Banking Technology: Rabobank Executive Vice President of GICT Says Rabobank’s Partnership with Cognizant will Provide Long-Term Benefits and Help Drive Innovation

“Rabobank began outsourcing the testing of corporate banking software to Cognizant in around 2006-07. The outsourcing agreement has been broadened enormously to include the software behind finance control, procurement, payment and pensions. The main reason for outsourcing in this area is knowledge. Cost is not the main factor – we are focused on the quality of service,” says Robert Niesert.

Rabobank recently selected Cognizant to deliver a broad portfolio of application services to drive operational efficiencies and improve productivity. Under the five-year agreement, Cognizant will provide application development, maintenance, and testing services to Rabobank, leveraging its consulting capabilities and proven financial industry expertise.

Niesert adds, “If it saves us 10% doing this, that’s an advantage, but the real benefit is better applications. The IT market in the Netherlands is declining – the number of qualified students who graduate in this area is poor. That is important for us, because IT is essential to what we do.”

Niesert says that he has high hopes that the deal with Cognizant can help drive innovation, especially in network technology. “Cognizant has people on the ground in the Netherlands,” he says. “We are developing new technology for banking software, and we view this as a long-term partnership that will provide long-term benefits for us and for our customers.”

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