iSoftStone Information Service Corporation (iSoftStone) and Akona Consulting announced they have finalized an agreement whereby iSoftStone will acquire Akona Consulting, a business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, Wash., USA. iSoftStone focuses on several vertical capabilities in Financial Services, Tel-communications, and Hi-tech industries. The other industries include Oil/Energy, Transportation/Logistics and Power Supply, etc.

    With the acquisition of Akona, iSoftStone will significantly grow its United States operations and expand its core offerings into strategic business services which include research, business strategy, and interactive design. iSoftStone has built software development centers and IT training centers in many first tier and second tier cities in China, which have provided a large pool of talented resources necessary for iSoftStone's fast growth in all target markets. In addition, iSoftStone is rapidly expanding into new business areas such as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing).

    "This combination allows us to strategically expand our business through Akona's well respected presence in the United States," commented T.W. Liu, Chief Executive Officer of iSoftStone. "Our customers are continuously asking us to provide a combination of off-shore technology capabilities as well as local, on-site business consulting services. As such, we look forward to expanding our presence through Akona's business service offerings as we grow globally, particularly in the United States and Europe."

    "The services that Akona offers are the perfect complement to what iSoftStone is already doing overseas," stated Lincoln Popp, Chief Executive Officer of Akona Consulting. "By combining our business consulting service offerings with iSoftStone's technical and engineering resources, we think we'll have a great advantage in delivering value to our combined customer base." The resulting combined firm will provide customers a single, full-service consulting organization that has the best of local, on-shore consulting services across a number of market needs with the economic and scale benefits of an off-shore partner capable of delivering across a number of strategic IT service offerings.

    "We are very excited to continue the investments we've made here in the Pacific Northwest, and to help grow the U.S. and Europe business for iSoftStone," stated  Anders Brown, President and Chairman of Akona Consulting. "The Akona service offerings are only going to get stronger and more comprehensive with this combination."  

Akona delivers integrated consulting services across four key disciplines:
    - Research and Strategy - Business strategy consulting, market research, brand and digital strategy, and analytical services.
    - Creative and Interactive Design - Web and interactive design, content strategy and development, and interactive marketing.
    - Project Leadership - Project management, staff augmentation, process analysis, and technical consulting.
    - Application Development - System integration, application development, product engineering, ERP system analysis, and asset management.