Cognizant expands Salesforce consulting capacity via SaaSfocus acquisition

Global consulting firm Cognizant has made another new addition to its firm, with the acquisition of SaaSfocus. The firm will bolster Cognizant’s SaaS and Salesforce offerings, as the firm bids to expand its client base in the sector.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. SaaS is one of three main categories of cloud computing, alongside infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS).

The use of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based services in multiple sectors has been steadily increasing in recent years, as companies explore ways in which to reduce costs and access new innovation, while fighting off new digitally capable competition disrupting their respective lines of business. In the HR service segment alone, SaaS and hybrid options account for 12% and 10% of technology systems at surveyed companies, with that figure due to rise rapidly in the coming years.

As consulting firms vie for a leading position in the SaaS consulting market, in a bid to court this progressively lucrative service line, firms have launched a number of initiatives in recent years. These have included the continuing partnership between ANZ Bank and consulting firm CGI, and the launch of Mavenlink’s London office in 2017.

Now, global consulting firm Cognizant has announced its acquisition of SaaSfocus, a privately-held consulting firm that specialises in digital transformation and one of the largest independent Salesforce Platinum consulting partners in the APAC region. The move will see Cognizant acquire over 350 SaaSfocus consultants, who boast deep domain expertise in the financial services, insurance, manufacturing and automotive industries, will become part of Cognizant's Salesforce practice. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018, subject to certain closing conditions, while the financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

SaaSfocus was founded in 2009, and has since become a leading specialised technology consulting firm, working to help blue-chip customers across the financial services, insurance, manufacturing, and automotive industries realise digital transformation projects. Primarily it does this by helping them to leverage the Salesforce Platform, the world's leading CRM software and enterprise cloud ecosystem. SaaSfocus is a Platinum consulting partner for Salesforce, and has implemented more than 1,500 Salesforce projects.

As well as presenting a close cultural alignment, essential to making the most of M&A activity, the acquisition will present Cognizant with a key foothold in several developing regional markets, to this end. Cognizant is already a Global Strategic partner of Salesforce, and has one of the largest rosters of Salesforce-certified consultants in the world, however SaaSfocus is one of the largest independent Salesforce Platinum consulting partners in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and boasts operations across Australia and India.

Commenting on the acquisition, Jayajyoti Sengupta, Head of APAC at Cognizant, said, "This… underlines our commitment to helping clients in Australia and India digitally transform their businesses and reshape the way they interact with their customers. Customer relationship and service management systems are at the core of our clients' digital strategies. We look forward to… combining our strengths to create new transformative digital solutions for our clients."

Amit Choudhary, Partner and ANZ CEO of SaaSfocus, added, "Combining Cognizant's global capabilities, deep domain expertise and digital solutions with SaaSfocus's specialised Salesforce consulting competencies will help us accelerate our clients' digital transformation journeys and create global opportunities for our employees."

Elsewhere, Cognizant has been expanding other aspects of its business this year. Most recently, this saw the firm snap up advisory and analytics company Hedera Consulting, also for an undisclosed fee.