confidential © 2000 – irapid - [email protected] 1 strategic e-development introduction...

© 2000 – iRapid - [email protected] Slide 1CONFIDENTIAL

Strategic e-Development

Introduction and Fundamentals

September 2000


Outline

• Vision and Mission• Corporate Values• Management Team• Methodology• Growth Strategy• Customer Value

Proposition• Expertise• Opportunity• Financials• Execution• Summary


Vision and Mission• Our Vission:

“Become the market leader in system analysis and development, focused in high-technology practices and through a virtual teaming approach, for the Americas, Europe, and Asia, by employing high ethical and business standards, providing our customers with unparalleled quality products and services, offering attractive opportunities to our employees and business partners, and participating in the development of the communities in which we operate”.

• Our Mission:“Provide highly qualified technical people and unmatched services in all phases of the system development lifecycle”


Corporate Values

• Relentless focus on quality – Our driving principle is to provide our clients with best-of-

class services, second-to-none in the industry. – Our commitment to continuous improvement via

investments in research and development and partnerships with only leading academic institutions enable us to provide results even for the most complex projects.

• Attracting, developing, and keeping the best people and business partners– World-class salaries, stock option programs, long-term

career path, continuous training

• Help the local economies to retain their people• Integrity• Honesty


Management Team• Gabriel Obrador, CEO

– Accomplished executive and entrepreneur, with experience in building and leading companies of billions in revenues, as well as creating and launching several Internet ventures. Proven M&A experience closing operations for $3 billion in 3 years for a Fortune 500. Graduate degree from MIT/Sloan, UBA.

• Luis Blando, COO– Experienced engineer and entrepreneur, with a solid background in

software technologies and business strategy, having worked for leading US companies in architecture and systems development in leadership roles. Graduate degrees from MIT/Sloan, Northeastern, UNLV, and CUC.

• Ravi Ravindra, CTO– Extensive experience as a software architect with cutting edge

technologies, leading teams for different US clients in the areas of Internet software systems development. Graduate degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

• Daud Sharif, Technology Advisor - Quality Assurance– With more than 20 years of experience as software engineer and security

architectures, he specializes in Q/A design and test strategies. Graduate degrees from Ohio Inst. of Tech., Univ. Tech. and Eng., Lahore, Pakistan.


Management Team (cont’d)

• Gustavo Bottan, Chief Marketing Officer– Strategic thinker with operational experience in IT projects. In-depth

business strategy and sales & marketing expertise in several multinational companies. Graduate degree from MIT, UBA and Sweden Inst. Tech.

• Daniel Chain, CFO– With 20+ years of experience in executive positions, he has led

investment funds. Leader in the Business community, he is a Member of the Natl. Quality Award Committee for Argentina. Graduate degrees from UBA, Argentina.

• Alfredo Poncio, General Manager – Latin America– As a Director of Information Technology for large private and

government institutions, he has more than 10 years of experience in managing IT projects and groups. Graduate degrees from CEMA and CUC, Argentina.

• Srini Vasan, Technology Advisor - Knowledge Management– Accomplished software architect since 1989, having worked for

Digital Equip.Corp., Avid Technology, and Computer Corp. among other firms. Graduate degrees from Indian Institute of Tech., Madras, India


Methodology

• Gated-phase approach to systems development, as current best practices

• Built-in redundancy through dual development• Full-time, dedicated, co-located customer

liaison • Off-shore development teams, traveling

architects• 24x7 operation, through DEV QA cycling in

opposite time-zones


A Project Team

Engineer (x6)

Technical Lead(Cell 1)

Engineer (x6)

Technical Lead(Cell 2)

QA Eng. (x6)

QA Lead(for project)

ProjectM anager

Architect

PM runs the project from start to finish. Responsibilities include time &

cost estimation and control, interfacing with the customer, and

preserving the morale. They defer to the Architect in technical matters

The Architect is engaged early on in the process, and drives the technical

aspects throughout. Works in tandem with the PM and defers to him the day-

to-day managing, concentrating instead on technical excellence and

mentoring the resources.

A development cell is a self-sustaining

group of developers which can do both

design and build for a subsystem. The technical lead is

capable of communicating on

par with the architect, able to design and

mentor junior team members. These

technical leads are future architects. This project is big enough for two cells. All projects need a QA

cell, staffed to ½ of development effort.


An engagement(*)

Identification

Definition

Execution

The sales organization identifies a potential project, engages the project manager, and identifies a possible architect. Performs back-of-the-envelope feasibility study to determine if this is an opportunity worth pursuing.

The PM, the Architect, and possibly some of the Tech Leads in the project team

work with client to define scope and requirements of the work, as well as the high-level architecture.

PM keeps control, Architect + Tech Leads design, architect moves on, tech leads and cells develop and test.

Estimate of effort andcompetencies required

High level architectureRequirements documentCritical Success Factors

System deployedSunset report

(*) Simplified overview


Engagement timeline

Identification Definition Execution

0 2 6 16-26

WEEKS

CLOSE CLIENT INTERACTION OFF-SHORE TEAM ENGAGED

Sales & Marketing Project Manager

Architect

Tech. Leads

Engineers


Growth Strategy - Pillars

• Positive-feedback organic growth. That is, train the trainers

• Aggressive partnering with academic and research institutions

• World-class compensation

• Jump-start with very senior people to get pipeline in place


Training the trainers

Updated Base Curriculum

Post Graduation Training

iRapid Methodology

• Currently developing, in conjunction with academia, updated curricula in latest technologies (i.e. J2EE, XML, UML)

• Training class in latest tools, technologies, and “practices from the field”, jointly sponsored and taught by iRapid and local universities. Selective entry into the class, tuition to be collected by university and to be used to fund their standard curriculum enhancements (above). Successful completion of training program guarantees a position within the iRapid family.

• As an iRapid employee, incubation period in our cell-based development methodology, exposure to different projects, and update on our virtual software development tools.

3-6 mos

3-6 mos

Sr. yr


Can’t do it alone• Collaboration arrangements with:

• MIT, Cambridge, USA

• Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, India

• University of La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

• Catholic University, Buenos Aires and Cordoba, Argentina

• National Technology University, Argentina

• Aggressively expanding strategic allies•Early identification and recruitment of high-potential

iRapid family members and business partners

•Centers of excellence to develop intellectual capital, ready to be tapped into for the most complex problems

• LIFIA, La Plata, Argentina

• Manasa Internet, Bangalore, India


Not a “body shop”

• iRapid’s founding vision is to become a referent for excellence in systems development

• In order to provide world-class value, and compete globally, we need to attract the best talent

•Plus, our organic growth is predicated on the preference of many of our foreign engineers to remain in their countries, fueling their economies and consequently iRapid’s growth. Competitive compensation is a big enticement to stay

•Furthermore, it’s the only moral thing to do…


Experienced pioneers…

In order to establish our pipeline, and be able to absorb the fresh graduates in time, we need to jump-start our organization by running our initial pilot projects with very senior personnel, therefore increasing our lead-to-architect ratio and consequently our cell count and corporate muscle for taking more projects.

For example, the following is the profile of some of the people in one of our pioneering teams in Argentina…

- Cell lead: tenured professor of leading university and MIS of the city’s largest newspaper, 12+ years of experience in industry and academia, experienced manager in the information technology sector

- Engineer 1: Best-in-class independent consultant with 10+ years of experience. Architected and led several projects in engagements for IBM, Coca Cola, Motorola, and others.

- Engineer 2: assistant professor in leading university, experienced consultant with engagements in top companies.


Growth Model

Time 0: senior pioneers in each country, led by the architects in iRapid’s foundational team, engage in pilot projects. At the same time, arrangements are being made to start training the upcoming seniors from school and to put the virtual development tools in place. Substantial help from our advisory board and our strategic allies in academia and industry.

After successful completion of pilot projects, our senior pioneers have an excellent chance of having graduated to architects and thus are ready to receive the influx of graduates.

This process slows down a bit after the first few iterations (i.e. after exhausting the experienced people in the marketplace) but maintains a healthy steady state.

Advisory board member or academic / industry partner.

Initial “senior pioneers” or experienced hires.

School graduates.iRapid founding and mgmt team


Growth Curve (est.)

2000 2001 2002 2003

Revenues0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

Revenues 4.0 71.2 391.3 848.6

Employees 40 638 3,106 5,602

2000 2001 2002 2003


Opportunity• Technology enables this new virtual way of working• Intellectual capital becoming prevalent source of

economic development and highly portable asset• Software development is crucial to modern society and it

is done today in an “artisan” manner. Thus, tremendous room for improvement through more standardized methodologies

• Shortage of quality software developers in developed countries will be larger than 1 million SDW this year

• Trends for increased need will continue• Immigration is not the solution for developed countries,

and negatively impacts source countries (brain drain)

iRapid’s virtual teaming methodology, personal contacts and strategic alliances in the Computer

Science field


Customer Value Proposition

• Scarcity solution• Sound systems architecture

– reduce time-to-market, improve product’s quality, mitigate risks

• 7/24 & dual development increase time-to-market• Allow strategic customers to increase reach &

augment capacity flexibly – higher development footprint, hands-off increase in capacity,

no hiring, more flexible organization

• Increased quality– QA-to-development 1-1 ratio now becomes possible– iRapid is a Quality-centric organization

• NOT price advantage• Full outsourcing solutions and system development


Expertise• Our core capabilities are in the following service areas:

– Consultancy services focused in software analysis, design and development, product porting and customization, integration and testing activities.

– Web and WAP technologies, doing design, architecture, and build– Enterprise Application Integration– Data Networks (data communication protocols, network device

drivers, network applications and VOIP)– Client-Server Applications (front-end GUI development, COM

interfaces, database design & mgmt. at the server end) – Quality Assurance design and testing

• Local market knowledge (India, Pakistan, and Latin America)– Off-shore Project Development and Dedicated Centers

• Training in cutting-edge technologies, and empowering our people across the value-chain through R & D


Financials

Initial 2001 2002 2003 2004

ACTUAL NOPAT (Net Oper. Profit After Taxes) 2.3 -0.1 4.4 48.0 172.9

Total Revenue (MMUS$) 3.8 4.0 71.2 391.3 848.6

Total HR expense + Non durable Assets (MMUS$) 0.1 3.9 63.0 311.3 572.8

Free Cash Flow -2.4 -1.1 10.5 41.9 236.8

NPV (MUS@30%) 326.0


Execution• Immediate

– One pilot project, cross-sell opportunity– Business development with potential clients – Operational development through the definition of iRapid’s

operative methodology –in conjunction with our centers of excellence and strategic partners-, training (for future graduates), and logistics (offices, administrative, legal)

• In two months– Engage dormant resources (now working on methodology)

in more pilot projects, use this to gauge potential hires– Operations are officially launched

• In six-ten months– Human resources growth through hiring top performers– Scaling by identifying team leads and staffing from

schools (with people that have gone through our predefined training)


Summary

• Strong management team with unique advantages– Proven business and management track record– Domain-matter expertise– Strategic leverage through personal networks

• Substantial market opportunity, fueled (but not dictated) by the current scarcity– Scarcity comes in handy to jump-start our company,

getting paid projects from the get-go

• Quality focused, not a body shop, from architecture down– Our competitive advantage, and the only solution for a true

“worries-off” consulting engagement

• Exclusive arrangements with best institutions– In order to guarantee a flow of qualified applicants, thus

enabling scalability and growth

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