Topcoder: Difference between revisions

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'''Topcoder''' (formerly TopCoder) is a [[crowdsourcing]] company with an [[Commons-based peer production|open global community]] of [[Design|designers]], [[Software development|developers]], [[Data science|data scientists]], and [[Competitive programming|competitive programmers]]. Topcoder pays community members for their work on the projects and sells community services to corporate, mid-size, and small-business clients, and pays community members for their work on the projects.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=|first=|vauthors=Lakhani KR, Garvin DA, Lonstein E|date=January 2010|title=TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing|url=https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=38356|journal=Harvard Business School Case|volume=|pages=610-032|via=}}</ref><ref name="HuffPost-foudning">{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-diamandis/topcoders-5-steps-to-buil_b_2916499.html|title=TopCoder’s 5 Steps to Building a Global Workforce Community|last1=DIamandis|first1=Peter|date=March 20, 2013|website=The Huffington Post|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|accessdate=15 April 2016}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sramanamitra.com/2018/01/02/genesis-to-acquisition-mike-morris-ceo-of-topcoder-part-1/|title=Genesis to Acquisition: Mike Morris, CEO of Topcoder|last=Mitra|first=Sramana|date=January 2, 2018|website=One Million by One Million Blog|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=March 30, 2018}}</ref> Topcoder also organizes the annual [[Topcoder Open]] tournament and a series of smaller regional events.

==History==

Topcoder was founded in 2001 by Jack Hughes, Chairman and Founder of the Tallan company.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="HuffPost-foudning" /><ref name=":1" /> The name was spelt asspelled "TopCoder" before 2013. Originally, Topcoder ran regular competitive programming challenges, known as Single Round Matches or "SRMs"." Each SRM was a timed 1.5-hour algorithm competition, in which contestants competed against each other to solve the same set of problems. The target audience was secondary andschool, university, orand college students. Cash prizes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per match were secured from corporate sponsors and awarded to tournament winners to generate interest from the student community.<ref name=":0" />

As the community of designers, developers, data scientists, and competitive programmers involved in Topcoder grew, the company started to offer software development services to 3rd party clients, contracting individual community members to work on specific tasks. Most of the revenue, though, still came from consulting services provided to clients by Topcoder employees.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> From 2006 onwards, Topcoder also held design competitions, thus offering design services to their clients.<ref name=":0" /> In 2006 Topcoder also started to organize Marathon Matches (MM) – one week long algorithmic contests.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/marathon-match-how-it-all-began/|title=Marathon Matches: How They All Began|last=|first=|date=April 10, 2018|website=Topcoder Blog|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=April 12, 2018}}</ref><ref group="note" name=":0">The first Marathon Match at Topcoder took place from May 10 to May 17, 2006: <nowiki>https://community.topcoder.com/tc?module=MatchDetails&rd=10015</nowiki></ref>

In an attempt to optimize expenses, Topcoder introduced new competition tracks in 2007-2008, and delegated more work from its employees to the community. By 2009, the size of Topcoder's staff had been reduced to 16 project managers servicing ~35 clients, while the community did most of the actual work via crowd-sourcing. Topcoder representatives claim that at this point their community had about 170k registered members, and the company's annual revenue was approximately $19m19 million.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2653445/applications/topcoder-eyeing-smb-market.html|title=TopCoder eyeing SMB market|last=Kanaracus|first=Chris|date=October 15, 2008|work=InfoWorld|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref>

In 2013, Topcoder was acquired by [[Appirio]], and the Topcoder community (of around 500 thousand at the time), was merged, under the Topcoder brand, with the 75k member crowd-sourcing community Cloudspokes, created and managed by Apprio.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://hub.appirio.com/tech-blog/appirio-is-making-big-changes-to-the-topcoder-community-and-improving-the-member-experience|title=Appirio is Making Big Changes to the Topcoder Community and Improving the Member Experience|last=Klemp|first=Nicole|date=November 19, 2015|work=|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref name=":2">TechCrunch report {{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/09/17/appirio-buys-topcoder-to-add-more-crowdsourcing-and-500k-developers-and-designers-to-its-cloudspokes-network|title=Appirio Buys TopCoder To Add More Crowdsourcing, And 500K Developers And Designers, To Its CloudSpokes Network|last=Lunden|first=Ingrid|date=September 17, 2013|website=TechCrunch|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|accessdate=2014-01-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/appirio-officially-unifies-cloudspokes-and-topcoder/|title=Appirio officially unifies CloudSpokes and topcoder|last=Clancy|first=Heather|date=January 21, 2014|work=ZD Net|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.itnews.com/article/2115211/development/topcoder-merges-appirio-cloudspokes.html|title=Topcoder lets developers compete to build the best app for your business|last=Weinberger|first=Matt|date=January 15, 2014|work=IT News|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/appirio-relaunches-topcoder-140000263.html|title=Appirio Relaunches Topcoder|last=|first=|date=January 15, 2014|work=Marketwire|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tbkconsult.com/appirio-acquires-topcoder-creating-the-worlds-largest-professional-development-and-design-community/|title=Appirio Acquires Topcoder, Creating The World's Largest Professional Development And Design Community|last=Vanbecelaere|first=Luc|date=October 11, 2013|work=TBKconsult|access-date=April 10, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref>

In 2016, Topcoder, along with Appirio, was acquired by [[Wipro]] as a part of thea $500M500 million deal and continued to operate as a separate company under its brand.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/wipro-acquires-appirio-a-topcoder-community-members-perspective/|title=Wipro Acquires Appirio - A Topcoder Community Member's Perspective|last=Kheterpal|first=Gaurav|date=October 24, 2016|work=Topcoder Blog|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/deals/-ma/Appirios-TopCoder-too-is-a-big-catch-for-Wipro/articleshow/54970568.cms|title=Appirio's TopCoder too is a big catch for Wipro|last=Phadnisi|first=Shilpa|date=October 21, 2016|work=The Times of India|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/news-item-wipro-acquires-appirio/|title=News Item: Wipro Acquires Appirio|last=Morris|first=Mike|date=October 20, 2016|work=Topcoder Blog|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/3133413/wipro-is-buying-cloud-consultant-appirio-for-500m.html|title=Wipro is buying cloud consultant Appirio for $500M|last=Sayer|first=Peter|date=October 20, 2016|work=PCWorld|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www2.staffingindustry.com/row/Editorial/Daily-News/India-Wipro-to-acquire-cloud-services-company-Appirio-39788|title=India - Wipro to Acquire Cloud Services Company, Appirio|last=|first=|date=October 24, 2016|work=Staffing Industry Analysts|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.horsesforsources.com/abid-HfS-interview_301116|title=Wipro bids for As-a-Service... with Abid|last=Fersht|first=Phil|date=November 29, 2016|work=Horses for Sources|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/with-the-acquisition-of-appirio-wipro-expects-to-stay-ahead-of-the-game/articleshow/55020652.cms|title=With the acquisition of Appirio, Wipro expects to stay ahead of the game|last=Mendonca|first=Jochelle|date=October 24, 2016|work=The Economic Times|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref> That year it also reached the milestone of 1 million registered members.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.topcoder.com/blog/1-million-members-strong/|title=Topcoder Community: 1 Million Members Strong|last=|first=|date=May 8, 2016|work=Topcoder Blog|access-date=April 4, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref>

Since the end of 2017, Topcoder has continued to offer its enterprise clients the Hybrid Crowd platform, as a way to protect intellectual property in crowd-sourcing projects. In addition to the public Topcoder community, the Hybrid Crowd platform allows for the creation of certified and private crowd-sourcing communities. Its certified communities include members of public Topcoder communities who are vetted for a customer's specific requirements, such as signing an additional [[Non-disclosure agreement|NDA]], completing a background check, or meeting any other particular certifications. The private communities may include an enterprise's employees and contractors. As the first user of Hybrid Crowd, Wipro integrated its internal (employee-only) crowd-sourcing platform TopGear with Topcoder.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|url=https://www.wipro.com/newsroom/press-releases/2017/topcoder-launches-hybrid-crowd-to-deliver-new-levels-of-on-demand-talent-to-the-enterprise/|title=Topcoder Launches Hybrid Crowd to Deliver New Levels of On-Demand Talent to the Enterprise|last=|first=|date=December 12, 2017|work=Wipro Newsroom|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://smartinvestor.business-standard.com/market/interviews-438102-interviewsdet-We_have_put_in_the_basic_ingredients_to_execute_well_Wipro_COO.htm#.WtJt6nVuYUE|title=We have put in the basic ingredients to execute well: Wipro COO|last=Peermohamed|first=Alnoor|date=January 25, 2017|work=SmartInvestor.in|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|last2=Krishnan|first2=Raghu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://research.nelson-hall.com/sourcing-expertise/it-services/?avpage-views=blog&type=post&post_id=722|title=Wipro Converging its Crowdtesting Activities Around QaaS & Topcoder|last=Raviart|first=Dominique|date=October 4, 2017|work=Nelson Hall|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/LNwDEZfTOVghZcdibAJypM/Wipros-Top-Gun-A-new-work-construct-in-the-digital-age.html|title=Wipro's Top Gear: A new work construct in the 'digital' age|last=Pai|first=Siddharth|date=June 6, 2017|work=Live Mint|access-date=April 14, 2018|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterbendorsamuel/2017/12/18/wipro-launches-hybrid-crowd-in-move-to-capture-digital-expertise/#7155a586732a|title=Wipro Launches Hybrid Crowd In Move To Capture Digital Expertise|last=Bendor-Samuel|first=Peter|date=December 18, 2017|work=Forbes|access-date=April 29, 2018}}</ref>