CEO Spotlight, Kevin Parker, Deltek

Dave Liss of dcTechSource.com sat down with Mr. Kevin Parker to discuss the company, the economy, and the technology industry in the Washington DC area.

By Dave Liss | August 27, 2010

Kevin Parker - CEO, Deltek

Kevin Parker, President and CEO, Chairman of the Board, is the driving force behind Deltek's client-focused strategy of providing enterprise software, solutions and consulting to project-based businesses worldwide. Leading more than 1,200 employees in twelve offices across the globe, Parker looks to further Deltek's industry leadership and product portfolio in a range of industries including architecture, engineering and construction; government contracting; accounting; aerospace and defense and a multitude of other private and public sector markets.

Dave Liss of dcTechSource.com sat down with Mr. Parker to discuss the company, the economy, and the technology industry in the Washington DC area.

What does Deltek do and what markets do you serve?
Deltek is an enterprise software company. We design and deliver software to enable project-oriented businesses to run better. The company got its start in Washington, DC over 25 years ago developing enterprise software for government contractors. Since that time, we have also delivered software for other project-focused industries in the larger professional services categories including architecture and engineering. Today, we enjoy tremendous market share across government contracting and architecture and engineering worlds.

Our customer base ranges from the companies that build major sports stadiums such as Camden Yards in Baltimore and the Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC to companies that build and deliver remote unmanned piloted planes.

What each of these businesses has in common is that they are all project-based enterprises dependent on a series of complex interactions to create and deliver products, services or physical structures.

Our clients buy a license to use our software to drive their project-based businesses forward. Since we service customers of all sizes, the number of software licenses bought by a customer can range from 50 to 50,000+.

How would you characterize the technology business environment in the DC metro area?
I moved from Silicon Valley to Washington, DC 5 years ago. I knew Deltek, but I did not know the DC area. I am excited to be a part of the community here. DC has a vibrant high-tech culture overall.

How has the economic downturn affected Deltek and your partner/client organizations?
All in all, it has been a successful several years for Deltek although we have experienced challenges like all companies have during the economic downturn. At the same time, it has also been a challenging year or so for all our clients, regardless of their industry. For government contractors, the procurement cycles have changed. For architects and engineers, they have fewer construction and development projects.

The Federal government stimulus funds have offered benefits on the margins, but I thought there would be a bigger impact on the state and the local level that would drive business for our government contractor customers. It has helped some of our architecture and engineering customers, but overall it has had a small impact.

What is your current view of the economy?
I am optimistic for the future. Considerations related to spending, employment and taxes should all improve. The economy is better than it was a year ago. 2010 has been a more stable year so far, but at the same time, the economic growth rate is not what we’d all hoped for.

What was your biggest business challenge in the last 12 months?
Keeping our entire team motivated and committed during the tough times. It hasn’t been an easy year. You have to continue to look forward to the possibilities of the future, and to motivate the team to harness the market opportunities in front of us.

What has been your biggest success over the last year?
Over the last year we have had a number of very important wins in a very competitive environment against some of the largest software providers in the marketplace. We compete extremely well against Microsoft, Oracle and SAP to name a few.

Our focus on project-based software gives us a competitive edge in winning contracts over our larger competitors.

As a company, Deltek brings four key factors to the table for each prospective client:

- Global Presence: Deltek is a world-class company with a global presence.

- Sophistication: We have a complete understanding of the varied nuances, requirements, and complexities of government contractors and professional services firms.

- Knowledge: Tremendous subject matter expertise in the verticals we serve and a keen understanding about project and resource management – two vital business processes for our customers.

- Local/High-Touch presence: Deltek can engage with any client at a personal level, and it is a hallmark of what we do. For government contracting specifically, we are a local company in the DC area - the world headquarters for government contracting so we can interact very personally with a lot of companies in our backyard.

Could you describe the process that led to the eventual, and recent purchase of Maconomy?
A year ago, we began a very deliberate acquisition process for me personally and for our company. There is a global need for the kinds of software that Deltek provides. The purchase of Maconomy is an exciting opportunity to bring together two companies with lots in common. Maconomy does similar work in Europe to what we do in the U.S. They offer project-based services for service-focused businesses. This purchase gets us in front of customers that would not normally be aware of us both within the US and internationally.

What are the challenges associated with buying an overseas, publicly traded company?
All of the major challenges of completing the acquisition are behind us. Maconomy was a publicly traded company in Denmark, and we had to go through proper procedures during the acquisition process. Now that we own it, Maconomy is no longer a public company. Both companies are very strong. We know there will always be small cultural and geographic differences that we will constantly work through.

What are the steps toward integration, milestones and success drivers?
First, you have to identify what success looks like.

Second, it is critical to determine the primary steps that must be taken to achieve success as you have chosen to define and measure.

Third, value drivers for both Deltek and Maconomy must be established and moved forward. For us, we determined that we must be able to sell Maconomy products in the U.S. and Deltek products and services must be sold by Maconomy overseas. Those two value drivers are central to the acquisition.

Finally, as an international corporation with operations in Europe, Asia and the U.S., it is critical to develop a seamless communications structure that considers the different time zones where we operate so we can work together as a team to serve our customers.

How do you successfully merge Maconomy and Deltek?
Essentially this is a morale question. We looked at both companies, and the goal was not to achieve cost reductions through the merger. It was never a question of taking two different organizations and cutting them down to one group.

Our goal has always been to use the resources of the newly merged companies to develop new products and enter new markets – not to drive cost savings for us. This focus gives a thesis behind the acquisition that maintains morale, gives our employees something they can get behind, and keeps all of us upbeat and focused so we can move forward together.

How did you come to be CEO at Deltek?
I was recruited from PeopleSoft, which was subsequently bought by Oracle. I was CFO and company Co-President. I had gotten a call to come to the DC area to visit Deltek after I left PeopleSoft. As a result, and five years later, here I am.

What was the organization like when you started?
As far as the business itself is concerned, in some ways it was very similar to what it is today. However, from a leadership perspective, it was a very different business. For its first 22 years, Deltek was founded and led by a father and son team. It was a family business with little real interest in selling software overseas.

I am the first non-family member and the first person from outside of Deltek to become CEO of Deltek. Today the family controls roughly 10% of the available company stock but takes no active involvement in day-to-day company operations.

When I first came on board, revenues were less than half of what they are today and there were 6000 customers. Since becoming CEO, we have doubled company revenues and now have approximately 13,000 customers many that are outside the United States.

The most important constant over Deltek’s corporate lifespan is our customer service focus, and our ability to engage with our customers to partner for success.

How has Deltek grown or changed to become what it is today?
Throughout this period of dramatic growth for Deltek, we have maintained our customer focus. We provide mission critical applications that enable companies to run their businesses. Our clients count on Deltek to run their business, to pay their employees, to understand their profitability. Our software is the heart and lungs for how a company manages its operations.

Deltek customers entrust us with a very important set of responsibilities. We can only fulfill their needs if we understand their businesses and their business needs. As we have grown, we have doubled the number of resources for support, research and development, and consulting to guarantee we can meet our customers’ needs and expectations.

What are your primary roles with Deltek?
My roles as CEO are varied. My responsibilities and involvements include everything from setting the long-term strategy for the company to executing on this strategy. No two days are the same for me.

One of my most important responsibilities is to look out for the success of our employees. I try as hard as possible to make sure that all our employees are engaged, that they are passionate, that they are learning and growing with a successful company. A critical component of this focus is to ensure that people have the right resources and abilities to be successful.

By way of example, I set a goal for a high level of customer engagement. Most of our customers have my personal cell phone number. I make myself available 365 days a year to make sure our customers get what they need and understand any improvements that need to be made. These practices cascade through the organization.

How would you characterize your leadership style?
I like to think of myself as being very collaborative, very low-key, very dynamic. I believe we are capable of doing very exciting things and want to surround myself with other people who are just as excited as I am. We should be having fun. This is not a coalmine. It is a challenging place but also a fun place to work.

How would you describe the Deltek culture?
The Deltek culture is a very focused culture. We get a vicarious benefit out of understanding what our customers do. They do amazing things. They build sports stadiums, military aircraft and many other incredible things. I get a real emotional charge out of, and really like, what our customers do.

How do you identify, motivate and prepare people to move up?
We invest a lot in training and leadership development. We offer coaching and have a leadership boot camp and promote from within. There is a rigorous process to identify and recognize employee performance and to ensure that employees know their value.

Read More News