Cognizant is a global IT management and consulting services company specializing in digital transformation and technology modernization for business clients.
Cognizant is a top enterprise IT channel partner serving over 20 industries and 35% of the Fortune 500 clients. The bulk of Cognizant’s operations currently takes place in North America and Europe, with more than 330,000 employees helping clients modernize IT infrastructure, transform digital experiences, and automate business processes. Cognizant’s sizable ecosystem of strategic and extended partners means clients can benefit from access to the best technological solutions available today.
This profile offers a look at Cognizant services and solutions, target markets, user opinion, industry recognition, and current financial position for potential channel partners to evaluate.
Cognizant Solutions and Specialties
Cognizant offers services across 16 solution categories pertinent to nearly every enterprise today. Services range from artificial intelligence and quality engineering and assurance to transforming IT infrastructure. Below are some of Cognizant’s core solution areas.
Managing Business Processes & Adopting Intelligent Processes
As digital capabilities transform competition across industries, Cognizant business process services help clients embrace continuous change to maintain agility. The enterprise vendor recognizes the speed of technological innovation and strives to build sustainable operating models for companies.
Cognizant Neuro is the company’s intelligent process automation solutions suite for transforming and automating digital processes. Neuro is a scalable automation fabric augmented for domain-specific knowledge powered by artificial intelligence. Clients can leverage Neuro with existing infrastructure to optimize digital experience for customers and personnel.
Orchestrating Cloud Infrastructure
Because cloud infrastructure is a near-universal part of today’s business IT environment, Cognizant is ready to help clients accelerate their cloud strategy and services. Some of these cloud-focused services include:
- Cloud360: monitor and manage digital assets across cloud environments.
- Cloud Acceleration: managing business-critical workloads and scaling digital services.
- Cloud Consult: discuss, design, and implement digital transformation guidance.
- Cloud Migrate: assess application portfolio and migrate to a cloud of choice.
- Cloud Security: identify and manage risks and compliance requirements.
- Hybrid Cloud: design, build, migrate, and manage private and public cloud services.
For specific cloud services, Cognizant also offers AWS Cloud for developing and engineering digital platforms on AWS Cloud and Microsoft Business Group (MBG) for end-to-end Microsoft cloud solutions and managed services.
Read more: Top Cloud & Application Migrations Tool
Optimizing Digital Experience and Strategy
Cognizant Digital Experience focuses on the importance of customer and employee journeys when interacting with digital services. With industry-specific customer research and access to a spectrum of technologies, Cognizant offers the resources to redesign or enrich digital experiences for stakeholders. Clients can choose from optimizing customer experience (CX), developing sustainable content and marketing systems, and scaling valuable experiences across omnichannel commerce.
Similarly, the enterprise vendor can guide clients with digital strategies for accelerating transformation across IT environments. Cognizant offers curtailed digital transformation consulting, managed innovation, change management, and workforce transformation services.
Hardening Cybersecurity Systems
With increasing regulatory requirements and sophisticated threat actors testing enterprise networks, Cognizant can identify and remediate vulnerabilities and assist with crafting a client’s security strategy. The company’s cybersecurity solution suites cover:
- Threat and Vulnerability Management
- Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Data Security
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)
Modernizing Application Services
The company’s application modernization services help clients integrate accelerators, new solutions, and strategic partners for optimizing business applications. Cognizant covers services for development, modernization, maintenance, transformation, and value management related to applications for end-to-end application services.
Cognizant’s Enterprise Application Services (EAS) helps clients reimagine employee, partner, and customer experiences for a modern IT landscape. These enterprise solutions include human capital management, supply chain management, and enterprise platform integration.
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Developing Digital Products and Platforms
In addition to the company’s extensive consulting services, Cognizant also offers Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) software development for crafting reliable, user-driven solutions. Examples of these industry-specific solutions include:
- BigDecisions: data lake and advanced analytics for a range of data migration needs
- Clinical Data Insights: real-time risk assessment and oversight for clinical trials
- Document Accelerator: workflow and task management for clinical trial documentation
- Insurance Intake Automation: information intake process management for insurance
- Compensation Care Analysis: medical cost management for workers’ comp claims
- Risk Profile Gateway: digitize the collection and delivery of life insurance health data
- RPA-as-a-Service: robotic process automation for insurance
Target Markets
Cognizant’s Q4 2021 data shows current industry clients break down as financial services (32.4%), healthcare (28.7%), products and resources (23.4%), and communications, media, and technology (15.6%).
The complete list of industries served by the vendor include:
- Automotive, transportation, and logistics
- Banking, capital markets, and insurance
- Communications, media, technology, and information services
- Consumer goods, retail, travel, and hospitality
- Education, healthcare, and life sciences
- Oil, gas, and utilities
Innovation and Research
The company’s research apparatus is extensive with case studies, blogs, podcasts, and infographics on different industry topics and trends. A few of Cognizant’s core findings in recent years cover sustainability and digital maturity research and its Center for the Future of Work. The latter’s most recent white paper, The Timeline of Next, looks at the technological advances expected in the 2020s for living, working, learning, and economies.
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Industry Recognition and Reviews
The Forrester Wave
| Industry Report | When | What |
| Microsoft Business Applications Services | Q4 2021 | Contender |
| Commerce Services | Q1 2021 | Contender |
| AI Consultancies | Q3 2019 | Leader |
| Global API Strategy and Delivery Service Providers | Q2 2019 | Strong Performer |
| Salesforce Implementation Partners | Q2 2019 | Strong Performer |
Gartner Magic Quadrant and Peer Insights
| Industry Report | When | What |
| Managed Workplace Services, North America | 2021 | Leader |
| SAP S/4HANA Application Services, Worldwide | 2021 | Niche Player |
| Application Testing Services | 2019 | Leader |
| Public Cloud Professional and Managed Services | 2019 | Challenger |
| Public Cloud Infrastructure MSPs, Worldwide | 2018 | Visionary |
Cognizant holds almost 400 client reviews with an average score of 4.7 / 5 stars across 20 solution categories on Gartner Peer Insights, including:
- CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services
- Data and Analytics Service Providers
- Data Center Outsourcing and Hybrid Infrastructure Managed Service
- Application Services for Oracle Cloud and SAP
- IT Services for Communication Service Providers
- Outsourced Digital Workplace Services
In customer reviews, clients highlight the level of vendor engagement, range of IT solutions, commitment to continuous improvement, and expertise in transforming digital experiences.
Also read: Best Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software
Partner Ecosystem
Cognizant’s partnership ecosystem includes some of the most well-known IT product and service providers with 41 strategic partners and almost 130 extended partners, including:
| Strategic Partners | Adobe, AWS, Cisco, Cloudera, CyberArk, Dell, Duck Creek, Finastra, Google Cloud, Guidewire, Hitachi, IBM, Informatica, Micro Focus, Microsoft, Micro Strategy, MuleSoft, Nutanix, Oracle, Pega, Philips, PTC, Qlik, Red Hat, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Software AG, Tableau, Talend, TIBCO, UiPath, Veeva, Vitech, and VMware. |
| Extended Partners | Acquia, AppDynamics, Appian, Auth0, AutomationAnywhere, BluePrism, Boomi, CA Technologies, Citrix, Cohesity, Dassault Systems, DataRobot, Domo, Dynatrace, Emagia, ForgeRock, GlobalScape, GrayMatter, HPE, Hyland, Kronos, LogMeIn, MarkLogic, MetricStream, MongoDM, NetApp, Palo Alto Networks, Qualys, Radware, SailPoint, SAS, Siemens, SnapLogic, Snowflake, TCS, Teradata, Thales, Trend Micro, Worksoft, and Zscaler. |
Organizations interested in partnering with Cognizant can start with the company’s Client Briefing Program. Partners can work with subject matter experts to develop specialized solutions and targeted experiences, and uncover new growth opportunities.
Cognizant Competitors
- Accenture
- Atos
- Capgemini
- CGI
- DXC Technology
- HCL Technologies
- EPAM Systems
- Infosys
- NTT Data
- Wipro
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Cognizant: Company Background
In 1994, business data and analytics company Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and Mahindra Satyam launched a joint venture in an internal IT infrastructure division. Only two years later, D&B spun off a handful of subsidiaries to form a separate organization under Cognizant’s name, with headquarters in Chennai, India.
Further corporate shuffling made Cognizant a subsidiary of IMS Health and led to its initial public offering in 1998 (NASDAQ: CTSH). By 2003, IMS Health sold its majority stake of the then-public company. Cognizant has since been a proactive M&A enterprise, adding nearly 50 companies to its toolbelt in two decades. Notable acquisitions include:
| Company | Industry | When |
| Devbridge | Digital product design and development | Dec 2021 |
| Bright Wolf | Internet of Things (IoT) | Oct 2020 |
| Oy Samlink* | IT management services and consulting | Jan 2019 |
| Idea Couture | Digital services and experience design | Jul 2016 |
| TriZetto Corp | Healthcare IT services | Sep 2014 |
| Galileo Performance | IT system performance management | Jun 2010 |
| marketRx | Life sciences and healthcare analytics | Nov 2007 |
| Infopulse | End-to-end IT services | Dec 2003 |
*In January 2022, Cognizant sold Oy Samlink to new IT enterprise services company and IBM spinoff Kyndryl.
Today, the company’s headquarters are in Teaneck, New Jersey, supporting a global network of over 330,000 employees in 37 countries. At the end of 2021, Cognizant reported annual revenue of $18.5 billion, with an almost 93% split between North America (74%) and Europe (19%).