Business Standard: Cognizant Executives Talk About the Company’s Growth and Differentiators as it Completes 20 Years of Operations

“In today’s business environment, volatility is the new normal. That is why at Cognizant, we have continually reinvented ourselves,” says R. Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice-Chairman of Cognizant India, as the company completes 20 years of operations. When asked about the key lesson in the company’s journey so far, he says, “A key lesson was to remain relevant, enterprises must think fast and think forward. Employee and partner demands are increasingly converging, resulting in new dynamics; it is imperative to challenge conventional wisdom and look beyond.”

According to Chandrasekaran, the past 20 years have been “terrific” for Cognizant. “We owe our industry-leading growth to three aspects: our client-centricity, disciplined focus on core industries, services and geographies, and our reinvestment of operating margins above 19-20 per cent back into our business,” he says. “Through the years, Cognizant has continually stayed ahead of technology shifts.”

Chandrasekaran adds, “As enterprises increasingly focus on digital transformation of their operations, we expect the combination of economic shifts and SMAC technologies to create game-changing opportunities across the markets we serve. We are uniquely positioned to stay relevant to our clients’ changing needs and provide increasing value. Our focus will continue to be on excelling in core services, while simultaneously investing in multiple growth horizons.”

In a special feature tracing Cognizant’s differentiated growth, the publication quotes the company’s Vice-Chairman, Lakshmi Narayanan, as saying, “Focus and discipline helped us build deep domain expertise and thought leadership in the industries we serve and understand the cultural nuances in the geographies we operate in.” Adds Francisco D’Souza, CEO: “Our consistent revenue and earnings growth is a testament to our long-term strategy of reinvesting in our business to stay relevant to our clients’ changing needs and provide increasing value, as we grow each of those trusted relationships. This reinvestment strategy continues to enable Cognizant to excel in our core services, while simultaneously investing in multiple horizons of growth, continuing to position us well for the future."

Arup Roy, Research Director at Gartner, says, “The company earlier focused on certain verticals and geographies, without spreading its operations widely. The primary focus was the U.S.; the company later added Europe to its list. Similarly, the company focused on financial services, insurance and healthcare and later moved to other industry segments.”

Sudin Apte of Offshore Insights says, “Through the years, the company’s investment in the front-end is paying high dividends…relative to its competitors, Cognizant’s spend in sales and marketing is 50 per cent higher. The lower operating margins show up in higher S&A (sales and administrative) expenses, which drive Cognizant’s faster growth.”

Apte adds, “Cognizant had a classic mix in its brass. The strategic thinking of Mahadeva, the strong program management, delivery and operations expertise of Narayanan and Chandrasekaran, and the on-the-ground sales, business development and practice leadership teams, which mostly comprise locals and help Cognizant bridge the cultural gap with customers, are great differentiators for the company.”