Brier Dudley's Blog
Brier Dudley offers a critical look at technology and business issues affecting the Northwest.
E-mail Brier|
206.515.5687
|
Follow Brier on Twitter|
Microsoft Pri0 blog|
Subscribe | Blog Home
February 28, 2008 3:16 PM
Kirkland's Akona sold to Chinese outsourcing giant
Posted by Brier Dudley
Akona will be a beachhead in the U.S. for iSoftStone, a Beijing-based tech outsourcing company that's trying to expand its business here and in Europe.
Started in 2004 by two ex-Microsofties, Lincoln Popp and Anders Brown, Akona has 51 employees and last year booked $6.8 million in sales. Among its services is development work on the Windows Presentation Foundation.
Its new parent company employs 4,500.
When asked about the fate of the Kirkland team, an Akona spokesman said the office will remain intact.
"We will begin integration planning shortly to give our mutual customers the best offerings possible,'' Erik Ryan said via email.
Brown suggested more investment will happen here. His quote in the release:
"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 ... The Akona service offerings are only going to get stronger and more comprehensive with this combination."
Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Dear Tom and Ray: My wife Olivia's first car (in the early '70s) was a purple-sparkle dune buggy built on a VW Bug frame — one of the least-safe...
Post a comment

- ‘Miracles’: 3 survive I-5 collapse
- McNerney: Boeing will squeeze suppliers and cut jobs
- Percy Harvin already impressing Seahawks teammates, coaches
- Bridge collapse will cause holiday travel headaches
- Span wasn’t built to take critical hit
- Drivers face lengthy detours around I-5 bridge collapse
- Trucker bumps I-5 bridge, sees horror behind him
- Jesus Montero's days as Mariners catcher are over
- Turmoil surrounds program to help prostitutes
- More applicants make getting into UW tougher this year
- Vote on gay Scouts comes at emotional moment
219 - Stunning I-5 bridge collapse
213 - Game thread, Mariners vs. Rangers, May 24
183 - Scouts’ vote on gays met with celebration, sadness
181 - Bridge collapses on Interstate 5 over Skagit River; cars in the water
157 - Mariners option Jesus Montero to AAA, all but ending catching career
157 - Here's what's going on with Robert Andino
96 - Zimmerman lawyers release Trayvon Martin’s texts about smoking pot, guns
95 - Mariners options for rotation help getting thinner by the day
91 - Detour route already crowded; avoid it or leave early, officials say
82
- ‘Miracles’: 3 survive I-5 collapse
- McNerney: Boeing will squeeze suppliers and cut jobs
- More applicants make getting into UW tougher this year
- Bridge collapse will cause holiday travel headaches
- Careers carved at wood-tech center
- Span wasn’t built to take critical hit
- Detour route already crowded; avoid it or leave early, officials say
- Doctors save Ohio boy by ‘printing’ an airway tube | Close-up
- Food-video site launched by Bellevue consumer-research firm
- Council panel OKs zoning for big pot-growing operations

May
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 |

Video
Demo of the Week: TeachStreet.com
Share your thoughts!
Gadgets and games | Fun stuff I've written about lately includes Apple's iPhone, Hewlett-Packard's HDX laptop and Microsoft's Halo3. Also on the radar are new digital video boxes such as the Tivo HD and the Vudu.








