Amdocs is a multinational corporation that was founded in Israel and currently headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri, with support and development centers located worldwide. The company specializes in software and services for communications, media and financial services providers and digital enterprises.
History
The company was founded in 1982 in Israel as an offshoot of Golden Pages, the Israeli phone directory company, which was owned by the Aurec Group headed by Morris Kahn. In 1982, Boaz Dotan became Amdocs' first President and CEO. Together with others at Golden Pages, Kahn developed a billing software program for phone directory companies and with Boaz Dotan established a company called Aurec Information & Directory Systems to market this product. In 1985, Southwestern Bell Corporation acquired a 50 percent ownership share of Aurec Information & Directory Systems, and its name was changed to Amdocs. Within two years, the Aurec Group sold off all its holdings in Amdocs for almost US$1 billion. Between 1990 and 1995 Amdocs took its initial diversification steps, expanding first into the wireline telephony arena and then the mobile space. Over the years, Amdocs has continued to expand its product and services offerings. In 1995, Avi Naor replaced Boaz Dotan as President and CEO of Amdocs. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in June 1998, moving to the NASDAQ Global Select Market in 2014. Amdocs entered the managed services space in 1999 with the acquisition of ITDS. Amdocs acquired software firm Clarify in 2001 for $200 million. In 2002, Dov Baharav replaced Avi Naor as Amdocs' President and CEO. In 2005, Amdocs acquired billing and CRM provider DST Innovis for $238 million. In 2006, Amdocs acquired Cramer Systems. Amdocs acquired Israeli startup SigValue in 2007 for $85 million. In 2008, Amdocs acquired Irish software company Changing Worlds for $60 million. In November 2010, Eli Gelman replaced Dov Baharav as Amdocs' President and CEO. Also in 2010, Amdocs acquired MX Telecom for $104 million. In 2011, Amdocs acquired Bridgewater Systems. The company acquired Celcite in 2013 for $129 million. Also in 2013, Amdocs acquired Actix. In 2015, Amdocs acquired a majority of Comverse BSS for $272 million. In 2016, Amdocs acquired Vindicia. Also in 2016, Amdocs acquired Tel Aviv-based company Pontis. In September 2016, Amdocs acquired Irish software company Brite:Bill. In late 2017, Amdocs acquired Kenzan Media. In 2018, Amdocs acquired projekt202. In 2018, Amdocs acquired Vubiquity for $224 million. Following the acquisition, former Vubiquity CEO Darcy Antonellis became head of Amdocs Media Division. Also in 2018, Amdocs acquired Canadian company UXP Systems. In October 2018, Shuky Sheffer replaced Eli Gelman as Amdocs' President and CEO. In January 2020, Amdocs donated resources including food packs to Globe Telecom as part of aid operations for Filipino communities affected by the eruption of Taal volcano. These donations came as part of Amdocs Corporate Social Responsibility program. In July 2020, Amdocs acquired Openet telecom Inc., a world-leading provider of 5G charging, policy and cloud technologies.
Controversy
Amdocs' broad access to U.S. telephone transaction records has raised counterintelligence concerns in the U.S. government about the vulnerability of this information to exploitation by Israeli spies. "As early as 1999, the National Security Agency issued a warning that records of U.S. government telephone calls were ending up in foreign hands – Israel's, in particular." In early 2000, federal agencies conducted a counterintelligence investigation to determine if Amdocs was being used by Israel to eavesdrop on U.S. government communications. The investigation found no evidence of such activity.
