VEP- American Management Systems 2003

8/9/2019 VEP- American Management Systems 2003

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BY THE STAFF OF VAULT

2002 Vault Inc.

EMPLOPROFILVAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

AMERICANMANAGEMENTSYSTEMS


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Copyright 2002 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved.

All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims as to

the accuracy and reliability of the information contained within and disclaims all warranties.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of VaultInc.

Vault, the Vault logo, and the insider career networkTM are trademarks of Vault Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, contact Vault Inc.,

150 W22nd Street, New York, New York 10011, (212) 3664212.

Library of Congress CIP Data is available.

ISBN 1581311877

Printed in the United States of America


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Visit the Vault Consulting Career Channel at http://consulting.vault.com with

insider firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Consulting Job Board and more. iiiA R E E RL I B R A R Y

American Management Systems

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

American Management Systems at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

THE SCOOP 3

ORGANIZATION 9

Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Key Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Service Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

VAULT NEWSWIRE 13

OUR SURVEY SAYS 17

GETTING HIRED 23

Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Questions to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Table of Contents


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ON THE JOB 31

A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Career Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

FINAL ANALYSIS 39

RECOMMENDED READING 41


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Overview

American Management Systems was founded in 1970 by a cluster of

ambitious Pentagon employees who decided to break off from Uncle Sam to

start a management consulting firm (now a business and IT consulting firm)

that would peddle information services to the U.S. government and private

industry alike. AMS took off and hasnt looked back since. The firm

currently supplies a broad range of clients worldwide with some of the finest

operations and systems consulting in the industry. However, it is currently

beset by two serious threats: On the one hand, with the growth of military

spending and the drop in private-sector demand for IT services, several big

firms are moving in on AMSs territory. On the other hand, IT services are

fast becoming a commodity, with a small group of large firms offering many

of the same software packages and outsourcing solutions. In both cases,

though, the answer is the same: AMS must find a way to distinguish itself in

an increasingly competitive market.

Introduction



insider firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Consulting Job Board and more. 1A R E E RL I B R A R Y


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4050 Legato Road

Fairfax, VA 22033

Phone: (703) 267-8000

Fax: (703) 267-5073www.ams.com

LOCATIONS

Fairfax, Va. (Headquarters)

49 offices worldwide

PRACTICE AREAS

Acquisition Business Solutions

Business Intelligence & Data

Warehousing Business Process

Renewal Change Management &

Organizational Development

Customer Relationship

Management e-Business

Engagement Management

Homeland Security Imaging &

Workflow Information Security

Integrated Learning Solutions

Knowledge Management

Procurement Systems Integration

System Development & IT

Management Technology Hosting

Services

THE STATS

Employer type: Public Company

Stock Exchange: Nasdaq

Stock Symbol: AMSY

Chairman and CEO: Alfred T.Mockett

Employees: 6,500 (2002)

Revenues: $1.18 billion (2001)

UPPERS

Opportunities for travel,

advancement and growth

Social and friendly workenvironment

DOWNERS

Company is tightening up on

overhead costs and cutting back

on perks

Disputes with clients

Positive work environment

Shaky client reputation

People-friendly

In flux

Boring

Not quite Big 5

Will hire anyone

Has potential

THE BUZZWHAT EMPLOYEES AT OTHER FIRMS ARE SAYING

American Management Systems at a glance

2002 Vault Inc.2C A R E E RL I B R A R Y


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Links to the government

American Management Systems was founded in 1970 by five men one ofwhom, Charles Rossotti, was a protg of Johnsons defense secretary, Robert

McNamara, and was considered one of McNamaras so-called whiz kids.

The founders raised $300,000 in venture capital from Lehman Brothers and

then wrote to 24 former Pentagon peers, offering consulting services from

some of the people who brought you Vietnam and the ABM. AMS made

$15,000 in profits during its first year in business and won its first big

contract with Burlington Northern Railroad after another six months.

Today, AMS has 6,500 employees and 51 offices worldwide. AMS went

public in 1979.

The 1990s were a prosperous time for AMS, with revenue and earnings

growing by an average of 19 percent and 26 percent, respectively, per year.

That growth leveled off in 2001, when revenue dipped slightly from $1.28

billion the previous year to $1.18 billion and net income plummeted to $15.9

million from $43.8 million after restructuring charges, legal settlements and

other fees. The firm also laid off about 900 employees, 10 percent of its

workforce, in 2001. Late 2001 saw AMSs profits fall even further, a full 76

percent drop in earnings during the last quarter. And while, thanks to severe

cost-cutting measures, the firm was able to return to profit in the following

months, it nevertheless reported another 22 percent drop during the firstquarter 2002.

Public clients

AMS concentrates on systems and operations consulting in a variety of

industries, and it still maintains close links with the U.S. government.

Including state and local governments, approximately one-half of the firms

revenue comes from government clients in the United States and Canada; the

remainder of its revenues comes from the financial services, new media and

communications, insurance, health care and energy markets. According toThe Washington Post, AMS has contracts with 47 of the top 50 banks in the

United States, with 43 states and with five of the top 10 insurance companies.

Recent public-sector engagements include a $156 million, seven-year deal

with the New York City Department of Finance to run its parking-violation

processing system, inked in November 2002, as well as a $9.4 million

contract with the state of Iowa to provide an enterprise resource planning

(ERP) solution for its online operations.

The Scoop





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The Scoop

Management change

In October 2002, AMS Chief Operating Officer and Chairman William Purdy

announced that he would step down at the end of 2002. Purdy had also served

as the interim president and chief executive officer after the resignation of

Paul Brands in September 2001, until he was replaced in both roles by Alfred

Mockett. Mockett previously had served as CEO of BT Ignite, a division of

British Telecommunications PLC. Prior to that position he held a number of

executive posts with the Telex Corporation and served on the board of

Memorex Telex NV.

Cutting costs

Thanks to hard times in the IT consulting market, AMS has had to undergo

several rounds of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures. In 2001 it laid off

15 percent of its staff worldwide, and in 2002 it sold off its utilities practice

to Wipro, an Indian IT services firm based in Bangalore. Thanks to these

efforts, AMS was able to announce an $8.3 million profit in the third quarter

of 2002, a 360 percent increase over the same period a year before. However,

firm revenues were down 12 percent from Q3 2002, a report brightened only

by the announcement of a 14 percent increase in revenues in the firms federal

contracting business.

Legal hot water

AMS has only recently put to rest a legal battle in which it had been

embroiled since 1999: a fight with the state of Mississippi that almost cost the

company several hundred million dollars. AMS had been contracted to

develop and install a tax-processing system for the state, at a price tag of $30

million. When the firm went over the deadline, the state sued for $234

million, though when the guilty verdict was handed down in August 2000 the

court tacked on an extra $240 million in punitive damages. The two sides

eventually reached a settlement whereby the firm would only pay $185

million. The firm then went back to court to get its insurer, National Union

Fire Insurance Co., to cough up $43 million to help cover the amount. After

two more years of litigation, the insurer agreed to pay in October 2002.

With the initial lawsuit came the departure of then-CEO Paul A. Brands (who

received a severance package reportedly worth $3 million), but it also marked

the beginning of legal problems with other public-sector clients. In Utah

lawmakers were reportedly furious over AMSs inability to complete a new

tax system on time and within its $34 million budget, calling attention to the

fact that the states of Mississippi, Missouri and Kansas had experienced



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The Scoop

similar problems with AMS. The firm had another dispute with Ohios

Department of Job and Family Services in the winter of 2001. (Lawsuits

against large professional services firms have become increasingly common.)

In January 2001 the government of Fairfax County, Virginia fired AMS from

an $8.8 million contract when the firm was unable to deliver a satisfactory tax

record-keeping system. Six months later the Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board sued the firm for $350 million in damages relating to an

overdue contract. A federal judge threw out the suit in January 2002 however,

citing a lack of jurisdiction to hear the case. The Thrift Board plans to appeal.

Despite these difficulties, AMS asserts that the vast majority of its clients are

happy with its work and that 85 percent of them renew their contracts.

A wealth of training

AMS has won numerous workplace awards, including ranking No. 10 on

Consulting Magazines June 2001 Best Consulting Firms to Work For list.

AMS has also made frequent appearances in recent years on Fortunes list of

the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Fortune noted in its 2001 list that

each AMS employee receives, on average, 45 hours of training per year. The

firm conducts much of its training and career development through AMS

University, a virtual university that uses Web and intranet-based coursework,

as well as traditional classroom instruction. AMSers can link courses to the

kinds of work and roles they have currently, or they can focus on course

offerings that prepare them to take on more challenging assignments downthe road. Coursework covers a broad spectrum of technical, functional,

managerial, and interpersonal skills.

AMS abroad

Instability in European telecommunications businesses since 2001 has

contributed to a significant decline in revenue coming from the firms

international business, but AMS shows no sign of retreating from an

international outlook. It boats a client roster including 47 of the worlds top

50 banks and helped launch six of Europes 10 wireless networks. The firmbegan focusing on Europe in 1992 in anticipation of the liberalizing effects of

the end of the Cold War and the looming integration of Western European

markets. AMSs efforts in the AsiaPacific region are concentrated in

Australia; the firm has its regional headquarters in Sydney and claims

Australian and New Zeeland companies as the majority of its business.




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The Scoop

AMS insiders tell us that the firms international expansion brings the

opportunity to go abroad, especially for those with relevant language skills.

However, overseas assignments often require long-term commitments. Many

stints in Germany, for example, require an 18-month commitment.

When we say BU we dont mean Boston

University

AMS is organized into units that generally operate independently of each

other and focus on the following target markets: Telecommunications;

Financial Services; Public Sector; Healthcare; and Energy. Historically, these

groups have been called silo industries because of their relatively

independent status each business unit has full profit-and-loss responsibility

for its industry areas. However, business units may coordinate on certain

projects as necessary. Additionally, the management team in each unit isresponsible for planning, marketing, selling, researching and consulting

within its specific area though business units may, of course, draw upon

corporate resources.

The AMS technological hive

AMS also features a sprinkling of jewel-like Knowledge Centers:

communities of practitioners that offer a particular expertise in one or more

AMS services, or so-called core disciplines. The firm has Knowledge

Centers for its core disciplines, including eCommerce, Business ProcessRenewal, System Development & Information Technology Management,

Organization Development & Change Management, Engagement & Project

Management, Customer Value Management and Knowledge Management.

AMS Knowledge Center associates spend many hours per year inputting

research or lessons learned into the Knowledge Center database. This

information is then accessible to any AMS consultant. The Knowledge

Centers demonstrate AMSs efforts to foster a culture of information sharing.

Our goal is to empower AMS teams and clients with access to the

information they need, when they need it, says the firm.

The firm also operates the AMS Center for Advanced Technologies

(AMSCAT); located at its Fairfax headquarters, the center is the headquarters

and laboratory for the firms top scientists and researchers. AMS uses the

facility to test emerging technologies and software, as well as to develop such

advancements themselves.



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The Scoop

The firm has beefed up its technological capabilities recently, announcing

several alliances and initiatives to enhance its e-business expertise. Chief

Technology Officer Paul Turner told The Washington Postin February 2000

that AMSs core strength is that we really understand the Web world and the

large enterprise world and how various industries operate in detail andAMSs recent moves reflect this understanding. An alliance with Ariba, a

Silicon Valley-based provider of business-to-business e-commerce services,

launched Buysense.com in 2000. The site is an online marketplace for state

and local governments, universities, and their goods and services suppliers to

sell and purchase merchandise. The effort streamlines and aggregates the

thousands of individual purchasers it services, and thereby direct business to

preferred suppliers at lower prices.

AMS has also recently expanded its eProcurement initiative, launching an

Interactive Supplier Value Management (iSVM) program to help gas andelectric utilities with e-commerce, including controlling spending, improving

inventory and supplier management, and reduce time spent acquiring goods

and services.

Nonetheless, competition in AMSs areas of expertise, especially its

government services, has gotten keener in recent years. Software companies

like PeopleSoft and Oracle have had their enterprise resource planning (ERP)

software certified for use by the federal government, and are trying to adapt

their products to the federal marketplace all of which means AMS must be

ever-vigilant about maintaining current business and procuring new business.

It is a tough year for IT consulting, company officials note. Speaking to the

Washington Post in November 2002, CEO Alfred Mockett said, This is

undoubtedly a transition year for AMS. This is a year when were investing

and positioning the company for growth. But AMS isnt giving up

government business without a fight. Their alliance with Ariba, as well as the

development of new products like AMS Case Flow (a benefits and financial

planning program), indicate that AMS is adapting to a rapidly-changing

consulting environment. But AMS isnt giving up government business

without a fight. Their alliance with Ariba, as well as the development of new

products like AMS Case Flow (a benefits and financial planning program),indicate that AMS is adapting to a rapidly-changing consulting environment.




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Locations

Fairfax, Va. (Headquarters)

The Hague, Netherlands (European Headquarters)

Sydney, Australia (Asia-Pacific Headquarters)

46 other offices worldwide

Key officers

Alfred Mockett: Chief Executive Officer and

Chairman

Alfred Mockett took over AMS at the end of 2001, a space that had been held

temporarily by William Purdy since Paul Brands vacated it in 2000. Mockett

came to the firm from British Telecom, where he had worked in a variety of

positions, including the head of international operations and of BT Ignite, the

telecom giants broadband business.

Mockett was born in Britain and attended the University of London, from

which he graduated with honors in 1971. Rising quickly through the businessworld, Mockett was named vice president of finance for Dallas General

Computer Systems in 1976, then moved on to be senior vice president for

finance at Telex Computer Products in 1978. Afterward he worked in a

variety of VP and managing director-level positions for Memorex and

Raytheon.

William M. Purdy: President and Chief Operating Officer (retiring

December 31, 2002)

John S. Brittain: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Paul Turner: Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Walter Howell: Executive Vice President, Financial Services

Vernon Irvin: Executive Vice President, Communications, Media and

Entertainment; and Global Energy Solutions

Rick Lottie: Executive Vice President, Corporate Managed Services

Organization





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Organization

Donna Morea: Executive Vice President, Public Sector

Larry Seidel: Executive Vice President, Corporate Development

Ownership

AMS is a publicly traded firm on NASDAQ (symbol AMSY). The firm

went public in 1979.

Service offerings

AMS divides its business units along industry lines: Telecommunications;

Financial Services; Public Sector; Healthcare; and Energy. However, the

firms service offerings span these categories, and are themselves divided into

several knowledge areas: consulting expertise, business functional expertise,

technical expertise and imaging and workflow.

Billing

AMSs applies its billing integration solutions to the full spectrum of

accounts payable and receivable including B2B, consumer and wholesale.

The firms billing services utilize its proprietary Tapestry software suite and

works closely with Lodestar, a billing-solutions specialist.

Credit risk and collections

The firm helps clients decrease write-offs and increase profits by providing a

range of collections solutions, including its CACS family of applications,

Strata decision engine and NetCredit hosted decisioning software.

Customer relationship management

Covering everything from marketing to sales to strategic planning, AMSs

CRM services help clients to improve the way the deal with customers. AMS

also has an alliance with CRM specialist firm Siebel to provide-e-Business

solutions.

Enterprise contract management

AMS offers clients assistance in managing contracts, including on such

specific issues as proposal management and negotiation, market opportunity



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Organization

analysis, obligation and entitlement management and contract closeout

management.

Enterprise financial management

Despite the title, this branch of services is dedicated to the public sector. It

offers outsourcing, payroll and procurement solutions, aimed at helping to

reduce costs and increase the efficiency of local, state and federal government

agencies, both in the United States and abroad.

Enterprise integration

Through these services AMS helps clients access and manage data in real

time, applying a host of proprietary software solutions to areas such as

planning, analysis and implementation. AMS pursues its enterpriseintegration work in part through solutions with firms such as BEA, Cognos

and IBM.

Enterprise security

This service provides a range of methods for improving a clients application,

electronic data and system integrity from computer viruses and hackers.

AMS offers an end-to-end solution, providing not only the software but the

initial assessment, design and implementation aspects as well.

Environmental management

These services help both industry and public-sector clients negotiate local,

state and federal environmental regulations, providing assistance in OSHA

compliance, hazard communication and monitoring. AMS relies primarily on

three proprietary software suites: ProSteward, a chemical data management

program; TEMPO regulatory compliance software; and COMPASS, a

monitoring and assessment tool.

Homeland security

One of the firms fastest-growing services, AMSs homeland security services

division includes bio-terrorism solutions, border and immigration consulting

and information-sharing solutions. In October 2002, the firm named Army

Maj. Gen. Craig Bambrough to lead these efforts.




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Organization

Trade services

An amalgamation of several other services, AMSs trade services line

combines outsourcing, CRM and strategy to help clients maximize profit and

reduce inefficiencies.

Technology innovation

Largely through the AMS Center for Advanced Technologies, this service

helps clients identify, implement and maximize the latest in business-

operations technology, whether it be back-end software or data security

systems.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is one of the fastest-growing aspects of IT and operationsconsulting. The firm offers both IT outsourcing i.e., running the computer

systems and business-process outsourcing, in which it takes over and

maintains back-office operations like HR and accounting. While the firm has

historically worked most closely with the public sector in this area, it also has

private-sector clients.



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November 2002: Last of the old breed

The last of AMSs five founders, Patrick Gross, announced his retirementfrom the firms board of directors executive committee. Earlier in the year,

the second-to-last founder, Frank Nicolai, retired from the board.

November 2002: A little help from a friend

Thanks to its low debt level, AMS was able to secure a $160 million line of

credit from an unnamed source. The firm announced it would combine the

credit with its current cash holdings to create a $240 million cash pool, which

will be used to fund future growth initiatives.

November 2002: De-utilized

AMS announced that it would sell its utilities practice to Wipro, Ltd., an

Indian services firm, for approximately $26 million. The practice will

become part of Wipros Technology Enterprise Solutions division, which has

offices in Europe, Asia and North America.

November 2002: Big deal in the Big Apple

The New York City Department of Finance signed a seven-year, $156 millioncontract with AMS; the management firm will operate and maintain the citys

parking violation-tracking system, the Summons Tracking and Accounts

Receivable System (STARS).

October 2002: Case closed

AMS settled a lawsuit against one of its insurers, National Union Fire

Insurance Co., for $43 million. The suit emerged from a claim by AMS after

it lost a lawsuit brought against it by the State of Mississippi, which had

accused the firm of negligence in a contract to install a tax-tracking system.

October 2002: Purdy retires

AMS president and chief operating officer William Purdy announced that he

would retire from the firm on December 31, 2002. The firm has yet to name

a successor.

Vault Newswire





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Vault Newswire

July 2002: Dumped

After failing to take the firm to court, the Federal Retirement Thrift

Investment Board dropped its contract with AMS, adding to the firms recent

public-sector woes.

January 2002: Out of court

A federal judge, citing lack of jurisdiction, threw out a lawsuit by the Federal

Retirement Thrift Investment Board against AMS. The FRTIB was seeking

$350 million in damages after a record-keeping project ran more than a year

overdue and almost tripled in cost.

December 2001: Changes at the top

As a prelude to his eventual retirement, William Purdy stepped down as CEOof AMS, making room for Alfred Mockett. Purdy, who remained COO and

president, was serving as an interim CEO after the previous officeholder, Paul

Brands, stepped down in September 2001.

December 2001: Rosotti sells off stock

Charles Rossotti, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and a co-

founder of AMS, agreed to divest himself of stock in the firm, estimated at

between $5 million and $25 million, in order to avoid the perception of a

conflict of interest.

November 2001: A Titan deal

AMS announced that it had signed on with the Titan Corporation as a

subcontractor on the latters $277 million, seven-year contract to provide the

Army Communications and Electronics Command Acquisition Center-

Washington with a range of consulting and management solutions services.

September 2001: Letting goAfter seeing its revenues drop 10 percent to $289 million during the third

quarter, AMS announced that it would lay off 5 percent of its employees as a

cost-cutting measure. This round comes on the heels of a 10 percent cut

earlier in 2001.



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Vault Newswire

August 2000: Losing out

After losing a suit brought by the State of Mississippi for failure to complete

an IT project, AMS reached an agreement to pay $185 million in punitive

damages. A lot of money, to be sure, but still a great deal, given that the court

verdict had required the firm to pay $474.5 million.




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Working for the feds

If you find massive government consulting projects appealing, AMS may bethe place for you. Many of the projects are enormous, multiyear affairs, and

some have no firm end date. One source says that AMS has interesting,

friendly people and a challenging work environment. And there are many

ups to government work, stability being the biggest. People who have got

kids or a mortgage or something like that like the stability of working at a

government contractor. On the other hand, some insiders describe the firm

as a relentlessly average cube farm.

The life

Consultants in general are happy with the work environment at AMS, though

many also feel like the company lacks a human face. The managers are nice,

but for the most part I am an interchangeable work unit, says one source.

And while many are happy with their managers and team leaders, one AMSer

tells Vault that behind closed doors there is a lot of politics, and I have seen

management-level people going out of their way to hold people back because

of long-held grudges.

One of AMSs biggest selling points is the low amount of travel relative to the

industry. Because a large number of its clients are based in northern Virginia,and because the work doesnt involve a lot of meetings, AMSers tend to stay

where they are staffed. One respondent says, I travel only about four weeks

out the year. Another, though, says the amount of travel varies with ones

level of experience and seniority. My first year and a half at AMS was a

story of how many airports I could visit, he tells us. AMS is somewhat

unlike other consulting firms in many ways, in that when you just start, with

zero knowledge or skills, you are thrust out onto the road. Once you start to

show some of either, you typically are moved into a role in the office.

Hours at AMS tend to average around 50 per week. I usually work eight to

nine hours per day, unless confronted with a deadline or client travel, says

one source. As with most firms, another reports, they vary. They can be as

much as 80 a week and as few as 50 a week. At least one consultant, though,

says the hours spent at work arent always necessary: Although I

occasionally bring it upon myself, I find my days last until 8:00 p.m. way

more often than they should. Some consultants also say that the pay at AMS

has gotten much worse over the last year, as raises have been postponed

Our Survey Says





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Our Survey Says

repeatedly. I cannot say enough about how crappy the pay has been

recently, one consultant told us in early 2002. Of the people I know who

have left recently, this has been the number one reason.

A flexible, relaxed place, but dont be fooled

Comments on AMSs corporate culture reveal that the firm values flexibility,

and it is generally a relaxed place. It feels like college was just extended a

few more years, notes one respondent. At other companies I have worked

with, I was always the young kid. Here, since the majority of people are right

out of school, the college mentality continues. Relaxed, adds another, who

also notes that the firm is not overwhelmed by structure, although it could

be better managed. One contact notes that no one tells me when to come

and go. I come in at 7 a.m., I come in at 11 a.m. I leave at 2 p.m., I leave at

3 a.m. My time. I am valued as an individual and as an employee.

But AMS is not a company for slackers. One contact says: The culture is

relaxed, yet aggressive. To be successful, you need to take control of your

career and make things happen. Another agrees, and explains, Because it is

a loosely organized firm, it is a place where individuals who like making

order from chaos can thrive. If you need high structure, or need to know

where you will be and what you will be doing for the next two years, then stay

away were not for you. One insider notes, AMS is not a hand-holding

kind of place. Those who are comfortable taking accountability for their own

success will do well.

Who needs the personal ads when you work at

AMS?

One of the major assets of life at AMS, say insiders, is the hopping social life.

Washington, D.C. is a fun place for twentysomethings, and AMSers take full

advantage. Love in the air? Numerous AMSers I know are married to other

AMSers, if this is an indication of social interaction, says one. Another

picks up on the marriage theme: You would be surprised how many AMSers

are married to each other. Its amazing what happens when you cram severalhundred single, twentysomethings in a building. Dating within the

company is frequent, concludes another. One consultant describes social life

at AMS as very incestuous in a good way.

Outside of interpersonal relations, AMS insiders praise the parties, sports

teams, lunches and, ah yes, happy hours. A consultant notes that there is

great degree of social interaction among AMSers outside of work. I would



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Our Survey Says

guess that most AMSers spend at least a few hours a week with other AMSers

in a social setting. And it doesnt even require much effort to become

socially well-connected. Soon after starting, most AMSers find themselves

getting invites to happy hours and parties, often from people they dont even

know! To encourage teamwork in and out of the office, AMS sponsors sportsteams as long as 80 percent of their members are AMS employees.

Of laptops and Oreste

Most AMSers say they are satisfied with their compensation, said to be

above average, though not at the highest end of the scale. The firm operates

a system of compensatory time instead of overtime, employees receive

credit in a comp time bank for every hour they work over a 95-hour pay

period, which can be used as personal time. The system has its faults,

however: There is no overtime pay, and working 95 hours in an 80-hour payperiod is not rewarded. Some consultants also say that the pay at AMS has

gotten much worse over the last year, as raises have been postponed

repeatedly. I cannot say enough about how crappy the pay has been

recently, one shares. Of the people I know who have left recently, this has

been the number one reason.

Benefits at AMS include the standard laptops and cell phones, as well as

tuition reimbursement and a healthy insurance package. There is also an on-

site cafeteria at the Fairfax headquarters, and we hear that Oreste, one of the

cooks, makes a mean sub sandwich. Among its many volunteer andextracurricular efforts, the firm sponsors a running club, which includes

weekly workouts and free entrance fees to races. The firms team even placed

fourth in the 2002 Penn Relays (though were also told that this is all done

on a shoestring budget, and gets little recognition from top management). In

addition, there is a once-a-year three-day retreat; the first day is business

related, but the other two days are for relaxing and getting to know our

colleagues from other offices. Spouses, but not kids, are welcome for the last

two days.

Staying on top

While AMS offers a wide variety of training through AMS University and

other programs, insiders say the firm has cut back its efforts significantly in

the last few years. Whereas before there was a wealth of classroom learning,

now there is a lot of CBT [Computer-Based Training] as well as on-the-job

training. Training is not billable. The firm also sends its employees to a

number of industry conferences throughout the year. But ultimately, one




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Our Survey Says

source says, The promises of training far exceed the actual training. In

almost three years here I believe I attended almost all my formal training

classes within the first month, and they were all run in house. While teams

all have a budget to train their people, it is often cut when improvements are

needed in the contribution margin for a given project.

Nice cubes

AMSs offices dont bedazzle like those at some of the fancier law firms or

investment banks, but seem to do the job nicely, according to insiders. AMS

offices are very comfortable, but the appearance could be improved, says

one. The decor is simple, but practical, adds another. One contact notes

with pride: You might find a Doors poster hanging in someone elses office.

There are no style czars here. For entry-level hires, get ready for some

outstanding cubicles. Unlike some consulting firms that disdain the cube,AMS taken the cubicle to a new level. Even the cubes have walls and not

the foam ones either! exclaims one contact. The building is beautiful and

the cubes are gorgeous, glows another insider. Note, however, that not all

cubes are created equal: One consultant complains about the distribution of

space. Offices are assigned according to seniority, salary, experience level,

and education. My only disagreement with this is that the different types of

space cube vs. office vs. office with window greatly effect productivity

and attitude and should all be equal given that we are all expected to perform

to the same high standard.

Extremely positive perceptions of gender

equality

On gender issues, the consensus from our contacts gives AMS a very

favorable rating. We hear that Women make up about 35 percent of all

employees and nearly half the management here. One insider notes: I feel

that AMS regards me as a member of the professional staff-not a female

member. I have not experienced any kind of discrimination. AMS is a great

place to work as a woman. I have been here for four years and I have only

EVER worked for women managers. Outstanding, raves another. Thesame contact, however, adds a subtler insight: AMS has been very

successful at using part-time moms to contribute to our business. Another

notes, As a woman, I have not felt any discrimination in terms of

assignments or opportunities. Excellent as far as I can tell. AMS, with its

flexible hourly schedules for parents and others, backs its sensitivity with

action. In 1999 the firm announced its male/female ratio was a respectable

56/44, with women filling over a third of senior management positions. AMS



25/46


Our Survey Says



also sponsors a semiannual workshop called Windows in the Glass Ceiling

that helps midlevel women at AMS and other companies reach senior

management.

Puzzlement over ethnic diversity

AMS is a predominantly white firm, a fact that troubles and puzzles its

consultants. Though I havent seen any overt discrimination, observes one

of our contacts, you do not see a whole lot of minorities at AMS. Asian and

Indian cultures are represented more than African Americans. Most AMS

employees are either white or Asian, adds another consultant, thats simply

the state of things. Wonders one AMSer: I am not certain whether the lack

of minorities at AMS represents a lack of effort on our part, a bad perception

among college graduates, or other factors. One consultant, at least, seems to

have had a different experience: My past two bosses have both been African-American.

Perks for the active AMSer

As noted above, AMS wins praise for its social activities. Insiders note the

frequent happy hours and parties, and praise the holiday events. As one

example, insiders mention an AMS tradition known as kegs and questions,

where a senior VP gives a state of the BU [business unit] followed by a

chance to schmooze with ones fellow AMSers over a beer or soda, depending

on individual drinking habits. Another notable perk seems to be the firms in-house gym. Our gym rivals the local gym where I live and its free! If I

feel like cycling after a hard day, I just go to my locker and go to it. Another

insider recalls learning how to rollerblade, and enjoys massages and

personal trainers for five dollars.

AMS, the mystery firm

When asked what they would improve about AMS, many proud employees

suggest that AMS needs to boost its profile. One offers, Publicity no one

knows who we are!! Another explains: We need to assess our position. Topcompanies in the D.C. region give more to the community. For instance I was

at the Kennedy Center this weekend and all of our competitors were listed as

major corporate contributors to the Arts in D.C. We need more of a national

presence they all have national marketing campaigns and place their

monikers on everything from buses to professional golfers. Others focus on

the recruiting process. We are probably too low-key in how we present

ourselves, and many students dont find out about us.


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Our Survey Says

High job satisfaction, at least for consulting

Most of our contacts at AMS are pleased with their experience. Extremely

satisfied, says one. Another explains with more detail: By AMS standards,

I have already been here a long time [five years]. I do plan on staying quite

a bit longer, though if I am a lifer it is harder to stay. AMS suffers from the

same problems as any consulting company long hours, frequent travel. If I

leave, I will not go to another consulting company. Of the consulting

companies out there, AMS is one of the best. Another adds, I think that if

you are willing to buy into the lifestyle, you can go far at AMS. One

colleague perhaps illustrates the point: I have no desire to give up this

lifestyle and become a poor overworked student again, pursuing some sort of

graduate degree. Im just having too much fun where I am right now!



27/46

AMS does about 30 percent of its recruiting on campus, and every year about

85 percent of its new hires come from undergraduate programs. The firm

recruits mostly from Mid-Atlantic colleges, cultivating on-campus

relationships with professors (notably in computer science and other

technology-related disciplines) and leaders of computing clubs. Note that

AMSs recruiting efforts will usually be focused towards a particular

business unit, or functional area. AMS also makes extensive use of job

fairs and corporate information sessions; prospective AMSers should stay in

touch with their career centers to obtain information about AMSs next visit

to campus. AMSs career information page, www.ams.com/career/, enables

job seekers to search the firms job database, learn about the culture at AMS

and submit their resume.

AMS devotes one of its recruiting coordinators to hiring members of minority

groups, and it makes efforts to build relationships with career centers,

professors and department heads at historically African-American colleges

and universities. The firm also hires four to five interns every year through

INROADS, an organization that places African-American, Hispanic, and

Native American students with 3.0 or better grade point averages.

QualificationsAMS prefers individuals with computer science, computer engineering and

hard science degrees. The firm professes, however, to be open to all majors,

even those who have spent their undergraduate years contemplating the

wonders of literature, history, philosophy or other liberal arts subjects. The

candidate needs only to have expressed interest and skill in technology,

whether through internships, work or clubs.

Essentially, AMS is looking for qualities reflected in the following four

questions:

What are the candidates interests and aptitudes regarding information

technology?

How willing is the candidate to relocate and travel?

What are the candidates other analytical skills?

How good are the candidates communication skills?

Getting Hired





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Getting Hired

Applicants interested in U.S. positions but without an AMS presence on

campus can apply online or mail a resume and cover letter to:


Human Resources

4050 Legato Road

Fairfax VA 22033

(703) 267-8000

(703) 267-5073 (fax)

www.amsinc.com

[email protected]

For European positions:

AMS Management Systems Deutschland GmbH

Querstrasse 8-1060332 Frankfurt

GERMANY

49-69-95-51-11 0

Fax: 49-69-95-51 11 99

If you have a specific geographic preference, apply to the office of your

choice.

InterviewsFrom the outset, keep in mind that the interviewing process is broken down

by business unit. Thus, if you are applying to AMS without previous industry

experience, you should apply to offices that have business units that interest

you. For example, Fairfax handles government contracts and

telecommunications, New York primarily handles finance, and so forth.

Otherwise, AMS will float your resume around, and recruiters in the

interested business unit will jump on it.

The first round of interviews takes place on campus. Three-quarters of all

interviewers at this stage will be project-related people from a particular BU,and the remainder will be professional interviewers from the human resources

department. Interviewers here will primarily be concerned with fit: Is this

person a good match for AMS? Is this person a good match for this business

unit? Following the interview, the interviewer completes an interview report

form that will be forwarded to the business unit recruiting manager, who

reviews the report and makes the decision to invite back, reject, or refer the

candidate to another business unit. Fifty percent of all first round candidates



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Getting Hired

are called back. Indeed, AMS is as concerned with fit as it is with skill and

intelligence; as one analyst tells us, the firm is pretty selective, but getting

in is not too hard for an intelligent, well-prepared candidate.

If you pass first round muster, the next round occurs at an AMS office, either

the nearest one or your office of interest. While candidates for internship

positions tend only to have two or three interviews, candidates for full-time

positions will usually have five to six that usually take up an entire day.

Again, interviewers will work in a particular BU, and will hold positions of

varying seniority. As for the content of each interview, interviewers tend to

focus on one particular skill or attribute, notably technical skills, leadership

skills, and analytical skills. Their questioning, especially if they are VPs or

other high-level individuals, may involve case interviewing or behavioral

techniques. (See Questions to Expect below.) Note that the second-round

day will also include interviews over breakfast, lunch or dinner. Not tomicromanage, but we recommend in meal situations that you stay away from

dishes that are sloppy or require concentration to eat, like lobster, haggis,

linguine with tomato sauce or other challenging entrees. Finally, at the end

of each interview, interviewers fill out Interview Report Forms that evaluate

the specific skills on which the interviewer has focused. The interviewers

then meet to discuss the candidates, a process we hear can often work to the

benefit of borderline applicants: Ive only been in on one of those meetings,

but from what I can tell they seem to work to the applicants benefit. Unless

the applicant was a total jerk in which case the meetings can be quite funny

its likely that there will be a mix of impressions, and usually the bad onesare softened. The reports are then forwarded to the BU recruiting manager

who reviews them and decides whether or not to make an offer. The firm

reports that 55 to 65 percent of second-round interviewees receive offers, and

50 percent of those individuals accept.

Lateral hires or candidates not coming through the on-campus process can

expect to have an initial phone-screening interview followed by a second

round in the office. If you reject an offer or decline a call back, AMS will

send you a survey asking why. The firm reports that the vast majority of

those turning down its offers are headed to careers unrelated to IT consulting,

but concedes that its biggest competitor is Accenture.




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Getting Hired

Questions to expect

Past behavior predicts future behavior. AMS insiders note that the

following kinds of questions are likely to arise, especially if you are

interviewing for a job on AMS functional side for positions as businessanalysts (i.e. not technical positions.)

1. Describe the last time you had to think on your feet. What was the

result? What would you change if you could do it again?

2. Can you tell me about an experience where you were too persistent?

3. A client project manager comes to you and refuses to give you some

necessary data. What do you do?

As AMS president Phil Giuntini once said simply, The client is right. You

should probe the reasons behind the refusal and try to reach anaccommodation. Communication is crucial to AMS teamwork.

4. Tell me about the last time you worked on a project or reach a goal

with a group of people.

AMS interviewers are told to look out for those who seem unable to work

well in teams.

5. Describe a time you worked with someone who wasnt pulling his

weight. How did you handle it?

Another of AMSs favorite behavioral/situational interview questions.

6. A foreign company with extra cash on hand wants to enter the

American fast food market. What would you tell them?

AMS doesnt purport to ask brainteasers or guesstimates, but the

interviewer at her or his discretion may pop a case interview. As the example

suggests, a case interview consists of a question about a business scenario.

Pay attention! Your interviewer expects you to ask some careful and hard

questions become coming close to giving your recommendation. (You should

imagine this is a corporate client presenting this case to you. Certainly, you

would ask the client plenty of questions before attempting to provide advice,wouldnt you?) First of all, what kind of company is this potential fast-food

business entrant? Does it already run fast-food concerns outside the United

States? If so, will the overseas model translate into success in America? How

much cash does it have on hand? Is this enough? Is the fast-food market an

attractive one in the United States? How big is it? Who are the major players?

Are there any segments of the fast-food market that are under-served or which

are fast-growing? Your interviewer will answer these questions with pieces of



31/46


Getting Hired

information that should help you formulate new questions and, ultimately,

your suggestions for the client. For more on case interviewing, we humbly

suggest the Vault Guide to the Case Interview, which supplies sample case

interview questions with model answers.

Questions to ask

1. You must get calls from headhunters all the time. What keeps you

here?

This will give the interviewer a chance to expound on the many positive

aspects of AMSs corporate culture, an item of which they are for the most

part extremely proud. Its asking me about something that I really value:

what we offer as a culture, says one happy AMSer.

2. How has your career developed at AMS?

Career paths are not fixed at AMS, but rather depend on how an individual

takes on responsibility and gains expertise. It would be good idea to survey

your interviewers to get a sense of what makes for success.

3. In what area will I best be able to use my accumulated knowledge and

business experience? How can I ensure Im assigned to that area?

Insiders tell us that a certain amount of proactivity is needed to ensure youll

land in a spot where youll learn and do the sort of things you might prefer.

4. What are training opportunities in this department?

Remember, AMS has the training facilities, but theres no guarantee that

youll get training. It will be good to see views on training in that particular

Business Unit.

5. How does AMS decide whether to sponsor outside schooling?

AMS handles reimbursement or scholarships for outside training, including

MBAs, on a case-by-case basis within each business unit.




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Getting Hired

Compensation

Pay

Generally, the firm notes that once someone is in the company, the lid comesoff and pay/advancement is a meritocracy.

College Graduates: $42,000 base

From Graduate School: Pay will depend on years of work experience and

quality of graduate program. Those from the top 25 MBA programs averaged

$90,000.

Principals are eligible for incentive compensation. Each business unit

sets certain goals for each Principal if met, Principals are entitled to 10-30

percent of their salaries. Goals are usually set on an annual basis.

Perks

Free dental plan

Company gym

Cellular phone

Emergency medical assistance, Emergency medical assistance while

traveling

401(k)

Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESOP); limited to 10 percent of annual

salary. AMS matches your purchase and pays all administrative fees.

Nine paid holidays per year

Sports team sponsorship

Profit sharing plan

Referral incentive (AMS may slip you some cash if your referral results in

a hire for AMS)

Adoption assistance (up to $4,000)

Drop-in emergency child care centers in some locations

Paid leave for jury duty, military service and bereavement

Child care discount program. AMSers receive 10 percent tuition discount

at Childrens World Learning Centers and La Petite Academy, with

registration fees waived for new enrollments at CWLC.



33/46


Getting Hired

AMS also offers compensation time. That means that after working a

certain number of hours over regular hours, employees are rewarded with

compensation time, or extra vacation time. Employees start with three weeks

of vacation time. Employees also have 12 days of sick leave each calendar

year, and they may use a portion of that time to care for ill family members.




34/46

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Each year, Vault surveys andinterviews thousands of

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SMARTMONEY MAGAZINE

Cliffs Notesfor Careers FORBES MAGAZINE


35/46

Day in the life

Business Analyst: (BU: Telecommunications) at

the client site

8:20 a.m.: Get into work. In telecommunications, your clients have a

different work day than at AMS; they get in as early as 7:00 a.m. but they

leave earlier as well.

8:45 a.m.: After checking email, you access the issues database. AMS has

about two dozen of these databases on various subjects (management,

technical databases and so forth). A basic Lotus Notes database, the issues

database is a way to share thoughts, opinions and information between

overseas offices and offices in the Americas. No real information today, but

its a good thing to check.

9:00 a.m.: Attend a meeting with your team, which is about 25 people right

now; team members are always transferring in and moving on. You discuss

the current phase of implementation (your team is responsible for tailoring

your proprietary billing system to your telecommunications client). After

some issues are brought up about discount pricing, the team agrees that

several members should set up an appointment to speak to some client

executives that afternoon.

10:30 a.m.: Afterwards, you meet with your own subset team of four; the

four of you are working on a particular bonus program in the billing

software.

12:00 p.m.: A quick lunch with some of the client employees here, in their

company cafeteria. If the client has a company cafeteria, you usually feel

obligated to eat there. You have a ham and cheese sandwich.

12:45 p.m.: Your team works on its part of the presentation to the client. The

bonus program may turn out to be pricey for the client, and while it has itsstrong points, you want to make sure the client has all the information at hand

in order to make a decision.

4:00 p.m.: Meet with executives from the client. The larger team lays out the

options for incentives and bonus billing, and the cost of software and

implementation. The clients say they will take it under advisement.

5:30 p.m.: Make two entries into the issues database.

On the Job





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On the Job

6:00 p.m.: Head out with some AMS co-workers for an early dinner.

Programmer Analyst

9:00 a.m.: Arrive at work. You usually get in around this time, though somedays you get in as late as 10:00. Since AMS has flex hours, no one looks at

you askance.

9:30 a.m.: Catch up on a boatload of e-mails that came in overnight. Call

members of your team.

10:00 a.m.: At a meeting you hear an analysis of the current operations of

service representatives at your client firm, presented by two new analysts.

12:00 p.m.: Lunch basic McDonalds for you.

1:00 p.m.: Back to work. You chat with your mentor next door about someproblems youve been having with the client/server architecture. You puzzle

out some bugs in one of the models.

2:00 p.m.: Spend the rest of the day building and testing models.

6:00 p.m.: You head home. 6:00 is pretty typical.

Principal

7:30 a.m.: Catch an early cab to the airport, where you board a flight to New

York City. The client is a consumer products company interested in

improving their database management. On the flight, review some of the

templates that youve created for client interviews.

8:30 a.m.: Touchdown at LaGuardia, and brave the cab ride into the city. You

arrive at the client office, where you take some time to settle in, check your

voice mail and e-mail remotely. If its part of the client culture to arrive at the

office at six in the morning, you get there at six in the morning.

9:30 a.m.: Meet with your AMS team and review the series of meetings that

you planned last week. As you are still getting to understand the clientssystem requirements, youll be working on research in the morning. Review

your action items.

10:30 a.m.: Meet with a member of the client team for about an hour. You

then return to your desk to document the session by diagramming notes into

a Business Process Reengineering tool. You take a call from the companys

CFO, who wants to discuss some billing issues.



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On the Job

1:00 p.m.: Before lunch, you take some time to check your e-mail and voice

mail.

1:30 p.m.: Lunch at the clients dining room with some key members of the

client team. (AMSers like to feel like theyre partnering with them.) You

invite one of the AMS analysts along.

2:30 p.m.: Lunch finished, you check in again with Fairfax, then meet with

your team to discuss the development of action items and to prepare for the

afternoons facilitated session, a meeting that you are leading.

3:00 p.m.: At the session, you explain where the project stands and run

through a list of questions that you and your colleagues have developed. The

meeting lasts an hour and half.

5:00 p.m.: Check in with your team again to review the meeting. After the

meeting you take some time to check on financial data from a spreadsheet

youve been developing, and think about the deliverable that youll be

working on tomorrow.

6:30 p.m.: Head to your midtown hotel. Some people are meeting at a

restaurant later, but you decide to order room service instead.

Job descriptions

Business Analyst

Business analysts are the entry-level consultants (usually recent college

graduates) who study the nature of the systems and operations problems AMS

is called in to solve. One of our contacts characterized the business analyst

as a liaison between AMSs technical experts and the client. Thus, business

analysts will not spend their day crunching code, but rather they will focus on

compiling and analyzing data, interviewing client employees, observing

client operations and developing and delivering oral and written presentations

to other team members. They will work on a project from its initial phases of

requirements and design until implementation, and at end of each phase,

analysts will work on deliverables, or major documents that AMS promises

contractually to deliver to its clients. Insiders report that usually requirements

and design deliverables are manageable, but systems deliverables may mean

grueling work. After some experience, business analysts will lead and direct

case teams as project managers. One AMS analyst tells us he even

coordinates consultants from other firms, at the clients behest.




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On the Job

Programmer Analyst

Those on the technical side coordinate with business analysts and translate

client expectations into the appropriate programs and networks necessary to

meet them. For example, a database consultant might consolidate several

billing screens into one and link that front-end to the firms legacy back-end,

thus preserving the original database while increasing the efficiency of firm

operations. Technical consultants work with a range of technologies

including data mining, multimedia, computer telephony and electronic

commerce.

Principal

One becomes a principal at AMS either through promotion from a business

analyst position or by virtue of arriving at the firm from an MBA program.

Responsibilities and duties are divided into four main areas. First, principals

will focus on staffing a particular project: finding out what the needs are,

what resources are available, and how they can help other AMSers advance

their skill sets and careers by working on the project. Second, principals are

concerned with the financial side of the project. Working with spreadsheets

and other analytical tools, they keep track of and analyze revenues and costs,

and billing. Third, principals will coordinate client contact, arranging

meetings and making sure that the scope and objectives of the project are

clear to all. Finally, principals get down and dirty with their coworkers like

analysts, they will conduct interviews, crunch numbers, run meetings and

give presentations. Insiders note that the number will vary according to

business unit in larger, more people-intense areas such as

telecommunications, the number can reach up to 200.

Summer Intern

Generally, as with full-time hiring, about 70 percent of the interns are

undergraduates and 30 percent are grad students. The firm begins to accept

applications in September and typically makes most of its decisions by the

end of January.

Typically, internships focus on high-tech, and involve work on only one

project for the summer. The intern is assigned a summer buddy and

receives evaluations from the project manager at the end of the summer.

Interns at AMS say they enjoy the unstructured and entrepreneurial feel

of the firm, and business school students were happy to see that MBAs are

really valued at AMS. Everyone, says a former college intern, is a high

priority hire as an intern, and we are treated as assets and with respect. I kind



39/46


On the Job

of liked it. The firm puts interns in a position of responsibility and

entrusts them with important client work. One intern raves that I was

considered a part of the team right away and worked closely with all levels of

associates in both my firm and the client firm. However, as an intern its

difficult to get consensus on some issues, and the summer pay is notequivalent with other consulting firms. Outside of work, interns will enjoy

cultural and sporting events, and parties.

As for hiring interns into the regular staff, offer decisions are made at the end

of the summer by the particular business unit. The evaluations from the

project manager naturally play an important role here. According to the firm,

80 percent of summer interns receive offers, and 50 percent accept. Those

with offers returning to campus become AMS ambassadors, and will take

on recruiting responsibilities such as attending job fairs and hanging up

posters.

Career path

For Undergraduates

After AMS has snatched you up out of college, youll enter as an analyst in

one of AMSs business units. The AMS career path is as follows: analyst,

principal, senior principal, vice president. Insiders say an MBA is

unnecessary for advancement in the firm, though it comes in handy formembers of consulting units. One former AMSer tells us that VPs without

MBAs are actually rather common at AMS. According to insiders,

advancement to principal requires taking responsibility for a project and

demonstrating some sort of expertise, such as competence with a certain

language or technology. Thus, the time frame is not fixed, but varies

according to how fast a person builds up skill and the experience to manage

a project. Contacts say the average is four to five years, but one notes that if

you dont achieve that for 10 years, youll be an analyst for 10 years.

Note also that you should choose your unit carefully though you can ask fora change of unit, this request isnt always granted. The longer you stay in a

unit, the more valuable your expertise and training becomes to AMS, making

it more difficult to move you. Insiders say the government BUs in particular

are very difficult to leave.




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On the Job

For MBAs

There are many vice presidents at AMS without MBAs, though such

progression is more likely in the world of programming. MBAs generally

start as principals, and move up to senior principal and then VP. Employees

at the level of principal and above are known as titled staff; entry-level

people are untitled. MBA hires at AMS are considered experienced,

regardless of actual industry background. However, those with little relevant

work experience are generally placed as a consultant on a client project, while

experienced MBAs might lead a team or help to develop a new practice area

right off the bat. One former employee says that in a sense, MBAs are

overkill at AMS, since we mainly do IT consulting and you dont need an

MBA for that. As with moving from analyst to principal, promotion from

principal to senior principal has no fixed time. To be promoted, the individual

principal must have taken responsibility for multiple projects and have

demonstrated expertise applying to the entire business unit. Similarly,

promotion to VP requires demonstration of expertise, only this time as

applied to AMS as a whole, such as business development or helping different

BUs develop solid working relationships and cooperation.

Training

AMS training for new hires includes half a day of orientation at the firm, and

a three- to five-day course known as AMS 101, which teaches new hires

about the fundamentals of their own BU and others. Additionally, each BU

will offer its own training program.

For ongoing training, AMS has a state-of-the-art training facility in Fairfax

called Centerpointe II. The center, serving employees and clients, features

five classrooms, three breakout rooms/learning labs, copy and fax

capabilities, eating facilities and a full-time staff. The classrooms are

equipped with the high-end technology platforms and software tools, snazzy

A/V equipment, one instructor computer and 10-15 computers for each

classroom. Other remote training locations include Denver, New York,

Manchester, Redwood City, Birmingham, Ottawa, London, Dsseldorf,Frankfurt and Lisbon.

AMS also outsources technology training programs for clients. The I/S

community can come to AMS for training in COBOL, C, C++, JAVA,

Internet/Web applications and Object-Oriented and Client/Sever deployment.

New courses are usually tested on AMS employees before being offered to

AMS clients. Examples of former AMS outsourced training clients include a



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On the Job

major automaker, a Big 10 university and a worldwide telecommunications

firm. AMS particularly specializes in helping clients make the transition from

mainframe to client/server technology.

AMS also has a (mostly) virtual university called AMS University. It uses a

variety of learning vehicles, including Web-enabled courses, on-the-job

training, distance learning and traditional classroom experiences. Study

programs vary but include the following titles: Foundations for Success,

Emerging Leaders, Principal Leadership, Senior Leadership, and Executive

Development.




42/46

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43/46

Like much of the IT consulting industry, AMS is facing lean times. But

compared to such competitors as Accenture, EDS and Cap Gemini Ernst &

Young, AMS is well-positioned to take advantage of the burgeoning market

for public-sector services, particularly in defense-related areas AMSs

specialty. Consequently, while the firm is cutting its employment rolls

overall, it is also boosting several of its government-oriented practices,

especially homeland security. The firm is also poised to profit from the

growing interest in IT and business process outsourcing, which industry

experts predict will be one of the most important and profitable aspects of

the IT services industry within five years. Internally, AMS has weathered

well the transition from its original five, whiz kid founders to a new

generation of leaders, and as a result is stronger internally than many of itscompetitors, such as Accenture and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, which are

still working through transition phases.

Final Analysis





44/46

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As is true at many large consulting firms, AMS likes to put its mouth where

its money is in addition to its consulting work, it produces a wide variety

of position reports, white papers and journals. Found under the Know

How section of the companys website, they are a good way to get a feel

not only for AMSs various activities, but also an idea for how the firm

thinks. Note: Some of the documents require a free registration.

Also:

Fifth Founder Quits AMS, Washington Post. Nov. 25, 2002. Page E1.

Mockett has eyes on AMS future, Washington Technology. March 4,

2002.

AMS Settles Lawsuit with Insurance Co., Washington Post. October 15,

2001.

Whos Who in State and Local Systems Integrators, Washington Monthly.

February 19, 2001.

Recommended Reading





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Transcript of VEP- American Management Systems 2003