<s>
Kronos	B-Application
Incorporated	I-Application
was	O
an	O
American	O
multinational	O
workforce	B-Application
management	I-Application
and	O
human	O
capital	O
management	O
cloud	O
provider	O
headquartered	O
in	O
Lowell	O
,	O
Massachusetts	O
,	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
which	O
employed	O
more	O
than	O
6,000	O
people	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2020	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
announced	O
a	O
merger	O
with	O
Ultimate	B-General_Concept
Software	I-General_Concept
and	O
that	O
the	O
combined	O
company	O
would	O
be	O
led	O
by	O
Aron	O
Ain	O
and	O
be	O
called	O
Ultimate	B-General_Concept
Kronos	I-General_Concept
Group	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kronos	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1977	O
by	O
Massachusetts	O
Institute	O
of	O
Technology	O
(	O
MIT	O
)	O
and	O
Simon	O
Business	O
School	O
alumnus	O
Mark	O
S	O
.	O
Ain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
Mark	O
Ain	O
's	O
leadership	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
sustained	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
longest	O
records	O
of	O
growth	O
and	O
profitability	O
as	O
a	O
public	O
company	O
in	O
software	O
industry	O
history	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1979	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
delivered	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
first	O
microprocessor-based	O
time	O
clock	O
and	O
,	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
delivered	O
its	O
first	O
PC-based	O
time	O
and	O
attendance	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
became	O
a	O
publicly-traded	O
company	O
on	O
NASDAQ	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2007	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
went	O
private	O
again	O
,	O
bought	O
out	O
for	O
US	O
$1.74	O
billion	O
by	O
the	O
lead	O
investor	O
Hellman	O
&	O
Friedman	O
and	O
the	O
secondary	O
investor	O
JMI	O
Equity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
,	O
the	O
Third	O
Circuit	O
Court	O
of	O
Appeals	O
enforced	O
a	O
subpoena	O
seeking	O
production	O
of	O
documents	O
by	O
Kronos	B-Application
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
administrative	O
charge	O
before	O
the	O
EEOC	O
alleging	O
disability	O
discrimination	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
charge	O
was	O
brought	O
by	O
an	O
individual	O
job	O
applicant	O
against	O
Kroger	O
Food	O
Co.	O
,	O
who	O
did	O
not	O
hire	O
the	O
job	O
applicant	O
and	O
used	O
a	O
Kronos	B-Application
assessment	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
its	O
hiring	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kronos	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
party	O
to	O
the	O
litigation	O
,	O
objected	O
to	O
the	O
EEOC	O
's	O
subpoena	O
on	O
the	O
basis	O
that	O
the	O
information	O
requested	O
was	O
irrelevant	O
,	O
and	O
production	O
would	O
require	O
Kronos	B-Application
to	O
disclose	O
protected	O
trade	O
secret	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
private	O
equity	O
firms	O
Blackstone	O
and	O
GIC	O
invested	O
in	O
Kronos	B-Application
alongside	O
Hellman	O
&	O
Friedman	O
and	O
JMI	O
Equity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
transaction	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
was	O
valued	O
at	O
$4.5	O
billion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
moved	O
its	O
corporate	O
headquarters	O
from	O
the	O
nearby	O
town	O
of	O
Chelmsford	O
to	O
the	O
Cross	O
Point	O
Towers	O
in	O
Lowell	O
,	O
Massachusetts	O
,	O
consolidating	O
multiple	O
offices	O
under	O
one	O
roof	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2020	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
announced	O
a	O
merger	O
with	O
Ultimate	B-General_Concept
Software	I-General_Concept
and	O
that	O
the	O
combined	O
company	O
will	O
be	O
led	O
by	O
Aron	O
Ain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
introduced	O
an	O
automated	O
report-generating	O
tool	O
to	O
aid	O
contact	O
tracing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
13	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
Kronos	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
,	O
on	O
December	O
11	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
discovered	O
that	O
Kronos	B-Application
had	O
been	O
subject	O
to	O
a	O
ransomware	O
attack	O
which	O
disabled	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
the	O
Kronos	B-Application
Private	O
Cloud	O
software	O
for	O
"	O
up	O
to	O
several	O
weeks	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
breach	O
forced	O
many	O
Kronos	B-Application
customers	O
including	O
municipalities	O
,	O
universities	O
,	O
and	O
private	O
employers	O
to	O
resort	O
to	O
alternative	O
methods	O
,	O
including	O
issuance	O
of	O
paper	O
checks	O
,	O
to	O
properly	O
pay	O
their	O
employees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
a	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
time	O
clocks	O
,	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
Kronos	B-Application
 '	O
revenue	O
is	O
now	O
derived	O
from	O
software	O
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
provides	O
cloud	B-Architecture
applications	I-Architecture
for	O
workforce	B-Application
management	I-Application
and	O
human	O
capital	O
management	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
consulting	O
,	O
education	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
services	O
to	O
its	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kronos	B-Application
has	O
conducted	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
acquisitions	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
