Cognizant ties up with Dutch IT co

LONDON: Cognizant has tied up with Ordina, a leading Dutch IT services provider, in a strategic alliance that will give Cognizant a leg into the lucrative Benelux IT outsourcing market, mainly Belgium and Holland. At a time when many Indian IT and outsourcing companies are being forced to work out alternative models to side-step rising domestic distrust of offshoring in Europe, Cognizant has opted to find a local partner to work with.

The strategic alliance aims to combine Cognizant’s global delivery model — read offshoring expertise — with Ordina’s local knowledge and client base. Under the terms of this agreement, Cognizant will become Ordina’s primary strategic partner in the Benelux for offshore solutions.

The two companies will jointly offer global delivery solutions for Ordina’s 40 customers in Benelux. “We are excited about this alliance because deep local domain expertise and relationship management, coupled with global sourcing and global delivery, are becoming mainstream in the Benelux IT outsourcing market,” says Ordina N.V. CEO Ronald Kasteel.

European ICT companies are also looking for ways to provide their clients the cost-benefits of offshoring, without upsetting client and domestic concerns about data security and jobs. “We chose to work with Ordina because of their recognised brand and strong local capabilities in the Dutch and Belgian market,” says Cognizant VP(Continental Europe) Santosh Thomas.

“This partnership will enable us to achieve faster growth and overcome the scarcity in high-quality ICT capacity. It will also allow us to deliver high-quality and cost-effective solutions to support the mission-critical business processes of our top 40 clients,” said Mr Kasteel.