Cognizant acquires Belgian advisory and analytics company Hedera Consulting
Cognizant has acquired privately-held Hedera Consulting for an undisclosed fee. The purchase of the company specialising in business advisory and data analytics services further expands Cognizant's consulting, business insight and digital transformation capabilities for clients in the EU.
Cognizant has continued its recent rash of acquisition activity with the purchase of analytics and advisory firm Hedera Consulting, for an undisclosed fee. The move follows hot on the heels of deals for UK digital agency Netcentric and Zurich-headquarterd digital marketing and experience firm Zone at the end of 2017. The year previous, Cognizant added among others Danish consulting firm ReD Associates to its consultancy wing.
In line with these previous transactions, the buying of Hedera will see Cognizant further boost its consulting capabilities in Europe. Founded in 2009, Hedera boasts offices in the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as a client base spanning continental Europe, the UK and the Middle East. Headquartered in Kontich, Belgium, Hedera's consultants and data scientists specialise in helping clients with growth strategy, innovation, marketing, sales and customer service, working with leading brands across various industries. In 2015, Hedera further broadened its capabilities, starting an additional business line focusing on analytics and data excellence.
The application of analytics and data management is being touted by global businesses as a potentially major money-spinner, so this capacity in particular seems to have made Hedera Consulting a prime target for Cognizant. The firm will now become part of the Cognizant Consulting business unit. The Teaneck, New Jersey-headquartered IT company asserted that Hedera’s consultants and data scientists will help clients with growth strategy, innovation, marketing, sales and customer service.
Santosh Thomas, President, Global Growth Markets, Cognizant, said in a statement, “In the Belgian and Dutch markets, companies are re-designing their business and IT operating models for the digital era. Hedera Consulting expands our ability to help these European clients create agile and digitally transformed enterprises that can act and react to the oceans of data for deeper customer insight, new product development, and to innovate and exploit new business operating models for the digital era."
Cognizant has already developed a reputation as an innovative IT services provider. Last year the firm was named a winner at the annual DevOps awards, along with being named an official digital partner of the English Football Association, adding to a list of high-profile clients the firm serves. Hedera Consulting is subsequently keen to leverage its acquisition as an opportunity to tap into a broader client base and expand its global reach.
"The most successful companies are the ones that reduce the time from informed insight to action," added Philip Lahey, a Partner at Hedera Consulting. "By joining forces with Cognizant, we are even better positioned to help clients define their strategy, transform their businesses and gain insight and competitive advantage in their fast-changing, highly competitive marketplaces. Our combined industry and local knowledge and experience, as well as our strong joint team, will better enable our customers in the Belgian and Dutch markets to extract meaning from their data and use it to effectively shape their products, services and experiences."
Privately-held Hedera Consulting is owned by four partners: Philip Lahey, Patrick Fransen and Dimitri Leemans (all three have a background at Accenture) and Wim Moons, who prior to joining the consultancy worked for Belgian IT company RealDolmen.
