Amdocs

Overview

Amdocs provides software and services for communications and media service providers. The company operates in more than 90 countries,{{cite news |title= Amdocs to Acquire Premium Content Provider Vubiquity for $224 Million |last1=Reich |first1=Dror |url=https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3730888,00.html |work=Calcalistech |date=31 January 2018 |access-date=20 October 2023}} with its headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and has approximately 30,000 employees globally as of 2022. Shuky Sheffer is the chief executive officer (CEO) and president. Amdocs has been traded on the Nasdaq global select market since December 2013.

History

Early years and IPO

Amdocs was founded in 1982 in Israel as an offshoot of the Israeli phone directory company Golden Pages, which was owned by the Aurec Group headed by Morris Kahn. Together with others at Golden Pages, Kahn developed a billing software program for phone directory companies and with Boaz Dotan established a company called Aurec Information & Directory Systems to market this product. In 1982, Boaz Dotan became Amdocs' first President and CEO.

In 1985, Southwestern Bell Corporation acquired a 50 percent ownership share of Aurec Information & Directory Systems, and its name was changed to Amdocs. Within two years, the Aurec Group sold off all its holdings in Amdocs for almost US$1 billion. Between 1990 and 1995, Amdocs took its initial diversification steps, expanding first into the wireline telephony market and then the mobile space. Avi Naor replaced Dotan in 1995. In June 1998, Amdocs held an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

Expansion

Following its IPO, Amdocs expanded by acquiring additional billing and customer relationship management companies and building its application creation capabilities. In 1999, the company moved into managed services when it acquired International Telecommunication Data System Corporation. Companies acquired in the early 2000s include DST Innovis, XACCT Technologies, Cramer Systems, Sigvalue, and Canadian internet billing firm Solect. Dov Baharav succeeded Naor as CEO in 2002, and Eli Gelman held the role starting in November 2010.

In early 2000, federal agencies conducted a counterintelligence investigation to determine if Amdocs was being used by Israel to eavesdrop on U.S. government communications. The investigation found no evidence of such activity. Concerns were also raised about potential mishandling of data.

In 2005, Amdocs was suspected of industrial espionage when it hired a private investigator who allegedly spied on a Globes journalist. In 2009, the South African State Security Agency suspected Amdocs was being used by Mossad to spy on South African citizens.

Amdocs continued to expand via mergers and acquisitions in the 2010s, purchasing firms such as Bridgewater Systems in 2011, the business support system portion of Comverse Technology, and content monetization, processing and distribution software company Vubiquity in 2018. Shuky Sheffer replaced Gelman as Amdocs' President and CEO in October 2018. Amdocs acquired Openet, a provider of 5G charging, policy and cloud technologies, in 2020. Amdocs further expanded into cloud computing in 2021 with the acquisitions of Sourced, a Canadian company specializing in cloud transitioning.

Amdocs launched a generative AI framework in 2023 called amAIz, designed for telecommunications service providers and built using Nvidia's AI foundry service, which runs on Microsoft Azure. The company has experimented with using the platform to process customer service inquiries. In 2023, Amdocs also acquired Astadia and TEOCO's Service Assurance line of business.

References

References

1. "Amdocs Website". Amdocs.com.
2. (17 December 2024). "Amdocs Limited FY 2024 Annual Report (Form 20-F)". [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]].
3. (13 September 2017). "Amdocs buys land for new office campus in Israel". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
4. (30 September 2022). "2022 Annual Report". Amdocs.
5. (13 December 2022). "Form 20-F". Amdocs.
6. (1 August 2018). "Amdocs names new CEO as it reaches $1 billion quarterly revenue mark for first time in company history". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
7. "Data Technical News #2013 - 58 Amdocs Management Limited to Begin Listing on NASDAQ on Friday, December 20, 2013".
8. (12 February 2010). "#937 Morris Kahn". Forbes.com.
9. (9 May 2011). "Confessions of a 'start-up junkie'". Haaretz.
10. (2002). "International Directory of Company Histories, ''Vol. 47''". [[St. James Press]].
11. (5 February 2013). "Amdocs Ain't What It Used to Be". [[Light Reading]].
12. (8 September 1999). "Amdocs plans acquisition to increase billing business". [[Bloomberg News]].
13. (July 5, 2005). "DST Innovis sells for $238 million".
14. (December 22, 2003). "Amdocs Buys Xacct".
15. Willing, Nicole. (July 19, 2006). "Amdocs Snaps Up Cramer".
16. (January 21, 2007). "Amdocs to buy Israel's SigValue for $85 mln-report".
17. (March 1, 2000). "COMPANY NEWS; AMDOCS TO PURCHASE NET SOFTWARE COMPANY IN TORONTO". [[The New York Times]].
18. (13 March 2002). "Avi Naor steps down as Amdocs CEO, CFO Dov Baharav takes over". [[The Marker]].
19. Baumer, Lilach. (8 January 2018). "Amdocs CEO Eli Gelman to Step Down Effective October 2018".
20. Johnston, David. (6 May 2000). "Israeli Spy Inquiry Finds Nothing, Officials Say".
21. (2013-07-23). "Censored Israeli Software Spying On US: Amdocs Comverse Infosys - Carl Cameron Dec 2001". Internet Archive.
22. Sharvit, Noam. (2005-05-31). "Amdocs exec questioned in industrial espionage affair".
23. Singer-Heruti, Roni. (31 May 2005). "Amdocs Execs Face Questioning". [[Haaretz]].
24. "Spy Cables: Were Israeli spies tapping SA cellphones?".
25. "Amdocs Buys Bridgewater Systems".
26. Bicheno, Scott. (30 April 2015). "Amdocs acquires Comverse BSS business for $272m".
27. Reim, Garrett. (31 January 2018). "Vubiquity to Be Acquired for $224 Million by Amdocs".
28. Robuck, Mike. (12 August 2020). "Amdocs wraps-up $180 million deal to buy Openet".
29. (13 May 2021). "Amdocs scoops up Sourced for $75M to boost cloud migrations". Fierce Telecom.
30. (5 June 2023). "Amdocs tempts telcos with generative AI support". [[Light Reading]].
31. (16 November 2023). "Amdocs will use the Nvidia AI foundry service to build custom large language models for telcos". RCR Wireless News.
32. (May 8, 2024). "Amdocs, Nvidia train GenAI to save 30% on customer service costs". Fierce-Network.
33. (December 17, 2024). "AWS taps agentic AI to slash cloud migration time from months to days". Fierce Network.
34. (May 10, 2023). "St. Louis-based technology firm Amdocs to acquire Virginia firm's business unit for $90M". St. Louis Business Journal.