Salmon

Timeline

By exploring this simple Salmon timeline, you can see how the company has delivered innovative solutions in partnership with customers, together with key milestones in our history.

Unique Approach.  Unique Solutions

From the very first multi-channel solution in retail - to one of the largest SOA initiatives in the UK - through to pioneering insurance solutions using internet technologies, Salmon has steadfastly provided a unique approach to the development and implementation of web-based business solutions. 

An approach based, first and foremost, on reducing risk at both a business and technology level. 

An approach underpinned by a desire to provide premium customer satisfaction.

2008

Corporate

Salmon Australia: In the 1st half of 2008, Salmon announced the launch of Salmon Australia and a new office based in Sydney, New South Wales.  With the same ethos as Salmon in the UK, Salmon AP aims to provide clients with teams that quickly understand business needs, create realistic development schedules and efficiently deliver solutions to plan; all based around an ethos that marries a depth and breadth of development skills with a guarantee that removes virtually all risk from successful project roll-outs. 

Salmon AP will focus in the first instance on eCommerce, Insurance platforms and Enterprise Architecture based solutions.

New Customer Announcement

Halfords: In March 2008, Salmon announced its latest eCommerce project with Halfords: to develop an innovative multi-channel capability in the form of online reservations - providing customers with the choice to buy when, where and how they like.

Salmon helped Halfords.com synchronise online ordering and store fulfillment and helped Halfords roll out its Reserve and Collect service. Customers are able to choose to reserve online and collect in store, in addition to the traditional method of ordering online for home delivery.  In March 2008, early indications suggested the initiative had been a resounding success, with impressive results of over 100,000 orders being taken online reported in the media.

Speaking at the time Halfords Channel Development Manager said,

"It is very important for us to be able to predict customer's expectations building our customers loyalty and enticing new online shoppers. To do this we knew we had to organise the business around the customer and deliver a consistent brand experience no matter how our customers choose to shop with us."

2007

Corporate

Management buy back from Novell:   In March 2007 Salmon announced a management buyout from Novell, Inc.  The deal allowed Novell to focus further on their core business of providing infrastructure software, whilst giving Salmon the freedom to pursue strategic initiatives appropriate to improve and extend services to their customers.  In turn the move also gave Salmon the opportunity to grow their capability in the UK and other markets. 

Salmon China (Beijing) founded:  In September 2007 Salmon announced growth in its international footprint with the opening of an office in China, adding to the company’s presence in the UK, US (Salmon today also have an office in Australia - see 2008).

China is poised to become the largest economy in the world and offers a significant opportunity to Salmon.  Our expertise in identifying, developing, implementing and supporting web-based applications and systems, combined with comprehensive business acumen and 20 years experience will hopefully be a very attractive proposition to the Chinese market.

Microsoft Partnership and Practice: In October 2007 Salmon announced the creation of a Microsoft partnership and practice.

Salmon continue support for Advantage Africa:  In November of 2007, Salmon announced its continued partnership with Advantage Africa, a charity that supports inspirational people and their invaluable work among people disadvantaged by poverty, disability and HIV/AIDS in East Africa.  In the 16 months preceding the announcement Salmon had made donations of over £65,000.

New Customer

W. R. Berkley: W. R. Berkley Corporation is an insurance holding company. The specialty segment underwrites complex and third-party liability risks, principally within excess and surplus lines, and includes specialty lines of insurance. 

Salmon developed an underwriting solution and provides an Application Management and Support service.

2006

Corporate

IBM Award for Customer Success In Management and Culture of Innovation:  In November 2006, Salmon announced that IBM had awarded them an award for "Customer Success In Management and Culture of Innovation" -  recognising the company for the innovative way in which they have enabled the business personnel at Halfords to be able to manage the daily activities of their new e-commerce solution, without IT reliance.

The solution put in place by Salmon allows Halfords to deliver highly personalised campaigns, advertisements and e-mails, while measuring the effectiveness of each initiative.  Various tools facilitate: A/B Testing, Search Optimisation, Campaign Management, Email Marketing, Customer Segmentation and Profiling, Advertising, Rules-Based Personalisation, Closed-Loop Marketing and Analysis. 

Immediately after the launch Halfords increased sales by 250%, making Halfords.com the highest turnover store and the most visited sports and leisure website in the UK.

New Customer

IBM/Arcadia:  In January 2006 Salmon announced its partnership with IBM Global Services to redevelop the Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Topman and Wallis websites for Arcadia Group Limited. 

Speaking at the time the IS Director of Arcadia, commented:

"Salmon's strong software and services partnership with IBM, together with Salmon's reputation for delivering next generation e-commerce sites for a fixed price gave us tremendous confidence when embarking on this initiative."

Under the terms of the contract, Salmon was responsible for a number of key areas, notably the detailed functional and technical design, development of dhtml web pages and "back-end" processes, system testing, defect resolution during execution of the acceptance tests, performance tuning and documentation.

2005

New Customer

Halfords:  In December 2005 Salmon announced that Halfords Group plc (Halfords) had doubled its online sales at www.halfords.com as a result of Salmon’s successful delivery of a new eCommerce solution in just 90 days. Visitors to the site increased by over 60%, and sales by over 100%.

Speaking at the time, the Head of Business Systems at Halfords Group plc said:

"We have a strong and differentiated business with a proven strategy for growth. We now have a solid I.T. platform to allow us to increase online and offline sales."

The Channel Development Manager said:

"The new site is already delivering better results. Since the site went live we have experienced our busiest weekend and busiest single day ever, already surpassing orders received on the peak day before Christmas last year and we're looking forward to outstanding online sales this Christmas."

Dulux:  In April 2005 Salmon announced the implementation of an award winning website for Dulux and ICI.  By applying their eCommerce knowledge and Systems Integration expertise, Salmon were able to help ICI Paints fully communicate Dulux's passion for colour by implementing an offering that sets the brand apart from its competition.

Speaking at the time ICI Dulux Marketing Director, said;

"We recognise the importance of the Internet as a key consumer marketing and service channel, particularly when it comes to choosing paint colours, colour scheming and visualising what the end-result will look like. Salmon's eCommerce expertise will go a long way in helping us achieve our goals of converting online browsers into offline buyers."

2004

Corporate

CTP acquisition: In July 2004 Salmon was acquired by Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP), part of Novell Inc (The company has subsequently undertaken a management buy-back from Novell Inc. - see 2007).

The move aimed to strengthen and expand Novell's enterprise consulting and service based offerings in Europe, particularly in the UK market - as well as strengthen Novell's existing consulting practice focused on the delivery of web-based solutions.

New Customer

Novae:  In November 2004 Salmon announced that Novae Underwriting Ltd had chosen to develop and use its fully web-based underwriting solution (SAFI). Salmon began offering the best-of-breed underwriting solution directly to the London market in January 2004.

Speaking at the time Novae's Head of I.T. said:

"The technology behind our underwriting process is vital to our underwriting proposition, as it provides the foundation from which we effectively deliver our services. The move to a web-based system will enable us to overcome old paper-based inefficiencies and help us provide a higher level of service to our brokers. The knock on effect is that our brokers will be more competitive in their environment."

2003

New Customer

Argos:  In September of 2003 Salmon announced the successful delivery of a new e-Commerce website for multi-channel retailer of the year Argos. New functionality allowed customers to benefit from being able to find any product from the (then) entire 12,000-item catalogue in just three clicks.

A choice could also be made to either have one, all or some of the purchases in the shopping basket paid for online and delivered to home or by using the 'Click and Collect' feature and place a 24-hour reservation on any item at any Argos store nationwide.

At the time a spokesperson from Argos, said:

"We chose Salmon because of its excellent reputation in the field of e-Commerce. During the delivery of the project, Salmon lived up to its reputation of transparent honesty in meeting deadlines and sticking to the budget. We are extremely happy that Salmon has helped us deliver a cutting-edge website that will help drive the Argos multi-channel business approach."

ICI:  As ICI Paints' European Regional Systems Integrator since early 2003, Salmon helped ICI develop the Internet as a consumer marketing and service channel. The partnership centred on Salmon helping ICI Paints ensure their branded websites reflect their leadership position, as well as providing customers with the optimum online service.

Under the terms of the contract signed in 2003, Salmon are responsible for the day-to-day operation of 27 websites, providing a portfolio of services to ensure they remain operational and performant.

Salmon are responsible for ongoing development work and operational support and management of ICI Paints European Internet platform.

2002

Corporate

Management consultancy of the year:  In October 2002 Salmon was voted Management Consultancy of the year at the Computing Industry Awards.

A panel of 20 leading IT professionals recognised Salmon for its excellent approach to project management and extremely high customer satisfaction levels. Salmon's complete range of services, enviable track record, and visionary technical knowledge, were also recognised.

Named top influencer by IBM:  In February 2002 Salmon won the 'Top Influencer' award from IBM.  Salmon is a Premier IBM business partner, and holds relationships with IBM’s development laboratories at Hursley (UK) and Toronto (Canada).   

New Customer

In-Sure Services:  Working with Xchanging’s In-Sure Services throughout 2002 resulted in Salmon being chosen by PRI, an insurance start-up entering the UK and European insurance market, to develop a brand new underwriting solution.

Speaking after the solution was developed, one of the founders of PRI founder said,

"We agreed that Salmon would be the right company to go with.  From the outset Salmon was very honest and transparent about delivering on time and to budget, which was important for us."

Argos:  In 2002 Salmon began working with retailer Argos, specifically working on the complete redevelopment of argos.co.uk.  Salmon continues to work with Argos today.   

New Theme

Web based underwriting:  In 2002 began to build a dedicated practice focusing on web based underwriting and the financial services sector.  Research suggested that many of the solutions in the market were woefully behind the internet technology wave, and so to meet unfulfilled demand Salmon successfully negotiated reseller rights for the core components of a underwriting solution it had developed for PRI. 

Today, this agreement remains in place and Salmon continues to offer SAFI™ an advanced insurance framework that is shaking up the way that insurance is conducted.
  
24*7*365 Application Management and Support Practice:  As organisations increased the number of mission-critical applications and systems that they depended on, Salmon quickly realised that Application Management Support (AMS) was becoming a key business issue.  As a result, the company adopted ITIL® (the IT Infrastructure Library ®) a widely accepted approach to IT service management.

During 2002, a cohesive set of methodologies and best practice was developed, drawing from both public & private sectors and our own industry and domain experience.  The result was a complete portfolio of Application Management and Support services. 

New Sector: 

Insurance:  As a result of our work with Xchanging and their In-sure Services division, Salmon quickly built up a high level of insurance expertise across a number of core insurance disciplines – most notably underwriting, claims, renewals, policy management and general ledger. 

This experience, combined with our understanding of the internet and web technologies was rare, so 2002 saw a the formalisation of a number of solutions that Salmon was able to offer insurers so that they benefited from the internet. Today this focus continues, as we seek to help insurers benefit from multi-channel ready infrastructures.

2001

New Customer

Jungle.com:  In early 2001 Salmon started working with Jungle.com, and within 90 days had produced one of the UK's landmark eCommerce websites.  In an era littered by stories of dotcom failures, the results Salmon helped Jungle.com achieve speak for themselves.
 
> 50% increase in conversion rate of customers from visit to purchase
> 99.99% system availability
> Increased service levels and response times
> Reduced support and maintenance requirements
> Ability to more accurately target customers with relevant, personal e-mail campaigns
> Higher levels of customer satisfaction through ease of navigation
> Increased repeat purchase rates.

Speaking at go-live the CEO at Jungle.com said,

"It has only been possible to get where we are today by nurturing key partnerships. Salmon has been fundamental in delivering our new online retailing system and their dedication, skills and quality of work cannot be questioned. We presented them an enormous task with a near impossible delivery date and they have, without doubt, delivered an excellent all round service."

New Theme

J2EE eCommerce Practice:  Our work with Jungle.com throughout 2001 culminated in the formalisation of a J2EE eCommerce practice.  Today this eCommerce practice remains, and we retain the second largest IBM WebSphere Commerce practice globally, with deep ties to Microsoft, IBM, and other eCommerce software vendors such as Scene7, Bazaarvoice and Mercado.

2000

Corporate

De-Merge:  In June 2000 a de-merge took place forming two companies, Salmon and Smart421.

New Customer

Swiss Re: Swiss Re chose Salmon to help it realise the proposed benefits from its blueprint for ‘Business of the Future’.  Salmon was tasked with developing a portfolio of solutions together with an adaptive Service Orientated Architecture; giving Swiss Re’s life and health clients a consistent experience, no matter what channel or line of business they interacted with.

Speaking with regards to the Business of the Future project (on which Salmon was the lead SI) the Swiss Re life and health CIO said;

"Today’s best-of-breed service providers must be capable of understanding clients’ individual business models and existing business processes.  Salmon did this, and additionally possessed the necessary IT skills, techniques and methodologies to ensure that Swiss Re developed new systems and applications that delivered value back to the business."

Chordiant:  Salmon were chosen as a strategic partner for Chordiant in 2000. With proven Java and J2EE skills, combined with specific BEA Weblogic and IBM WebSphere experience, Salmon were ideally positioned to deliver Chordiant based CRM solutions.

New Theme

CRM: In 2000 Salmon started a new CRM practice on the back of strong demand, and strong technical skills in key CRM oriented information technologies. 

Ideally suited to help large companies in Utilities and Financial Services manage risk in large scale CRM initiatives, Salmon helped its customers understand, as well as anticipate, the needs of current and potential consumers for the likes of Halifax, Lloyds, BskyB, RBoS, Barclay Card, and the then H3G

New Sector

Insurance and Reinsurance: In 2000 Salmon began working with major insurers and reinsurers, most notably Swiss Re.  Many turned to Salmon as they began to battle with large scale and strategic I.T. initiatives. 
Typically our work centered on providing open-standards based business and technical platforms, to support their entire business (Now coined SOA by the software vendors). 

Additionally a clear understanding of common business processes, local exceptions, regulatory compliance and multi-channel solution development were key areas in which Salmon added value to our customers.

New Technology

J2EE:  In 2000 Salmon began its deep affiliation with Java, particularly J2EE for enterprise applications.  In line with Java itself, Salmon was aiming toward developing solutions with the use of Object Oriented Programming whilst ensuring operating system freedom. 

Salmon’s focus on Java has continued since 2000 such that today Salmon retains consultants with industry leading understanding of Java, XML, JDBC, API, RMI, CORBA, Swing, JVM, applets, Java Beans, Java Scripting etc.

1990-1999

Customers

Go Surprise:  Development and implementation of B2C eCommerce solution in the gift sector

Channel 4:  Migration and redevelopment of Sales and Airtime Management System, allowing C4 to take advantage of client/server, internet and other technology developments.

Tesco:  Salmon developed a windows based query analysis and reporting tool for Tesco's data warehouse.   Salmon provided services associated to mentoring, system architecture and training.

Unipart:  Salmon implemented a sales force automation solution for Unipart; developing and customizing a replenishment solution to optimise parts replenishment from external suppliers and between European warehouses.  In addition Salmon also developed a bespoke forecasting system to integrate.

Abbey National:  Salmon helped develop a customer advice system which was in use at all branches, call centre and back office. The 2 year project was delivered in 1999.  Salmon developed an integrated approach to sales, application, quotation and completion for Mortgages, Life Assurance, Insurance, Pension and Investment products.
Anglian Water:  Salmon successfully delivered a 2.5 year £8 million fixed price project to replace Anglian Water's customer billing system (NBS).  This project took a mainframe billing system and re-engineered it to an n-tier, client-server platform.  In addition, Salmon provided Application Management and Support services for a number of years.

Bull Information:  Salmon delivered a GUI and client server based “Housing Needs Voids” system for Bull;  providing services on design, specification, development and system testing. 

Sector and Solution experience

Media: Air Time Advertising and Sales

Retail: eCommerce

Telcos: CRM, Contact centre, Credit and Fraud Management, MIS/Dashboards

Supply Chain/Distribution: Sales Force Automation, Inventory Management, Replenishment,

Retail Banking: CRM, Credit Scoring, Loan applications

Utilities: Enterprise Billing

Local Government: Enterprise Billing and Housing Systems

1989

Corporate

Salmon Founded:  Company Salmon was founded in 1989 by Chris Harvey and Nick Holl.  Chris Harvey remains the CEO today.  The company was formed to meet growing demand for an I.T. Supplier that was 100% committed to mitigating the risks inherent in identifying, developing, implementing and supporting complex applications, systems and solutions.