Ultimate Software was an American-based technology company that eventually merged with Kronos Incorporated to form Ultimate Kronos Group. Scott Scherr is the founder of Ultimate Software, a company that is known for selling SaaS. The company sold UltiPro as its main product which is a cloud-based human capital management software. This SaaS product was sold to many enterprises by Ultimate Software. Founded in 1990, the company’s headquarters are based in Weston, Florida. Ultimate Software officially launched its first product in 1993. Last year, the company ranked second in the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
About Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software is mainly known for its SaaS product, UltiPro, a single cloud-based system for recording HR, payroll, and talent management. Eventually, the software added many new features like employee onboarding, attendance maintaining, performance and compensation management, recruiting, etc. The rollout of UltiPro was a big success for Ultimate Software as in 2017 it generated a revenue of $940.7 million in the fourth quarter. Before it was merged with Kronos Incorporated, the company had more than 5,000 employees providing services in 160 countries. In 2019, Ultimate Software came under the acquisition of Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners for $11 billion. One year later, the company further merged with Kronos. The newly merged company is called Ultimate Kronos Group and is led by the CEO of Kronos Incorporated, Aron Ain.
History of Ultimate Software
Though Ultimate Software was established in 1990, the company launched its first product, UltiPro, after three years. After rolling out the first version of this SaaS software for better business management, the company kept improving the product by adding more features and optimizing it. In 1993, when UltiPro was launched for the first time, it was an on-premise software mainly for core HR and payroll. In 2002, the same product was launched as SaaS to provide HRs with a unified management tool.
The company went public in 1998 and was listed on NASDAQ as ULTI. After UltiPro was launched as SaaS, the total customers of the company exceeded 3,000 businesses over a small time span. The company eventually decided to expand overseas, and thus opened offices in London and Singapore. In 2014, the company partnered with the Center for Generational Kinetics to study the behavior of different generations in a workforce.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos Incorporated is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1977 by Mark S. Ain. The company specializes in workforce and human capital management cloud platforms. Kronos Incorporated is currently owned by Hellman & Friedman and its headquarters is located in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1979, Kronos rolled out its first product which was the world’s first microprocessor-based time clock, and a few years later launched a PC-based time and attendance product. Kronos became a publicly-traded company in 1992 and Aron Ain, brother of Mark Ain took over the charge of the company in 2005. Before the merger of Kronos and Ultimate Software, the former has acquired many other companies including Principal Decision Systems International, Stromberg, Empower Software Solutions, etc.
Formation of UKG
Both Ultimate Software and Kronos Incorporated were established in the same field and to multiply its impact on the human capital management system, they decided to merge and start a new venture. In February 2020, the two companies announced the merger and after two months Ultimate Kronos Group was launched officially. The valuation of the jointly established company is $22 billion making it one of the world’s largest cloud computing companies. UKG is keeping both the headquarters and made Aron Ain CEO of the new venture. Since Hellman & Friedman was the owner of both the companies, he is also the major shareholder of UKG.
Scott Scherr – Founder of Ultimate Software
Scott Scherr is the founder of Ultimate Software and after he established the company in 1990, he served as the CEO of the company as well. He remained as one of the board members of the company after resigning as the CEO. When Scott established Ultimate Software, he created jobs for more than 1000 people in Florida and his contributions were immense to develop the tech culture in the state as well.
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