It's an interesting name, Kronos. The company says it was dervied from the Greek word for time. But in Greek mythology, Kronos (or Chronos) was a not-very-appealing God of gods, who got dethroned by Zeus, the one son he failed to kill. All the others he swallowed up. In that sense, there is an analogy to the modern day Kronos, which for years has been swallowing up other companies. According to the company's own count, it has acquired 57 other companies, including competitor Unicru.

These acquisitions have propelled Kronos from a manufacturer of computerized timeclocks to one of the largest sellers of workforce-management solutions in the world. Its product lineup is heavily focused on operational tools. It has an impressive array of payroll, scheduling, and time and attendance tools. Its Workforce Acquisition program is talent management software that we hesitate to call an ATS for the same reason we wouldn't call a souffle an egg dish. The Workforce Central Suite is an HR management program that covers the range of workforce demands: recruiting, developing, deploying, tracking, and rewarding employees. The products we profile here are only a sample.

Though we said the company is focused on operational demands, its analytical tools offer decision-makers the data on which to make sound judgments about planning and performance of divisions, units, offices, slicing and dicing the information as needed.

Kronos says its products can be found in companies large and small, which  is certainly true, though the sweet spot is in the mid-sized and larger company. Its bigger clients include the Chicago public school system, Air Canada, and Cendant.

Kronos sells its products through its own salesforce and through an alliance with payroll service company ADP. In 2007, after years as a public company, Kronos was acquired by an investment group led by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman for $1.8 billion.

News & Updates

• Kronos Issues Fiscal Year Report (BusinessWire)

  Privately owned Kronos (profile; site) issued a press release saying it's fiscal 2008 EBITA (earnings before interest, tax, and amortization) rose 20 percent over the year before to $138 million. Revenue for fiscal 2008 were approximately $715 million. The company didn't say when its fiscal year begins and ends, but many companies typically begin Oct. 1 and end their fiscal year on Sept. 30.

  Nov 10, 2008, 12:01 PM

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Products & Services

• The Workforce Central Suite

  Workforce Central suite addresses all the complexities of workforce management including staffing, developing, deploying, tracking and rewarding employees.
  learn more »

• Kronos iSeries Central Suite

  A comprehensive workforce management solution built for the IBM iSeries platform, one of the more widely used business computers in the world.
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• Kronos Essentials

  This is a tool set for small and mid-sized businesses. Emphasis is on time and attendance and payroll. Built and priced for the SMB market.
  learn more »

Company Details

Facts and figures about Kronos

Year founded

1977

Number of employees

2,500-4,999

Annual revenue

$578 million (Hoover's - 2006)

People

Key employees at Kronos

• Mark S. Ain
  Founder
• Aaron J. Ain
  Chief Executive Officer
• Paul Lacy
  President