software controlled the doomed Beagle 2 probe after separation from the Mars Express orbiter.[49]
During the mid-2000s the company embarked on a series of acquisitions of Continental European firms.[50] In 2005, LogicaCMG purchased 60 percent of the Portuguese company Edinfor[35] (and in March 2008 purchased the remaining portion). In 2006, LogicaCMG purchased the French company Unilog for £631 million and the Swedish company WM-data for £876 million.[50]
The company suffered some embarrassment in 2006 when laptops containing police payroll data were stolen from LogicaCMG[51] and an outsourcing contract with Transport for London for IT services was terminated early after disputes over payments and service level agreements.[52]
By 2007, the firm had some 39,000 employees and offices in 36 countries,[9] and was one of Europe's largest IT services and outsourcing firms.[50] Its largest locations in terms of employees counts were France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, in that order.[9] Its most profitable sales regions were the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia.[50]
On 20 February 2007, LogicaCMG Telecom Products was sold for £265m (US $525m) to private investors Atlantic Bridge Ventures and Access Industries, and became known as Acision.[53]
Following a profit warning in 2007,[54] shareholders became increasingly skeptical about the wisdom of the European acquisitions strategy, and Martin Read was forced out as CEO by these shareholders.[50]
Return to Logica
Andy Green was recruited as the new CEO and took office from 1 January 2008.[55]
On 27 February 2008, the company changed its name back to Logica.[35] Nevertheless news accounts often referred to the company as being Anglo-Dutch.[56]
In April 2008 Green announced a major restructuring programme for the company, leading to 1,300 job losses.
Beginning in late 2009, Logica's revenues suffered from the effects of the European debt crisis.[60] In December 2011, Logica announced it would cut 1,300 jobs or around 3 percent of the workforce spread across Benelux, the United Kingdom and Sweden, to save 50 to 60 million pounds a year from the second half of 2012.[61] Logica's shares fell to half their value from a year prior.[60] Gradually the outsourcing component came to represent some 45 percent of the company's overall business.[56]
Acquisition by CGI
On 31 May 2012, Canada's
At the time of the acquisition, CGI had some 35,000 employees compared to Logica's 40,000; following elimination of redundancies, around 71,000 employees were in the newly merged company.[63] By March 2013, Logica had been fully integrated into CGI and the Logica brand name disappeared from use.[63]
Operations
Logica was a management consultancy, outsourcing and IT services and solutions company.[64] Its activities included:
- Supporting the missions of over 150 orbiting satellites.[65]
- Processing more than $100 billion of salaries globally each year.[66]
- Supporting 300 telecoms operators in 130 countries.[67]
LogiBods
Some Former Logica staff have referred to themselves as a "LogiBod".[68]
During the 1980s and 1990s Logica ran an extensive graduate recruitment programme that resulted in the company having a relatively young workforce.[21]
There is an independently operated alumni society, run by former employees, to cater for nostalgic needs of LogiBods and help them keep in touch.[69]
See also
References
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- ^ "AZ of Employers: LogicaCMG". The Independent. 12 October 2005. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "John McNeil Pioneer of the UK computer software industry". Herald Scotland. 19 November 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k van de Vliet, Anita (June 1994). "Logica's New Face". Management Today.
- ^ a b c d e International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 37. St James Press. 2001. pp. 230–33.
- ^ ISBN 9781446457276.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Levi, Jim (15 December 1999). "Corporate Profile: The Logica Solution". The Independent.
- ^ a b c d e f "People: Mann's long stint at Logica comes to an end". Financial Times. 25 February 1994. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9781582077932.
- ^ "Ceefax: The early days". BBC. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- doi:10.1108/eb046759.
- ISSN 2470-1475.
- ISBN 9781483160931– via Google Books.
- ^ "EIN (European Informatics Network) - CHM Revolution". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
- ^ a b Logica Annual Review 1983 (PDF). Logica. 1983. pp. 12, 13, 18, 32.
- ^ ISSN 0958-7403. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
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- ^ Shultz, Brad (23 March 1981). "Local Net System Out to Rival Ethernet". Computerworld. p. 65.
- ^ "Second chance for high-speed communication". New Scientist. 15 November 1984. p. 28.
- ^ "Computer rivals see eye to eye". New Scientist. 1 July 1982. p. 23.
- ^ a b Logica Annual Review 1986 (PDF). Logica. 1986. pp. 3, 8.
- .
- ^ a b c d "Version 3 gets Xenix nearer MS-DOS". Microprocessors and Microsystems. p. 456.
- ^ ISBN 9783642688478.
- ^ Holmes, David (3 April 1986). "Software shock for universities". New Scientist. p. 17.
- ^ a b c Pate, Steve D. (1996). UNIX Internals: A Practical Approach. New York: Addison Wesley Professional. pp. 9–11.
- ^ a b Isenberg, Sara (21 April 2016). "Watch: A look-back conversation with Doug Michels, co-founder of SCO". Santa Cruz Tech Beat. See around 10:45 mark of interview video.
- ^ a b Logica Annual Review 1984 (PDF). Logica. 1984. p. 12.
- ^ Logica Annual Review 1987 (PDF). Logica. 1987. p. 3.
- ^ "Santa Cruz Operation Ltd. to Offer Source for Xenix". InfoWorld. 8 December 1986. p. 33.
- ^ a b "Around the county: Software firm announces changes". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 7 December 1986. p. D-1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "This is ..." InfoWorld. 9 November 1987. p. 38. Advertisement.
- ^ "Santa Cruz Operation Replaces 8086 Operating System with Personal Xenix". Computergram International. Computer Business Review. 2 April 1989.
- ^ "Form 10-K: For the fiscal year ended October 31, 2002: Caldera International, Inc". Securities and Exchange Commission. 27 January 2003.
- ^ a b c d e "Logica History". Logica.com. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ a b "History and key milestones". 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
- ^ "Logica and Finsiel Set Up Italian Joint Venture". Computergram International. Computer Business Review. 9 March 1993.
- ^ "British Airways to hold 51% of Speedwing Logica". Computergram International. Computer Business Review. 5 August 1990.
- ^ "Logica Cambridge: Pushing Back the Frontiers of Human-Computer Interaction". Computergram International. Computer Business Review. 29 September 1988.
- ^ "Directors and Managers". Charteris. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ James Bethell (6 June 1995). "More directors leave Logica". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- .
- ^ "Cerillion plc: Billing software group confirms £10mln float". Proactive Inveztors. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ "Logica launches cash call for £463m". The Telegraph. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ Logica: Global Outsourcing from a Welsh Hub Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Independent.co.uk.
- ^ John Cassy (5 November 2001). "Local zeros?". Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Richard Wray (9 October 2002). "Jobs cull logical in Logica / CMG deal". Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ Briggs, Helen (17 December 2003). "Beagle probe enters crucial phase". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Bowers, Simon (28 May 2007). "Logica chief forced out after profit warning". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Met police payroll details stolen". BBC News. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "TfL signs temporary outsourcing agreement". Computing.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Payroll Processing Companies in India - Outsourcing and Management Services in Delhi". www.easysourceindia.com.
- ^ "Logica profit warning hits shares". BBC News. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Logica appoints BT's Green as new CEO". Computerweekly.com. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ a b c "CGI Group beds Logica in £1.7bn cash deal". The Register. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Logica UK sales stall". Computing.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "UK's Logica to outsource more work to RP". Newsinfo.inquirer.net. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Logica winds HR payroll services contract for Bank of England" (Press release). Logica. Retrieved 23 June 2014. Includes figures on scale of HR BPO operations.
- ^ a b c Marotte, Bertrand (31 May 2012). "CGI expands globally with $2.8-billion deal to buy Logica". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Logica to cut 1,300 jobs on eurozone woes". Financial Times. 14 December 2011.
- ^ "CGI Group closes $2.67B deal for UK-based Logica". Bloomberg Businessweek. 20 August 2012. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ a b Flinders, Karl (21 March 2013). "Farewell to Logica brand as CGI completes UK integration". Computer Weekly.
- ^ "Business Review". Logica. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Logica Group Overview". Logica.com. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "40 years of innovation and enterprise". Logica. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Telecoms and media". Logica. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- ^ "Cobham Park". Andy Webber. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- ^ "Logibods". Retrieved 9 September 2017.
External links
- Official website – CGI
- www.logica.co.uk – Logica official website – archived May 2012