Talk:Perficient

notability
Many 3rd party sources added, so I removed the "notability" warning, which was also outdated to back in Nov 2010 anyway. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Journ3eb (talk • contribs) 2013-01-14T17:01:28 UTC

Defense Contracts
Strangely omits anything about Perficient's many contracts with Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, etc. Nor does the article mention the pre 2009 acquisitions. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.116.164.204 (talk) 15:25, 27 December 2013 (UTC)
 * I've added Northrop Grumman and the US Navy to the list of clients. You can add Raytheon; do you have a source? Acquisitions going back to 2001 are listed in a table, not in prose. &mdash; rybec   13:34, 28 December 2013 (UTC)

Proposed merge with TriTek Solutions Inc.
Pretty unremarkable write up of a company. Most of the information is outdated. Acquired by Perficient. Would suggest leaving redirect. Classicwiki (talk) If you reply here, please ping me. 10:06, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Late reply, but I agree, seems like a pretty clear case to merge and redirect. – Broccoli &#38; Coffee (Oh hai) 17:11, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

Proposed update
Hi, my name is Christina and I work for Upland Software, whose current CEO is Jack McDonald. I have some proposed updates to include missing historical information about Jack McDonald's former role as CEO for Perficient here Christina-UPLD (talk) 20:18, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

Reply 20-APR-2019
Regards, Spintendo  13:06, 20 April 2019 (UTC)
 * The purpose of the article is not to act as a diary of individual CEO's tenures. If it were, that information should be provided by sources which are independent of the subject. Publications based in Austin Texas, the same city as the subject company, would doubtless be biased towards companies which operate within their city limits, and would not count as independent of the subject in any assurances for WP:NPOV.

Proposed update 2
I'd like to request the following sentence be added at the end of the second paragraph of the "Formation and early years" sub-section:

''Perficient nearly went out of business after the dot-com bubble ended, but then-CEO Jack McDonald returned the company to profitability by focusing on its lucrative relationship with IBM. ''

My hope is that this content addresses feedback from Spintendo above. The content is cited exclusively to a mainstream, national tech publication, avoiding any local biases. It focuses more on the company. It would also address the awkwardness of the page featuring current CEO Jeffrey Davis, but not even mentioning its prior CEO McDonald, who had a substantial impact on the company's history.

Thank you in advance for your independent and objective consideration of my request. Christina-UPLD (talk) 18:09, 10 May 2019 (UTC)


 * The provided reasoning does not state what it was about McDonald's focusing on the relationship with IBM which enabled the company's return to profitability. Spintendo  15:46, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Formation and early years
The company was founded in Austin, Texas, in August 1997 by Bryan Menell. The first angel investors in the company were Steve Papermaster and David Lundeen. The company secured its first channel partnership with Vignette, a provider of content management systems. Jack McDonald became the Perficient CEO in 1999 and served in the position for over a decade. The company held its initial public offering on July 29, 1999 and reached $11.75 by Thursday in its first week of trading. In December 1999, the company completed its first acquisition of LoreData based in New London, Connecticut. In May 2000, Perficient acquired Compete, Inc., an 80-person IBM-focused consulting firm. According to the Austin Business Journal, the deal was worth a maximum of $63.2 million.

In 2001, McDonald became Chairman of Perficient as well as CEO. During this period, Perficient felt the effects of the Dot-com bubble and began to struggle financially. They built a strong relationship with IBM, which allowed them to remain in business through the recession. That year, revenues grew 38%, and the company was profitable for the first time.

Christina-UPLD (talk) 19:33, 5 June 2019 (UTC)

The request does not address text which may need to be removed from the article to prevent duplication if the requested prose is to be approved. This text needs to be included in the edit request. Regards, Spintendo  05:31, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

- Thanks for the quick response and sorry I didn’t provide more clarity when making the suggestion. The above content would replace the first two paragraphs in history entirely, leaving the third paragraph alone. Hopefully that provides more clarity on the edit? Alternatively I can use strike through to demonstrate what would be removed from each of the two paragraphs. Christina-UPLD (talk) 14:03, 11 June 2019 (UTC)

Early history
Hello, some detail about the early years (2001-2009) can be included in the Formation and early years section:

before the "The company's held its initial public offering on July 29, 1999" sentence add:

Jack McDonald became the Perficient CEO in 1999 and served in the position for over a decade.

before the "Jeffrey Davis was named CEO" sentence, add

In 2001, McDonald became Chairman of Perficient in addition to CEO. During this period, Perficient felt the effects of the Dot-com bubble and began to struggle financially. In 2003, Perficient built a strong relationship with IBM, which allowed them to remain in business through the recession. That year, revenues grew 38%, and the company was profitable for the first time.

Thanks, Naadobea1776 (talk) 22:07, 24 June 2019 (UTC)

Reply 25-JUN-2019
Regards, Spintendo  18:06, 25 June 2019 (UTC)
 * There are two requests here: one dated June 11 and another dated June 24. This review applies to them both.
 * 1) The edit request dated June 11 does not give the verbatim text which is to be removed.
 * 2) The suggested additions dated June 11 and June 24 describe how the company "felt" effects of a recession but does not clarify which  recession this is describing.
 * 3) The suggested prose in the request dated June 11 and June 24 makes a claim regarding the working relationship with another company, which requires additional verifications.

Add early history
This request provides a more direct, and less ambiguous statement to include:

Please add the following before the last paragraph in Formation and early years:

Jack McDonald became the Perficient CEO in 1999 and served in the position for over a decade. In 2001, McDonald became Chairman of Perficient as well as CEO.

By the time McDonald left his position in 2009, Perficient acquired 17 companies, grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million.

Thank you, Naadobea1776 (talk) 21:35, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

✅ Spintendo  12:36, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Add 2009 company history snapshot
Shows company history at this time. For "acquired 17 companies" (see and use WP:CALC):

Please add  after "McDonald served in both positions until 2009." in the formation and early years section :

By the time McDonald left his position in 2009, Perficient acquired 17 companies and "it grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million".

Thanks,

Naadobea1776 (talk) 16:58, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

The requested prose is insufficiently paraphrased from the source material. Quotation marks have been placed in the proposed text — but because no author is mentioned in the prose — proper attribution cannot occur since no one is being described as the source of the quote. Thus, the text needs to be properly paraphrased. Regards,  Spintendo  19:16, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Add 2009 company history snapshot (with paraphrased quote source)
Shows company history at this time. For "acquired 17 companies" (see and use WP:CALC). Updated with paraphrased quote.

Please add  after "McDonald served in both positions until 2009." in the formation and early years section :

By the time McDonald left his position in 2009, Perficient acquired 17 companies, employed 1,200 people worldwide, and had annual sales of $200 million.

Thank you, Naadobea1776 (talk) 19:23, 27 June 2019 (UTC) (updated to paraphrase)Naadobea1776 (talk) 19:26, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

I'm afraid the problem of insufficiently paraphrased text remains. Regards, Spintendo  19:46, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Add 2009 company history snapshot (with quote attributed)
This request provides a quote, with attributed source:

Please add  the following after "Jack McDonald became CEO of Perficient in 1999 and chairman in 2001. McDonald served in both positions until 2009" in Formation and early years:

Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted, "When he was CEO from 1999 to 2009, Perficient acquired 17 companies ... it grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Naadobea1776 (talk • contribs) 19:53, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Reply 27-JUN-2019
Regards, Spintendo  23:12, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) The 17 companies acquired during McDonald's time are already mentioned in the table.
 * 2) The article already ascribes a portion of these accomplishments to Jeffrey Davis: "During Davis' tenure as CEO, the firm added over 1,000 employees and saw its annual revenue pass $200 million." The article cannot place laudets upon both individuals whilst describing said laudets as occurring during the tenures of each individual, unless the work records demonstrate an overlap in positions.
 * 3) The COI editor is reminded to.

Update 2009 company history
Hello, Please replace  in Formation and early years:

Jack McDonald became CEO of Perficient in 1999 and chairman in 2001. McDonald served in both positions until 2009.

Jeffrey Davis was named CEO in September 2009. During Davis' tenure as CEO, the firm added over 1,000 employees and saw its annual revenue pass $200 million. During Davis' tenure as CEO, the firm added over 1,000 employees and saw its annual revenue pass $200 million. The company also transitioned from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

with

Jack McDonald became CEO of Perficient in 1999 and chairman in 2001. McDonald served in both positions until 2009. Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted, "When he was CEO from 1999 to 2009, Perficient acquired 17 companies ... it grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million."

Jeffrey Davis was named CEO in September 2009. During Davis' tenure as CEO, the company transitioned from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

-

This should clarify that period of 1999 - 2009 and removing any confusion of overlapping attributions with the addition of Hawkins quote. Thank you,

Naadobea1776 (talk) 16:19, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Reply 28-JUN-2019
Regards, Spintendo  18:51, 28 June 2019 (UTC)
 * The request has been implemented using the following text:
 * 1) Jack McDonald became CEO of Perficient in 1999 and chairman in 2001. McDonald served in both positions until 2009. Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that during McDonald's tenure, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million." According to the St. Louis Business Journal in August of 2009, "during the second quarter, Perficient lost $196,000 on $44.9 million in revenue, compared with a $3.9 million profit on $59.1 million in revenue during the same period last year" (in 2008). Jeffrey Davis was named CEO in September 2009. During Davis' tenure as CEO, the firm transitioned from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq Global Select Market.


 * Thank you! Naadobea1776 (talk) 20:21, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Proposed 2003 history addition
In the formation and early years section, after "Jack McDonald became CEO of Perficient in 1999 and chairman in 2001. McDonald served in both positions until 2009."

please add

In 2003, IBM accounted for approximately 35% of total revenues. In 2004, Rob Wright of CRN observed, "CEO Jack McDonald buckled down and guided the solution provider to a more focused approach, strengthening its lucrative partnership with IBM Software Group ... The adjustment worked. For the fourth quarter of 2003, Perficient increased revenue 34 percent to $7.5 million and posted a long-awaited profit."

Thank you,

Naadobea1776 (talk) 21:16, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

The claims involving specific partnerships such as the one with IBM and the financial results in 2004 are outside the purview of a general history of the company. The specific claims involving the financials of the company in 2008 and 2009, in contrast, are germane to the section because those financial results preceded a major change in leadership of the company. Furthermore, the Wright source in stating that McDonald "buckled down and guided the solution provider to a more focused approach" does not explain how and in what way McDonald effected these changes, nor what is meant by the words "buckled down" or "focused approach". Regards, Spintendo  21:30, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Formation and early years edit request
in Formation and early years section

replace

Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that during McDonald's tenure, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million." According to the St. Louis Business Journal in August of 2009, "during the second quarter, Perficient lost $196,000 on $44.9 million in revenue, compared with a $3.9 million profit on $59.1 million in revenue during the same period last year" (in 2008).

with

In 2005, McDonald was recognized with an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

During McDonald's tenure, Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million" and the company also opened offices in 22 locations across North America, India, and China; and achieved more than $200 million in annual revenue.

Reasoning: This shows an overview of the company at the time, rather than a specific comparison of two years. One award in a 10 year period seems worth mentioning as well.

Naadobea1776 (talk) 17:08, 4 July 2019 (UTC)

Reply 04-JUL-2019
Regards, Spintendo  02:51, 5 July 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) Even though the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award is notable in Wikipedia, this mention seems more appropriate for an article on the subject, as the award is given to a person and not a company.
 * 2) The second part of the request asks for the removal of information based on the assumption that "an overview of the company" is better than a "specific comparison of two years". However, that "specific comparison of two years" is made in addition to the "overview of the company" provided by Hawkins in the Statesman. Comparing one as being better than the other would work if the article were somehow limited to displaying one or the other and not both. Since both may be included (because both are relevant to McDonald's work at the company) the comparison is unnecessary.

Flag Discussion: This article appears to contain a large number of buzzwords. (February 2016)
The content of this article has changed quite a bit (the removal of several sections about specific acquisitions and their respective tech), and the terms that seem to need explanation are wiki-linked. Does this buzzword flag still apply?

Here is a link to the state of the article at that time: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Perficient&type=revision&diff=704427028&oldid=702980872

, as the editor who placed the original flag, do you have a thought on the matter?

Naadobea1776 (talk) 15:56, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

Flag Discussion: This article has an unclear citation style. (June 2019)
I see many of the references are links and anchor text. Is a good way to correct this to go through and generate with the visual editor citations from the URLs to update them to a standard format?

I can do that if it is helpful to address this flag.

Naadobea1776 (talk) 15:59, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

Add location information
In the Formation and early years section replace

Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that during McDonald's tenure, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million."

with

Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that during McDonald's tenure, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million". The company also opened offices in 22 locations across North America, India, and China.

Thank you, Naadobea1776 (talk) 21:44, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Reply 06-JUL-2019
The suggested prose does not specify when the leases were signed for these 22 office properties. Thus it cannot be stated with certainty that the leases for these offices were signed during McDonald's tenure."We lease 22 offices in major cities across North America, China and India. We do not own any real property. We believe our facilities are adequate to meet our needs in the near future." Furthermore, the proposed claim does not take into account the number of leased properties abandoned during McDonald's tenure, According to the SEC documents for 2009, there were several:"During the third quarter of 2009, we vacated certain office space as part of ongoing cost reduction initiatives in response to our 2009 revenue contraction. We subleased some of the vacated office space during the fourth quarter of 2009. The accounting for costs associated with the abandonment of office space was calculated using the guidance in ASC Subtopic 420-10 (SFAS No. 146, Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities).  A liability of approximately $0.3 million for lease abandonment costs was recorded in the third quarter of 2009.  The lease abandonment costs were classified as “Selling, general and administrative” expense in our Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2009."Thus for this claim statement to have an ascertainable truth value attached to it, a complex accounting would need to take place of the number of lease agreements abandoned compared to those signed, in order to determine exactly how many offices were "opened" during McDonald's tenure.

Regards, Spintendo  01:00, 7 July 2019 (UTC)

Add a bit more detail about early years
The IPO and global expansion can be added; In the Formation and early years section add after

Lori Hawkins of Statesman noted that during McDonald's tenure, Perficient "grew from eight employees to more than 1,200 worldwide and had annual sales of $200 million."

this statement:

McDonald also expanded the company to 19 locations and led Perficient's initial public offering.

(This text is paraphrased from "Mr. McDonald joined Perficient in 1999, led its initial public offering and built and led a team that has transformed the company from a startup to a company with $230 million in 2008 revenues and approximately 1,300 business and technology professionals in 19 major North American markets and global locations in Eastern Europe, India and China." the above cited source.)

Thank you,

Naadobea1776 (talk) 17:19, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

✔️
 * McDonald also expanded the company to 19 locations and led Perficient's initial public offering
 * 1) The information regarding the IPO occurring in 1999 and the information mentioning which individual was CEO in 1999 are both already in the article.
 * 2) That leaves the question of the number of locations opened. Due to the company's "ongoing cost reduction initiatives" in response to their "2009 revenue contraction", this question requires additional sources covering the entire breadth of the subject's tenure (as I stated in an earlier post). The source provided here is a press release, which doesn't get us very far. Regards,   Spintendo  04:03, 10 July 2019 (UTC)

Perficient update
Add the following updates to the Perficient page for editor consideration with sources.

In November 2000, the Austin-based company inked a three-year contract to handle worldwide installation of IBM Corp.’s WebSphere software, a deal that was reported by the Austin American-Statesman could bring in as much as $73.5 million –– the richest agreement signed by Perficient in its history, at that time.

In a 2006 article in BusinessWeek, Morton Meyerson, ex-CEO of Electronic Data Systems and the biggest shareholder in Perficient, positioned Perficient as a long-term growth play "much like Dell” and was impressed with "strong management, which helped the company survive the tech crash."

Christina-UPLD (talk) 18:53, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

Updated: Nothing to respond to #1.

Regarding #2, the reason for making the change about IBM is that this was a major accomplishment in the development of the company that put them on a stable growth trajectory after IPO.

Here is the validation of IBM Websphere relationship from 2002 thru 2008 = $88M

2002 = $15M

Source: PERF 10k 2002: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/p/NASDAQ_PRFT_2002.pdf

“In October 2000 we entered into a services agreement with IBM under which we provide

deployment, integration and training services to IBM’s WebSphere customers. The agreement

provides for us to render services over a three-year period, which began in October 2000. Through

December 31, 2002, we have recognized approximately $15 million of revenue in connection with this

Agreement.” (page 18)

2003 = $10.5M

(PERF 10k 2003): http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/p/NASDAQ_PRFT_2003.pdf

“Revenue from IBM accounted for approximately 35% of total revenue for 2002 and 2003” (page 16)

PERF 2003 Total Revenue = $30,191,922 *35% = $10.5M

2004 = $10M

Source: PERF 10K 2004: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/p/NASDAQ_PRFT_2004.pdf

“Revenue from IBM was approximately 17% and 35% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003 respectively.” (page 22)

PERF 2004 Total Revenue = $58,847,673 *17% = $10.0

2005 = $8.7M

Source: PERF 10K 2005: http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/p/NASDAQ_PRFT_2005.pdf

“In particular, a substantial portion of our solutions are built on IBM WebSphere platforms and a significant number of our

clients are identified through joint selling opportunities conducted with IBM and through sales leads obtained from our relationship

with IBM. Revenue from IBM was approximately 9%, 17% and 35% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2005, 2004

and 2003, respectively.” (page F-13)

PERF 2005 Total Revenue = $96,997,201 *9% = $8.7M

2006, 2007, 2008 = $44M

Source: PERF 10K 2008 http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReportArchive/p/NASDAQ_PRFT_2008.pdf

“Revenues from IBM was approximately 6% of total revenues for 2008 and 8% of total revenues for 2007 and 2006.” (page 41)

PERF 2006 Revenue = $161M = $13M

PERFT 2007 Revenue = $218M * 8% = $17M

PERF 2008 Revenue = $231M * 6% = $14M

Christina-UPLD (talk) 21:51, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Reply 1-AUG-2019
Regards, Spintendo  21:07, 1 August 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) The quote from Meyerson where he heaps praise upon Perficient is problematic when one considers that Meyerson was, at that time, Perficient's largest shareholder.
 * 2) Please indicate the reason for making the change regarding IBM. With regards to the Statesman's speculation on the amount posited to be brought in, please provide sources from anytime after 2003 which state that these amounts were indeed collected at the conclusion of the three year deal.
 * 3) When ready to proceed with the requested information, kindly change the  template's answer parameter to read from yes to no.

The language of the request still features WP:FUTURE phrasing: (a deal that was reported by the Austin American-Statesman could bring in as much as $73.5 million). As Wikipedia's prose needs to be structured as reporting on details after they have occurred, this needs to be rephrased from the perspective of having already occurred. (e.g., "In 2001, Perficient handled installation of IBM Corp.’s WebSphere software, work which netted the company 73.5 million dollars".) The provided sources for each year also need to contain the page numbers. Also, please remember to place clarifying information at the bottom of the talk page in a newer reply post if not using the techniques described under WP:REDACTED. Regards, Spintendo  23:16, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

updated edit request
Revised phrasing and added page numbers to references:

In November 2000, the Austin-based company inked a contract to handle worldwide installation of IBM Corp.’s WebSphere software, the largest in company history as reported by the American Statesman. The deal resulted in approximately $88 million in revenue between 2002 and 2008.

Christina-UPLD (talk) 15:17, 9 August 2019 (UTC)

Reply 9-AUG-2019

 * The requested text has been added to the article.

Regards, Spintendo  17:09, 9 August 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) The Key acquisitions table has been changed to a clade. As the history of the company's acquisitions is in many ways a history of the company's evolution, such diagrams are especially suited to represent these items.

Requested Change
Please remove the following line: “According to the St. Louis Business Journal in August of 2009, "during the second quarter, Perficient lost $196,000 on $44.9 million in revenue, compared with a $3.9 million profit on $59.1 million in revenue during the same period last year" (in 2008). https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/03/daily40.html

Nowhere else in this history does it state financial performance except for that line. We believe it to be an unfair characterization of McDonald’s performance as CEO for over ten years to focus on one point in time and one article. Nowhere else does it point to the revenue and income during periods that Davis was CEO.

Christina-UPLD (talk) 16:20, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

Reply 13-AUG-2019
Regards, Spintendo  19:29, 13 August 2019 (UTC)
 * The claim relates directly to the mention of Jack McDonald immediately preceding it as well as to the information which follows it regarding Davis being chosen as his successor.