Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation

Type Traded as Industry

Public NASDAQ:CTSH IT services IT consulting 1994 Kumar Mahadeva Teaneck, New Jersey, United States Worldwide John E. Klein (Chairman) Francisco D'Souza (President & CEO) Lakshmi Narayanan (Vice Chairman) $4.59 billion (2010) [2] [2] [2] [1]

Founded Founder(s) Headquarters Area served Key people

Revenue Operating income Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Website

$861 million (2010) $733 million (2010) $4.58 billion (2010) $3.58 billion (2010) 111,200 (Q1, 2011) cognizant.com [3] [2]

[2] [2]

Cognizant Technology Solutions (Cognizant) (NASDAQ:CTSH [1]) is an American multinational provider of custom information technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA. The company is a member of NASDAQ-100, the S&P 500 and Fortune 500. Cognizant has been named to the 2010 Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies List for the eighth consecutive year.[4]

Cognizant Technology Solutions

History
Cognizant was founded in 1994 as an IT development and maintenance services arm of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, at Chennai, with Kumar Mahadeva[5] as its Chairman and CEO.[6] The company was spun off as an independent organization two years later and moved its headquarters to the US. Kumar Mahadeva resigned in 2003 when Lakshmi Narayanan took charge as CEO.[7] Cognizant was one of the first IT services companies to organize around key industry verticals as well as technology horizontals. It currently provides a wide range of business, technology and consulting services including business process outsourcing (BPO) and has significant practices in Banking and Financial services, Communications, Consumer Goods, Energy & Utilities, Health care, Information, Media & Entertainment, Insurance, Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Retail, Technology, Transportation & Logistics and Travel and Hospitality.

Financial Health
Cognizant was listed on NASDAQ in 1998 and moved to the NASDAQ-100 Index in 2004. After the close of trading on 16 November 2006, Cognizant moved from the mid cap S&P 400 to the S&P 500. The company claims to be in excellent financial health, reporting over $2.2 billion in cash and short term investments for the quarter ending June 30, 2011.[8]

Revenue Mix
Major portion of the revenue for Cognizant is derived out of clients from US.[9] North America: 77.2%, Europe: 19.2%, Rest of World: 3.6% Financial Services: 42.3%, Health-care: 25.9%,Manufacturing, Retail & Logistics: 18.6%, Communications, Information, Media & Entertainment and Technology: 13.2%

Management
Management : Executive Team Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman Francisco D'Souza, President and Chief Executive Officer Gordon Coburn, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Chandra Sekaran, President & Managing Director, Global Delivery Rajeev Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, Global Client Services[10]

Board of Directors John E. Klein, Chairman of the Board

Services
Cognizant provides a range of information technology, consulting and Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) services, including Business and Technology Consulting, Complex Systems Integration, Application Development and Maintenance, Business Process Outsourcing, IT Infrastructure Services, Analytics, Web Analytics, Search Engine Optimization, Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, CRM and social CRM, Supply Chain Management, Engineering Management Solutions, ERP, R&D Outsourcing, and Testing solutions. The company's revenue from IT services is split roughly evenly between application development (which is considered discretionary spend and hence arguably more susceptible to the economic climate) and application maintenance. Cognizant's largest horizontals are Testing and DW/BI (Data warehousing and business intelligence).

Cognizant Technology Solutions Its business process outsourcing unit leans towards "higher-end" services i.e. work that involves unique skills and domain knowledge, such as legal services or healthcare claims processing rather than simple voice-based support services.

Offshoring and Hiring in the U.S.

Cognizant is among the Top 10 companies receiving L1 visas to bring foreign workers to the United States. In their SEC 10-k filing of 2/23/2011, they recognize their dependence on the practice: "Our future success will depend on our ability to attract and retain employees with technical and project management skills from developing countries, especially India. The vast majority of our professionals in the United States and in Europe are Indian nationals. The ability of Indian nationals to work in the United States and Europe depends on their ability and our ability to obtain the necessary visas and work permits.[11] In 2009, a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation found administrative errors in Cognizant's compensation procedures because of which 67 non-immigrant workers were found to have been underpaid. The company paid $509,607 in back wages to these employees but the DOL found no pattern of wrongdoing. According to a DOL statement: "'Cognizant Technology Solutions has taken immediate steps to correct all identified violations and ensure future compliance,' said Joseph Petrecca, director of the Wage and Hour Division's Northern New Jersey District Office. 'This level of cooperation sets a standard for others in the industry.'"[12] The company has been steadily increasing its U.S. work force. In January 2011, the company announced plans to expand its U.S. delivery centers including a new 1,000-person facility in Phoenix, Ariz.[13] But still more than 75% of its 100,000-plus employees are based in India.[14] In Feb 2011 the company said it had 60 full time recruiters actively hiring in the U.S.[15]

Corporate Social Responsibility

Cognizant's philanthropic efforts are conducted worldwide through the voluntary efforts of Cognizant employees and the financial and administrative support of the Cognizant Foundation. Registered in March 2005 as a "Charitable Company" under the Indian Companies Act, the Cognizant Foundation helps underprivileged members of society gain access to quality education and healthcare by providing financial and technical support; designing and implementing educational and healthcare improvement programs; and partnering with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, healthcare institutions, government agencies and corporations. Through its Project Outreach, Cognizant supports schools and orphanages through more than 400 initiatives reaching more than 200,000 children worldwide. Cognizant's sustainability efforts include a "Go Green" initiative launched in 2008 focused on energy conservation, recycling, and responsible waste management.

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Community
The company's flagship customer conference is Cognizant Communitysometimes simply called Community. It is held in the spring in the United States and in the fall in Europe. The summit, which features notable keynote speakers in the world of business, technology, economics and even adventure sports, has been praised as "a model industry event".[16]

Cognizant Academy
All learning programs are conducted through Cognizant Academy, the in-house training center. The four key educational initiatives are: Continuing Education, Role-based Training, Executive Training program, Certification. In addition to internal training programs, associates undergo management-specific training at notable universities and colleges, including Harvard University, Indian Institute of Management, and the Indian Institute of Technology. In addition to the formal learning in classrooms, Cognizant Academy takes learning to employees' desktops. They use multi-modal learning, as well as Technology-Based Training (TBT) material.[17]

Global Offices
In addition to its headquarters and delivery center in Teaneck, N.J., Cognizant has five additional delivery centers in the United States of America: Bentonville, Arkansas; Bridgewater, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Holliston, Massachusetts; and Phoenix, Arizona The company also has local, regional and global delivery centers in the UK, Europe, India, China, The Philippines, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico. The majority of the companys employees are based in India: Chennai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Cochin.

Cognizant's Delivery Center in Pune, India.

Cognizant's Delivery Center in Chennai, India.

Cognizant Technology Solutions

References
[1] http:/ / quotes. nasdaq. com/ asp/ SummaryQuote. asp?symbol=CTSH& selected=CTSH [2] "Cognizant Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Results" (http:/ / news. cognizant. com/ index. php?s=14083& item=20277/ ). Cognizant Technology Solutions Investor Relations. . Retrieved 2011-03-16. [3] http:/ / www. cognizant. com/ [4] "Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies 2010" (http:/ / money. cnn. com/ magazines/ fortune/ fortunefastestgrowing/ 2010/ full_list/ ). CNN. . [5] http:/ / www. alumni. hbs. edu/ bulletin/ 2003/ september/ mahadeva. html [6] http:/ / www. rediff. com/ money/ 2003/ dec/ 22cognizant. htm [7] "Cognizant founder steps down" (http:/ / www. thehindubusinessline. com/ 2003/ 12/ 23/ stories/ 2003122302000700. htm). The Hindu Business Line. . Retrieved 2010-09-27. [8] "Cognizant (CTSH) Financials" (http:/ / www. google. com/ finance?q=NASDAQ:CTSH& fstype=ii). Google Finance. . Retrieved 2011-08-29. [9] http:/ / www. cognizant. com/ RecentHighlights/ Corporate_Fact_Sheet. pdf [10] "Cognizant Management Team" (http:/ / www. cognizant. com/ aboutus/ management). . [11] "Cognizant 10-K" (http:/ / yahoo. brand. edgar-online. com/ displayfilinginfo. aspx?FilingID=7747225-80385-174615& type=sect& dcn=0001193125-11-043696). . [12] "Teaneck N.J. information technology company agrees to pay more than $509,000 in back wages following U.S. Labor Department investigation" (http:/ / www. dol. gov/ whd/ media/ press/ whdpressVB3. asp?pressdoc=Northeast/ 20090330. xml). . [13] "Cognizant Expands North American Delivery Center Footprint to Accommodate Rapid Growth" (http:/ / news. cognizant. com/ index. php?s=14083& item=20272). . [14] "India Outsourcing Boosts Cognizant" (http:/ / www. bloggingstocks. com/ 2011/ 01/ 20/ india-outsourcing-boosts-cognizant-ctsh/ ). . [15] "Twitter status" (http:/ / twitter. com/ #!/ Cognizant/ status/ 40842155698159616). Cognizant. 2011-02-24. . [16] "Cognizant Community: a model industry event" (http:/ / dealarchitect. typepad. com/ deal_architect/ 2011/ 03/ cognizant-community-a-model-industry-event. html). Vinnie Mirchandani. 2011-03-15. . Retrieved 2011-03-16. [17] "Cognizant Academy" (http:/ / www. cognizant. com/ aboutus/ cognizant-academy). . Retrieved 2011-03-16.

External links
Cognizant official website (http://www.cognizant.com/) Cognizant's official YouTube account (http://www.youtube.com/user/cognizant) Cognizant's official Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/#!/Cognizant) Hiring by Offshoring Firms (http://www.offshoringmanagement.com/OnsiteHiring.htm)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Cognizant Technology Solutions Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=450876037 Contributors: -

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Image:Cognizant Logo.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cognizant_Logo.svg License: Fair Use Contributors: File:Increase2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Increase2.svg License: unknown Contributors: Sarang File:Cognizant-Pune.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cognizant-Pune.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: File:Cognizant-Chennai.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cognizant-Chennai.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: -

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/