The Scoop...

The jewel of the 21st century

In many ways, DiamondCluster International is the consulting company of the future. This strategy and tech solutions firm was founded in November 2000 when Diamond Technology Partners merged with the Barcelona-based Cluster Consulting for $930 million in cash and stock. Its business is predicated on the power of the Internet changing the very nature of business everywhere. DiamondCluster plans to bring wireless capabilities and new technologies to clients in the financial services, consumer and industrial products and services, telecommunications and energy, and health care industries. In addition, the company is a producer of notable consulting works, including the 1998 best-seller Unleashing the Killer App, by e-commerce expert Larry Downes and DiamondCluster consultant Chunka Mui, and the critically acclaimed business journal Context magazine. DiamondCluster's headquarters remain in Chicago, but the consultancy's range now extends through Europe, the United States and into Latin America. In fact, even before this merger was announced, Diamond was ranked No. 9 on Fortune's list of Americas 100 Fastest Growing Companies, and the only e-business firm in the top 30.

Singing an e-business tune

Throughout 1999, 2000 and into 2001, DiamondCluster was going with the e-business flow - to the tune of significant revenue growth and increased business. Revenues for fiscal year 2001 were up 90 percent over the previous year, to $259.3 million, thanks to the 169 clients it served, up from 143 in 2000 and 85 in 1999. DiamondCluster's e-business expertise is second to none, thanks to its emphasis on strategy and technology. In February 2000, the firm struck an alliance with the Big Three automakers to combine their B2B exchange initiatives in one online marketplace. The firm also agreed in April 2000 to start a new company, Packtion, that will serve as a B2B marketplace for the global packaging industry in a partnership with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Sligon Holdings.