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Booz Allen Hamilton
Company Profile
Copyright 2019 Faulkner Information
Services. All Rights Reserved.
Docid: 00015179
Publication Date: 1905
Report Type: VENDOR
Preview
Booz Allen Hamilton is a strategy and
technology consulting firm that primarily serves government and public
sector agencies. Founded in 1914 as a consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton
shifted its focus in 2008 solely to US government agencies after splitting
from its corporate-serving branch, which was spun off as Booz & Company.
While the US government makes up most of Booz Allen Hamilton’s business
opportunities, the company also offers its consulting and service offerings
to enterprises. This report profiles Booz Allen Hamilton and its recent activities.
Report Contents:
Fast Facts
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Name: Booz Allen Hamilton
Headquarters
Hamilton Building
8283 Greensboro Drive
McLean VA 22102
Phone: (703) 902-5000
Web: https://www.boozallen.com/
Type of Vendor: Technology and Management Consultancy
Founded: 1914
Employees: 25,800
Service Areas: Global
Profile
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Founded in 1914, Booz Allen Hamilton is a management and technology consulting firm
whose primary customers are US government and public sector agencies. A presence in the consulting
sector for more than 100 years, Booz Allen Hamilton competes for government and military
contracts, with a current focus on cybersecurity. The company posted $6 billion USD in annual revenue
for 2018 and has won numerous awards for its employee-focused
policies.
Booz Allen Hamilton spun off its consulting arm for corporate clients into a separate firm
called Booz & Company in 2008, and the Carlyle Group purchased a majority
stake in Booz Allen Hamilton.
History & Milestone Events
Booz Allen Hamilton began in 1914 when Edwin G. Booz founded Business Engineering Service. The
company later became a partnership, adopting its name from Booz and early partners Jim Allen and
Carl Hamilton. A brief timeline outlining the notable events in the firm’s history is provided
below.
- 1914 – Edwin Booz starts a statistical analysis firm in Chicago.
- 1925 – Booz hires his first full-time assistant, George Fry.
- 1929 – Firm hires second assistant, James Allen. By 1929, the company’s list of
clients includes US Gypsum, the Chicago Tribune, and Montgomery Ward. - 1935 – Carl Hamilton joins the partnership.
- 1936 – Firm renamed Booz, Fry, Allen & Hamilton.
- 1942 – During WWII, firm focused more on government and military contracts, a move
that Fry opposed, leading to his resignation. The firm was renamed Booz, Allen & Hamilton. - 1947 – Following the death of Hamilton in 1946, Booz retired, leaving Allen as
chairman. - 1950s – Following years of slow but steady growth, Booz Allen Hamilton moves into
manufacturing, electronics, and chemicals. - 1962 – The firm becomes a corporation and lands a number of high-profile contracts,
including deals with NASA, the National Football League, and Wall Street firms. - 1970 – Booz Allen Hamilton goes public.
- 1976 – The company returns to private ownership. It also moves into additional
industries, including transportation and healthcare. - 1984 – Mike McCullough becomes chairman and CEO.
- 1991 – Firm organizes into Worldwide Technology Business and Worldwide Commercial
Business units. William Stasior became chairman and reorganizes Booz Allen, splitting the
company down public and private sector lines. - 1992 – Company headquarters moves to McLean, Virginia.
- 1994 – Ralph Shrader becomes president of the Worldwide Technology Business.
- 1995 – Lands a contract with the IRS for technology modernization.
- 1996 – Company opens offices in Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Bogota, Frankfurt, Mumbai,
Pretoria, Seoul, and Shanghai, bringing its global office total to 90 locations.
Wins a
contract with the General Services Administration to provide technical and management support for
all federal telecommunications users. - 1998 – Wins a 10-year, $200 million contract with the US Department of Defense to
establish a scientific and technical data warehouse. - 1999 – Company reaches the milestone of 100 offices worldwide and purchases Nordic
regional consultancy Carta. Ralph Shrader takes position of chairman and CEO while Daniel Lewis
becomes president of the worldwide commercial business. - 2000 – E-business strategy and implementation become the major focuses of Booz Allen’s
services to the commercial sector, as well as to the government. The company’s revenues exceed
$1.8 billion and staff grows to 10,000 worldwide. Forms a venture capital
firm for startups with Lehman Brothers. Also announces plans to spin-off Aestix, its e-commerce
business, an idea later overturned due to the economic slowdown and hostile IPO market. - 2001 – Updates company name from Booz-Allen & Hamilton to Booz Allen Hamilton.
- 2002 – Aestix unit is integrated back into BAH.
- 2004 – Extends Ralph Shrader’s term as the company’s chairman and CEO by four years
through 2009. - 2007 – BAH holds a meeting late in the year with the company’s partners and Board of
Directors to discuss a new strategic direction, which, according to CEO Shrader, “could lead
to our commercial and US government businesses operating as separate firms in the future.” - 2008 – In July, Booz Allen Hamilton splits into two companies. Booz
Allen Hamilton, in which The Carlyle Group holds a majority stake for $2.54
billion USD, continues
to serve primarily US government clients, while Booz & Company is spun off as
a separate company, also bought by the Carlyle Group, providing commercial and international consulting
services. - 2010 – Goes public with initial public offering (IPO),
issuing 14 million public shares. Posts record revenue of $5 billion USD. - 2013 – Enters a contract with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia
to work with its leadership to develop a roadmap for government and private sector collaboration,
specifically for cybersecurity. The same year, former Booz Allen employee
Edward Snowden leaks to the international community a massive amount of highly
classified US government security data that was created and used by Booz Allen
employees and housed on its servers. - 2015 – Fiscal year 2015
revenue declines for the third straight year due to a challenging
contracting environment and reduced billable hours. - 2016
– Returns to profitability for 2016 fiscal year. Announces that it will
acquire eGov Holdings (Aquilent), a digital services firm, for $250 million
USD. The Carlyle Group says it will divest its remaining 11.3 percent
stake in Booz Allen Hamilton. - 2017 – Completes the acquisition of eGov Holdings
(Aquilent). Announces plans to acquire Morphick, a managed detection and
response services company.
Strategy
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As a US government contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton provides civilian
and defense agencies with mission-centric management and technology consulting and outsourcing.
Booz Allen Hamilton began implementing its Vision 2020 strategy in fiscal year
2014 to turn its business towards new growth areas including cyber, technology,
engineering, and the commercial and international sectors. Under the Vision 2020
strategy, Booz Allen Hamilton expects to:
- Move towards the center of its clients’ core missions.
- Increase technical content of its work.
- Attract and retain talented employees.
- Leverage innovation to deliver solutions.
- Create a network of partners and alliances.
- Expand into commercial and international markets..
According to the company, Vision 2020 has already proved successful through
growth in both backlog and employee headcount; strong performance in the global
commercial sector; and the continuation of acquisitions. Booz Allen Hamilton says that its differentiated
offerings has enabled the company to land new business opportunities with the
federal government.
Strengths
Long-Term Client Relationships. Booz Allen Hamilton has
enjoyed partnerships with the US government for many years. For fiscal 2017, the company
recognized the US Navy Marine Corps as the largest entity that it served, accounting for
13
percent of its revenues. While the company has done business with the Army for
over 65 years, Booz Allen Hamilton has partnered with the Navy (over 75 years)
and other government entities for decades.
Positive Work Culture. As of 2019, the company
is positioned as one
of Fortune‘s "World’s Most Admired Companies"1,
was ranked seventh on Washington Technology‘s 2018 Top 1002, named to Working Mother
magazine’s "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" for 20 years,
including the company into Working Mother‘s Hall of Fame for the sixth time.3
Booz Allen Hamilton has also been designated as a "Best Management
Consulting Firm" by Forbes.4
Stable Leadership. The top of the organization also has a great deal of stability. Dr. Ralph Shrader, the firm’s
chairman and chief executive
officer, has served
as the company’s head since 1999 and is only the seventh chairman since the firm’s founding in 1914.
Weaknesses
Justice Department Investigation. Booz Allen announced in
June 2017 that it was under investigation by the Justice Department for
"certain elements of the company’s cost accounting and indirect cost
charging practices with the US government. The investigation is ongoing.
Sensitivity of Information. With
its large government security contracts comes a large risk for sensitive federal
data to be accessed by members of the private sector. Infamous security data
leaker Edward Snowden was hired at Booz Allen after being vetted by the NSA; he
allegedly targeted Booz Allen as an employer for whom he would have access files that revealed the scope of US government spying on its citizens as
well as governments worldwide.5 In 2017, Harold Martin, who had
worked for a number of companies including Booz Allen, was indicted
for stealing over 50 TB of national defense information over the course of 20 years. He was
employed at Booz Allen when he was arrested in August 2016. In 2019, Martin pled
guilty to stealing classified documents. He is facing a nine-year prison
sentence.
Government Shutdown = Tumble in Revenues.
Since government agencies
comprise a large portion of Booz Allen’s business – 97 percent of fiscal 2017
revenues came from an agency or department of the US government – the company
took a major hit with the 2018-2019 shutdown that lasted 35 days. Booz Allen
suffered a loss of $20 million and $100 million reduction in operating cash
flow. CFO Lloyd Howell told analysts on February 1, "It’s hard to say…
whether we’ll completely make it up" but the company does "aspire to
get back on track as quickly as possible."6
Outlook
Booz Allen Hamilton believes that its employees are among the reasons why the
company has surpassed its 100-year mark in existence. Gary Labovich, a vice
president with Booz Allen said, "We have, we believe, the best talent in
the business. We love our people."7 Labovich also said that Booz
Allen is different from its competitors in the ways it partners with clients.
The company uses organization management techniques to help clients receive the
maximum value from their systems and investment dollars.
In the coming years, Booz Allen plans to focus more closely on cloud
technologies, virtual reality (VR), and machine learning. It is currently
working with the Defense Department to implement VR technology that helps troops
train. Labovich said, "as a way to help troops get prepared to deal with
the challenges of modern warfare.8
Cybersecurity is a critical aspect to any network or system. The Department
of Homeland Security gave a $1 billion contract to Booz Allen Hamilton in 2018
to improve cybersecurity across six agencies – General Services Administration,
Department of Health and Human Services, NASA, the Social Security
Administration, the Treasury Department, and the Postal Service. Booz Allen’s is
responsible to safeguard nearly 80 percent of government networks thanks to the
contract.
Product Lines
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Booz Allen Hamilton offers services to civilian government agencies;
commercial and not-for-profit organizations; and defense and intelligence
organizations. Table 1 outlines Booz Allen’s service offerings.
| Service | Description | Competitors |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting |
Booz Allen provides consulting services to help agencies resolve issues and create mission-critical applications. Service areas include:
|
Accenture, Boeing, Capgemini, DXC Technology, General Dynamics, IBM Services, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, SAIC, and Unisys |
| Cyber |
Booz Allen’s cyber consultants focus on active prevention and detection to secure platforms and networks and identify threat penetrations. Cyber Risk
Cyber Defense
Cyber Platforms
Cyber Warfare
|
Accenture, Capgemini, DXC Technology, General Dynamics, IBM Services, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, SAIC, and Unisys |
| Engineering |
Booz Allen delivers engineering services and offerings to define, develop, implement, sustain, and modernize complex physical systems while utilizing engineering-based methodologies to solve clients’ problems.
Engineering services, tools, and products are comprised of:
|
Boeing, Capgemini, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and SAIC |
| Digital Solutions |
Booz Allen’s Digital Solutions combine modern systems development techniques and cloud platforms with machine learning to improve customer and mission experiences.
|
Accenture, Boeing, Capgemini, DXC Technology, IBM Services, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, SAIC, and Unisys |
| Analytics |
The Analytics unit provides solutions in decision analytics, automation, and data science coupled with deep learning and artificial intelligence.
|
Accenture, Boeing, Capgemini, DXC Technology, IBM Services, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, SAIC, and Unisys |
Competitors
- Accenture: https://www.accenture.com/
Boeing: http://www.boeing.com/
Capgemini: https://www.capgemini.com/
DXC Technologies: https://www.dxc.technology/ - General Dynamics: http://www.gd.com/
- IBM Global Services: https://www.ibm.com/services/
- Lockheed Martin: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/
- Raytheon: https://www.raytheon.com/
- SAIC: http://www.saic.com/
- Unisys: https://www.unisys.com/
Activity
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Products and Services
Booz Allen Hamilton was
awarded a $1.03 billion task order by the US Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), in
conjunction with the US General Services Administration (GSA). This agreement will see
Booz Allen operate as a “prime contractor” for the government’s
Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Dynamic and
Evolving Federal Enterprise Network Defense (DEFEND) program.
The contract will specifically see Booz Allen expand support for
the agencies’ cybersecurity program. The task order will extend
across all four CDM phases and is part of the larger DEFEND
Program, which has a total value of up to $3.4 billion.
(08/21/2018)
Booz Allen Hamilton was
awarded a 10-year indefinite delivery / indefinite quantity
contract with the US Department of Defense (DOD). This $900 million technical
support agreement will specifically see Booz Allen support the
department’s Joint Test and Evaluation program, which assesses
military operations to identify warfighting gaps and recommend
solutions for the joint force.
(06/25/2018)
Personnel and Organizational
Booz Allen Hamilton
announced an initiative to expand its presence in Ohio. This plan
includes the addition of 60 jobs in Dayton, by 2021; as well as
the construction of a digital hub for its technical workforce.
The “high-skilled” positions, Booz Allen noted, will include
software developers, data scientists, cybersecurity engineers,
“scrum” masters, analysts, and systems administrators. The
company’s new hub, meanwhile, will operate as part of the Digital
Solutions Network, an area that includes digital strategists and
technologists conducting research, design, and collaboration to
“solve complex challenges.” The Ohio initiative is expected to
allow Booz Allen to leverage technology for AI (artificial
intelligence), advanced analytics, ML (machine learning), AR
(augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), cloud, IoT
(Internet of Things), and other “modern” techniques for design,
Agile, and DevSecOps. Further information is
available via the Booz Allen Hamilton Web site.
(03/26/2019)
Booz Allen Hamilton
revealed plans to bring 240 jobs to the state of Oklahoma over
the next 10 years. This bid to expand its presence, state-wide,
will see Booz Allen add a number of “highly-skilled” jobs,
including software developers, data scientists, and cybersecurity
and systems engineers.
(11/12/2018)
Booz Allen Hamilton has
appointed Michele Flournoy and Ellen Jewett to its Board of
Directors, effective October 24th and 25th, respectively, and
announced the retirement of Director Philip Odeen on March 31,
2019. Flournoy is the co-founder of WestExec Advisors and the
Center for a New American Security, while Jewett is a former
executive with Canoe Point Capital, BMO Capital Markets, and
Goldman Sachs.
(10/09/2018)
Booz Allen Hamilton
opened a new Innovation Hub in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. This
location will provide its national cyber teams with space for
research, design, learning, and collaboration. The Central
Maryland iHub will also support organizations such as the
National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command, and
US military cyber operations, as well as “ongoing learning and
development within the cyber community.” In addition, the
facility will serve as the headquarters for Booz Allen Hamilton’s
Dark Labs team of security researchers, penetration testers,
reverse engineers, network analysts, and data scientists.
(06/18/2018)
Financials
Booz Allen Hamilton
recorded a 76 percent upswing in its
earnings, year to year, for the fiscal 2019 first quarter ended
December 31, 2018. The consulting company’s profits were $132
million, or $0.92 per share, compared to a fiscal 2018 first
quarter net income of $75 million, or $0.51 per share. Revenues,
meanwhile, were $1.7 billion, which is up by 13 percent from
fiscal 2019 Q1 sales of $1.5 billion.
(02/04/2019)
Booz Allen Hamilton
logged strong income growth, year to
year, for the fiscal 2018 fourth quarter and 12-month period
ended March 31, 2018. Q4 profits were $88 billion, or $0.58 per
share, which is up by 33% when compared to fiscal 2017 fourth
quarter earnings of $66 billion, or $0.44 per share. Revenues,
meanwhile, were $1.64 billion, which is up by 4% from fiscal 2017
fourth quarter sales of $1.58 billion. For the full year, Booz
Allen Hamilton’s profits were $305 million, or $2.05 per share,
which is up by 21% when compared to a fiscal 2017 net income of
$252 million, or $1.67 per share.
(05/29/2018)
References
1 "World’s Most Admired Companies." Fortune.
January 28, 2019.
2 "2018 Washington Technology Top 100." Washington
Technology. 2018.
3 "2018 Working Mother 100 Best Companies." Working
Mother. September 25, 2018.
4 "America’s Best Management Consulting Firms."
Forbes. March 19, 2019.
5 Rachael King. "Ex-NSA Chief Details Snowden’s Hiring at
Agency, Booz Allen." Wall Street Journal.
February 4, 2014.
6 Justin Rohrlich. "The US Government Shutdown Cost Booz
Allen Hamilton $20 Million in Revenue."
Quartz
. February 4,
2019.
7 Hannah Lang. "Booz Allen Sees Future Rich with VR, Machine
Learning Opportunities."
Washington Technology.
June 4, 2018.
8 Ibid.
About the Author
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Karen M. Spring is a staff editor for Faulkner Information
Services, tracking high-tech industries, including network security, ERP, CRM,
network management, Internet security, and software tools. She writes regularly
on high-tech topics for publications in the k-12 and higher education industry.
Previously, Ms. Spring was a marketing specialist for two computer distributors,
working closely with such clients as 3Com, IBM, Okidata, Unisys, and Acer.
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