The Economic Times: Cognizant’s CEO Lays Out a Roadmap for Services Firms to Transform, Innovate, and Stay Fit in the SMAC Age

“Today, we face a transformation that is arguably more profound, one that is propelled by social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) technologies,” writes Francisco D’Souza. “In fact, yesterday’s models are increasingly irrelevant as business becomes ever more virtualized, globalized and impacted by a steep demographic tilt toward millennial employees and customers.”

“More than ever,” he adds, “enterprises will look toward services firms to help them through this transition as they seek out and generate unprecedented levels of business value and innovation. And for services firms, much like their clients, fulfilling this new wave of expectations will mean challenging their own status quo.”

D’Souza observes that not long ago, conventional wisdom dictated that businesses invest in their “core” competencies and partner with specialists on what was considered “context” to their businesses. “Now the “core” versus “context” distinction is less clear and highly fluid. What is core today may be context tomorrow, and vice versa,” he notes. “In this environment, services firms must guide clients beyond mere incremental performance improvements and help infuse their key business processes—both core and context—with new digital capabilities that simultaneously transform operations and boost innovation.”

“For service providers,” D’Souza maintains, “transformation and innovation must begin at home.” To do so, he suggests that service providers must co-create the future with clients, develop new competencies, deliver everything-as-a-service, and avoid irrelevance. “Services firms must be seen as innovative partners, integral to building a brighter and more profitable future,” he writes. “By rising to this challenge, the services industry will not only help clients thrive through the present shift, but also empower them for the next one.”

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