Cognizant Technology Solutions

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Cognizant Technology Solutions

Type	Public (NASDAQ: CTSH)
Founded	1994
Headquarters	New Jersey
Key people	Lakshmi Narayanan,Current CEO, Promoted as Vice Chairman (2007) Francisco D'Souza,COO, Named Chief Executive Officer from 2007
Industry	IT Services
Revenue	1.35 Billion (Expected for 2006) USD
Employees	~36,000(November 2006)
Slogan	Passion for making a difference & Celebrating Work
Website	www.cognizant.com

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) is an information technology services company based in the United States but with significant operations in India.

[edit] Initial Years

Cognizant started in 1994, as Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software - the in-house technology development center for the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (D&B) and its operating units. Initially a joint venture between Dun & Bradstreet (76%) and Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (24%), it soon became a 100% subsidiary of D&B Corp. In 1996, the company became a division of the Cognizant Corporation, after the split-up of Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

In June 1998, Cognizant Corporation was again split into independent companies, and Cognizant Technology Solutions was formed as a division of IMS Health, a provider of information solutions to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The same year, the company completed its initial public offering and was listed on the NASDAQ. In November 2002, IMS Health divested its majority interest in Cognizant through a tax-free split-off.

[edit] Operations

Although it is headquartered in New Jersey, most of Cognizant Technology Solutions' employees are based in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It also has offices in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. Cognizant has 36,000 employees. ^{[citation needed]}

Cognizant has aligned its businesses vertically and has clients in Banking & Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing & Logistics, Information, Media & Entertainment, Telecom, Insurance, Life Sciences, Retail, Hospitality and New Tech.

Cognizant's revenue for the second quarter of year 2006 was $336 million, and the company guided that it would end 2006 with $1.38 billion in revenue. Its primary competitors are other IT services companies such as Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.

After result of 2nd Quarter, Cognizant emerged as the 4th biggest IT service company in India. ^{[citation needed]}

After the close of trading on November 16, 2006 Cognizant moved from the S&P 400 to the S&P 500.