TEXT: Contour Software started from Karachi in 2010, with 12 people, and has grown past 1,200 staff in 11 years, with offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, serving client divisions located all across the globe. Contour was founded in 2010, as a result of 18 months of pre-acquisition diligence and pilot projects involving Pakistani freelancers, and Constellation Software’s ultimate acquisition of Gladstone PLC UK (via Constellation’s Jonas operating group). Syed Bilal Mahmood, who had been working to prove the concept within Constellation’s Perseus (formerly named CHS) operating group, moved from Canada to Pakistan, post-acquisition, to take the Karachi branch forward, as a joint venture between the two groups, before eventually expanding to serve most of the parent organization’s operating divisions.
Constellation Software Inc., Contour’s ultimate parent company (via Perseus/CHS), was formed in 1995, and became publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2006. Constellation is a rapidly growing conglomerate of vertical market software (VMS) companies; each focused upon dominating its respective market niche. Constellation’s growth is based on a simple strategy: identify promising VMS firms; acquire them; and then integrate them into the Constellation family while building on their fundamental strengths to help them become world class organizations. Before it went public, Constellation was recognized amongst Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Today Constellation is one of the two largest Canadian software companies by revenues and market cap, its stock has out-performed some of the biggest names in the global tech ecosystem, and is the top global acquirer of software companies for 2017, 2018 & 2019 (per Corum group).
Constellation software systems run public and private sector enterprises - utility companies, city transit systems, paper mills, schools, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing companies, construction firms, retailers, agri food businesses, amusement parks, museums, city governments, district attorney offices, jails and more – in over 100 countries.
While its initial focus was limited as an Offshore Development Centre, today Contour is serving as a full-service Global Centre providing services covering all functional areas, to more than 150 of the parent company’s software divisions located from Australia to Pacific Coast North America, and many time zones in between.
• Our First Decade: What started as an experiment, eventually became a good option, and is today considered a best practice for the parent company.
Contour received the PSEB Platinum Award for Export Growth for 2019.
Syed Bilal Mahmood received Canada Pakistan Business Council’s Business Excellence Award for 2019.
Contour is continuing to bring an unprecedented number of jobs to Pakistan, having grown by 200 people in 2019, 300 in 2020, and trending to grow by about 400 in 2021.
• Over 200 exciting career opportunities are available to review and apply to, at entry-level, mid-career and managerial level, covering various functions and domains, from: https://contour-software.com/careers/
• Our Second Decade: Recently, Contour has begun the process to evaluate and potentially acquire software companies operating in Pakistan, in line with the parent company’s global mandate and criteria.
To this end, Contour’s criteria mirror those of CSI, with a:
• Preference for Industry-specific software solutions,
• Preferably at least $2M in annual revenues,
• No profit threshold. We value potential.
Whether they are selling for reasons of health, estate planning, or a burgeoning interest elsewhere, vendors share one other trait: The desire to have their businesses continue to operate in accordance with the history and values that made them Exceptional in the first place.
When we buy a Good company, we identify and address the reasons they have not yet become an Exceptional company. To this end, we offer coaching and resources in a number of areas including establishing values and capital allocation processes, profit-sharing programs, benchmarking against our other businesses, the chance to share best practices with other CSI companies, formal management training and ongoing mentoring.
We will not take over the day-to-day management of its businesses. We continue to rely on the managers and employees of our subsidiaries to run their businesses well. Managers who are excited at the prospect of creating an Exceptional company and who are willing to embrace new ideas tend to flourish at Contour/CSI.
Additional details can be found at: https://contour-software.com/acquisitions/ from where, interested prospects can connect for a conversation.
Software for Life!
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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