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History

Where It All Began

The start of Accelerance can be traced back to the late 80s and early 90s when Accelerance’s CEO, Andy Hilliard, was a Peace Corps Small Enterprise Development volunteer in Costa Rica.

The foundational values of the Peace Corps emphasize the exchange of knowledge and the recognition and appreciation of diverse cultures. This encompasses valuing other cultures and promoting an understanding and appreciation of American culture.

The values of the Peace Corps would soon translate into the culture of Accelerance, but not before a few career changes.

In the mid to late 90s, Andy was one of the first Divisional Managers at Cognizant Technology Solutions, a spinoff from Dun & Bradstreet that would eventually become a Tier-1 service provider of more than 300,000 employees. After three years of learning the best practices of India-based offshore software development, he left to start an alternative nearshore software development company in Costa Rica.

That development firm, IsThmus, played a pivotal role in the emergence of nearshore software development. Before the influence of IsThmus, outsourcing was predominantly led by Asian firms, especially from India. However, as smaller and medium-sized companies began to favor a more geographically proximate and culturally similar experience for improved coordination and control, they started turning towards nearshore destinations.

The proximity, time zone alignment, and cultural similarities empowered small and medium-sized businesses to exert greater control and more effectively utilize offshore resources, much like larger corporations that can deploy extensive teams in India and Asia, capitalizing on the cost advantages. This shift enabled these companies to benefit from offshore opportunities similar to their larger counterparts.

The concept of “there is great talent and teams everywhere” was really taking shape.

Accelerance Team with Software Outsourcing Partners
Establishment

Enter Accelerance!

In the early days of IsThmus, Andy teamed up with outsourcing expert Steve Mezak to build thought leadership and momentum around “Nearshore Outsourcing”. As demand grew, Andy began searching for, and vetting other nearshore development groups to partner with who he determined met the same quality standards of Accelerance, Cognizant, and other best practitioners. This “Certified Network” later expanded to Asia and Eastern Europe as demand for development partners that were “large enough to scale and small enough to care” continued to grow. In 2009, Andy divested his ownership of IsThmus, and with Steve Accelerance, the business model began.

The values ingrained in Andy during his time with the Peace Corps have profoundly influenced the ethos of Accelerance. A fundamental value we uphold today is Fostering Collaboration Across Borders.

Today, the Accelerance Global Network of Certified Partners involves vetting thousands of potential development partners worldwide and sending Accelerance teams to more than 32 countries to deeply understand capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, build working relationships, and certify the best of the best. 

Core Values
Core Values

Fostering Collaboration & Value Creation Across Borders

Accelerance’s primary objective continues to be focused on assembling teams that collaborate effectively as one, value each other's contributions, and work in unison to achieve common goals.

These principles and values are at the core of Accelerance's philosophy and represent our vision of how global software development should ideally be executed.

We believe exceptional teams exist globally, and globally distributed, fully integrated teams can unlock phenomenal potential with the right partner(s) and operating framework. Each client brings their own unique needs, preferences, and experiences, while every partner possesses a mix of strengths and weaknesses. By aligning these diverse elements and applying a collaboration model, we create a highly favorable environment for successful software outsourcing.

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