Two tech companies with Philly ties just joined forces to make it easier for college students to get financial aidTwo information technology companies based in Montgomery County—Unisys, the venerable Blue Bell tech services and consulting provider, and Boomi, the fast-growing Conshohocken software-systems integrator—have teamed to speed up California's state college financial aid payment systems.
The Boomi-Unisys arrangement replaces what California officials called a weeks-long"manual, labor-intensive, multistep," process of locating grant information, copying and transferring files, and processing data, with instant updates and replies. Next, Unisys' Thomson said his company wants to move Cal State texts and testing materials online in multiple language translations to reach more students."Cal State will be our poster child" for a new push into higher-ed sales, he added.Boomi, which employs around 1,800 worldwide, including 200 at its new headquarters on Conshohocken's Fayette Street, claims more then 20,000 users.
While Unisys' revenues have declined recently to around $2 billion last year from $3 billion 10 years ago, CEO Peter Altabef said in a recent interview that Unisys has repositioned itself as a growth company in partnerships with large software providers and specialized software integrators such as Boomi.