iSoftStone to Acquire Akona Consulting

BEIJING and SEATTLE, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Today iSoftStone Information
Service Corporation (iSoftStone) and Akona Consulting announced they have
finalized an agreement whereby iSoftStone will acquire Akona Consulting, a
business and technology consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, Wash., USA.
With the acquisition of Akona, iSoftStone will significantly grow its United
States operations and expand its core offerings into strategic business
services which include research, business strategy, and interactive design.
"This combination allows us to strategically expand our business through
Akona's well respected presence in the United States," said T.W. Liu, Chief
Executive Officer of iSoftStone. "Our customers are continuously asking us to
provide a combination of off-shore technology capabilities as well as local,
on-site business consulting services. As such, we look forward to expanding
our presence through Akona's business service offerings as we grow globally,
particularly in the United States and Europe."
The resulting combined firm will provide customers a single, full-service
consulting organization that has the best of local, on-shore consulting
services across a number of market needs with the economic and scale benefits
of an off-shore partner capable of delivering across a number of strategic IT
service offerings.
"The services that Akona offers are the perfect complement to what
iSoftStone is already doing overseas," said Lincoln Popp, Chief Executive
Officer of Akona Consulting. "By combining our business consulting service
offerings with iSoftStone's technical and engineering resources, we think
we'll have a great advantage in delivering value to our combined customer
base."
Akona, which was founded in 2004 by Anders Brown and Lincoln Popp,
delivers integrated consulting services across four key disciplines:
-- Research and Strategy -- Business strategy consulting, market research,
brand and digital strategy, and analytical services.
-- Creative and Interactive Design -- Web and interactive design, content
strategy and development, and interactive marketing.
-- Project Leadership -- Project management, staff augmentation, process
analysis, and technical consulting.
-- Application Development -- System integration, application development,
product engineering, ERP system analysis, and asset management.

Akona was recently named the 19th largest software developer in the
Pacific Northwest by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
"We are very excited to continue the investments we've made here in the
Pacific Northwest, and to help grow the U.S. and Europe business for
iSoftStone," said Anders Brown, President and Chairman of Akona Consulting.
"The Akona service offerings are only going to get stronger and more
comprehensive with this combination."
About iSoftStone
iSoftStone Information Service Corporation (iSoftStone) is a leading IT
outsourcing service provider in China. Headquartered in Beijing, China,
iSoftStone has offices in the United States, Japan, Korea, as well as many
Chinese cities. iSoftStone is a CMMI Level 5 company and has been certified
with ISO9001 and ISO27001(BS7799). iSoftStone focuses on several vertical
markets, including Financial Services, Telecommunications, High Tech, Oil and
Gas, and Transportation and Logistics. iSoftStone is also rapidly expanding
into new business areas such as Business Process Outsourcing. For more
information, visit www.isoftstone.com.
About Akona Consulting
Akona is an integrated consulting company, creating results based on
insight and innovation to meet clients' strategic business goals. Founded in
2004, Akona has developed a proven track record in the marketplace for solving
complex business problems and delivering on-target results. For more
information, visit www.akonaconsulting.com.
For more information, press only:

iSoftStone Information Service Corp.: Bruce Ferland, 781-258-4145

Akona Consulting: Erik Ryan, 425-576-0725

SOURCE Akona Consulting

Bruce Ferland of iSoftStone Information Service Corporation, +1-781-258-4145;
or Erik Ryan of Akona Consulting, +1-425-576-0725