Cognizant and Utegration have recently expanded their relationship as partners of SAP with the former acquiring the latter to bolster its SAP practice in the industry.
The SAP partner ecosystem has seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) over the past few years. This consolidation is a natural consequence of the maturation of the market for enterprise software and the need for partners to define their role in an increasingly complex environment. The result is a landscape that is more complicated and less predictable, but also one that offers greater opportunity for growth and differentiation.
Moreover, the increase in M&A activity in the German tech giant’s partner ecosystem is driven by several factors. First, the continued success of SAP as a leading enterprise software provider creates a competitive setting for partners to differentiate themselves. Second, the growing maturity of the SAP partner ecosystem and the increased focus on delivering value-added services is driving consolidation among partners. And third, the recent introduction of new SAP technologies, such RISE with SAP, has generated new possibilities for partners to add value for customers.
Cognizant’s recent acquisition of Utegration LLC is a testament to the growing trend of M&A in the business world. Utegration is a full-service consulting and solutions provider for SAP technology and products, specifically catering to the energy and utilities industries. This move by Cognizant will likely help them expand their reach and expertise in these areas, giving them a competitive edge in the market.
Commenting on the latest industry development, SAP North America President Lloyd Adams shared:
“Utegration has been a strategic partner for SAP in the utilities space for over a decade. They’ve been instrumental in delivering successful implementations and solutions for key SAP customers in the vertical. This announcement will allow Cognizant to expand on Utegration’s commitment to solution excellence, and continue the tradition of partnership, innovation, and digital modernization, jointly with SAP.”
SAP Partners Cognizant, Utegration Combine Capabilities
Headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Cognizant is an SAP Global Solutions Integrator that aims to provide its clients with the guidance and support needed to streamline their business processes. By utilizing the latest tools and accelerators available, Cognizant delivers comprehensive solutions and services — such as the Business Transformation as a Service (BTaaS) cloud offering RISE with SAP — that support customers in improving their overall efficiency and performance.
In 2011, Cognizant began concentrating on enterprise resource planning (ERP) cloud capabilities, launching a specialized SAP cloud practice and developing a proof of concept product. By 2016, the group began to shift its attention to facilitating the cloud deployment of SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA. The initiative’s scope was then broadened in 2018 to include enhancing customer visibility to real-time operational data for use in analytics, in addition to its previous focus on reducing infrastructure costs.
Utegration, on the other hand, offers assistance to companies in the energy and utilities sectors across the North American continent through SAP deployments, implementations, and outcome-driven roadmaps. As a SAP Gold Partner, the offers Utility4U platform which is an end-to-end, modular solution for utilities that has value drivers and tools already embedded in it.
After the purchase of Utegration is finalized, Cognizant will add about 350 people across North America and India. Cognizant Executive Vice President (EVP) for Enterprise Platform Services calls Utegration’s wealth of industry knowledge and portfolio of energy and utilities-specific products and accelerators a “perfect complement” to the firm’s existing SAP business. He further added:
“In bringing together Utegration’s experienced, specialist team with our global scale in SAP and digital transformation, we have a strong new set of capabilities designed to address the market’s critical transformation needs.”
Meanwhile, Utegration Chief Executive Officer and President Bart Thielbar believes that the combination of Utegration and Cognizant’s strengths and capabilities is a win for both their clients and colleagues. He explained that Utegration has evolved to meet the specific demands of the energy and utilities industries, and that the company’s incorporation into Cognizant would allow it to better serve customers across areas of the economy.
“We could not be more pleased to be joining a team that shares our values and commitment to innovation, client service, and providing a great culture for our people to grow their careers,” Thielbar remarked.
