Pearson builds consulting chops with Blueprint deal

Pearson Government Solutions Inc. is acquiring Blueprint Technologies Inc. to fortify its consulting services capabilities.The value of the all stock deal was not disclosed, but it is expected to be completed in April.The acquisition will strengthen Pearson Government Solutions' consulting services in business process modeling, enterprise architecture modeling and service-oriented architecture development. It will add about 15 new federal customers, said Mac Curtis, CEO of Pearson Government Solutions of Arlington, Va."Blueprint Technologies gives us a real consultancy in high-end enterprise architecture," Curtis said. He added that Pearson is looking for other acquisitions that would broaden its customer and contract bases.Both companies have some clients in common, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Health and Human Services and Labor departments. Some of Blueprint Technologies' other government clients are the Agriculture and State departments, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Food and Drug Administration, IRS, NASA, National Institutes of Health and Office of Management and Budget.Blueprint Technologies of Vienna, Va., is a private, woman-owned, small business founded in 1997. It specializes in architecture-based solutions for the federal and corporate IT markets.When the transaction is completed, the company will become a business unit of Pearson Government Solutions, called Pearson Blueprint Technologies, and will stay in Vienna. R. Jeanne O'Kelley, Blueprint Technologies' president, chief executive officer and co-founder, will lead the new unit.Blueprint Technologies has more than 50 employees, but expects to almost double that amount this year, said Norman Lorentz, the company's senior vice president and chief technology officer. Blueprint does not publicly disclose its annual revenue, he said.Pearson Government Solutions has more than 5,000 employees and had annual revenue of more than $500 million in fiscal 2005, Curtis said. The company is a subsidiary of Pearson Plc of London. It ranks No. 38 on Washington Technology's 2005 Top 100 list of federal prime contractors.