Ampcus Lives The Spirit Of Its Name
Ampcus was founded in 2004, the brainchild of CEO Anjali (Ann) Ramakumaran. The company name means “Everlasting Success,” which may seem ambitious until you contrast it with Ampcus’s track record on the ground. The Women President’s Organization (WPO) has named it one of the “Fastest Growing Companies in the USA” in both 2010 and 2011, and the company has been honored as one of the “Top 500 Privately Held Businesses in CONUS” by DiversityBusiness.com. Add in awards like the USPAACC’S Fast 50 Asian American Businesses in 2010 and 2011 and a Top Small Business Contractor nomination from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and it becomes easy to see how the company is living up to its name.
The strides the company has made since its founding are all the more remarkable when you consider that Ramakumaran only arrived in the U.S. 11 years ago. When she incorporated Ampcus, she was still a newcomer and a relative outsider. She had spent most of her life in India, near Mumbai, where she specialized in business and executive management. Now her firm and her life are fully integrated into the international business community, supporting Fortune 500 clients around the world.
Ampcus is based out of Chantilly, Virginia, and is primarily a technology consulting firm. The firm offers cons-ulting on a wide range of technological and systems management issues, serving government agencies and large multinational firms as well as regional business clients. Ampcus recently celebrated acquiring a SBA 8(a) certification, helping it expand its footprint in the federal contracting space.
From its inception, Ampcus has relied on sound processes and strong detail orientation to achieve results. The firm began with the aim of being a company that would support all kinds of commercial clients, and has achieved a number of key certifications, including ISO 9001:2008, ISO 20000:2005, ISO 27001:2005, ISO 9001:2000 and CMMi Level 2. “There are a lot of companies who have been looking for companies that strongly believe in processes, and Ampcus is a company that strongly believes in processes,” notes Ramakumaran. She feels that her company’s process focus and robust detail-oriented framework has been a competitive advantage, helping the firm achieve growth rates of more than 40 percent annually.
Key Contracting Opportunities
“We have been very successful in getting preferred vendorships with companies like Verizon, AT&T, National Electronics Warranty, Frontier Communications, Experian, State Street Bank, and CitiBank Alternative Investments, to name a few,” shares Ramakumaran. It’s a very competitive space, so Ampcus makes a very careful pitch to new clients. The company does a comparison analysis to show how Ampcus could support the client, where they bring strengths, and highlight the company’s strong track record of repeat clients in similar spaces.
Their recent certification as an 8(a) and women-owned business has also helped the company win four prime contracts. The certification allowed Ampcus to move with confidence into the federal contracting space. The new contracts are with the Department of Defense, the EPA, the USDA, and the Department of State.
In both federal and non-Federal contracting, Ramakumaran notes that all work is done onsite, either at the client’s site or at Ampcus’ own secure facility in Chantilly. Nothing is outsourced. This brings security to the work and contributes to the firm’s strong performance record of quality deliverables for clients large and small.
Future Trends and Growth Plans
Moving forward, Ampcus is looking for new opportunities to continue to grow. “For so long, Ampcus has been growing organically, but now that we have started to get more and more clients, what we are also planning to do is acquire. We are in the acquisition mode,” states Ramakumaran, noting her love for taking on new challenges to advance the firm.
Other challenges are the shift into the cloud computing space. While Ampcus did not originally focus on the cloud, they are now building their expertise in the financial, telecom, and federal spaces for cloud support for companies. As clients look more and more to controlling costs and viewing software as a service, companies with expertise in the cloud can meet a need and build business. “They don’t want headaches, they don’t want hiccups. They want a company that can deliver the whole nine yards of software,” states Ramakumaran about the state of the market. It’s another point where Ampcus is looking to excel.
2010 saw the firm close the books on more than $10 million in revenues, and for 2011, the firm anticipates doing more than $20 million. The team has grown to more than 200 employees, thriving despite the tough market environment for many industries. ”I’m a person who’s never been scared of competition,” states Ramakumaran with a smile. “I have always loved to take challenges and always looked for opportunities and worked towards achieving some of the goals that the clients want to meet.” Whether it is a new systems platform, cloud work, or the next generation of software serves, she and Ampcus are ready to rise to the challenge of creating everlasting success.
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