Rudolf Scheipers, VP, Head of SAP Certification for Outsourcing Partners at SAP recently sat down with Cognizant’s Sivakumar Varadananjayan, AVP, SAP Cloud & Technology to discuss Cognizant’s partnership with SAP, and the company’s DevOps certification, and how it makes a difference in their shared clients’ transformation journeys.
Read the conversation below.
Rudolf Scheipers: Let me begin by saying that we appreciate our long-standing partnership with Cognizant. They've been an SAP-certified global outsourcing service provider for over a decade, now boasting seven certified services. Their journey started with their first certification in 2011. Over the years, they have expanded their certifications, solidifying our close and cooperative relationship.
Sivakumar Varadananjayan: Thank you for the kind acknowledgment. We take pride in our enduring partnership and deeply value the trust we have cultivated over the years. As an SAP Certified Global Outsourcing Partner, we’re committed to delivering top-tier services and solutions tailored to our customer's business requirements. We are always looking for ways to further strengthen our partnership with SAP, and for novel approaches to spur innovation and growth for both our clients and partners.
RS: Can you begin by telling us about your company and the services you offer?
SV: Cognizant is a global technology services firm offering digital, technology, consulting, and operational services across diverse industry sectors. We engineer modern businesses, helping our clients modernize technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can stay ahead in our fast-changing world and improve everyday life.
Our range of services encompasses everything from application development and management to digital transformation, cloud services, and analytics. We prioritize innovation, perpetually seeking out groundbreaking technologies to empower our clients in achieving their objectives. With over 10,000 associates proficient in SAP technologies worldwide, we offer SAP Services in Consulting, RISE with SAP, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Customer Experience, SAP Cloud, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics, SAP Human Capital Management, SAP Application Management, and Testing.
This year, our new global certification in SAP BTP Operations reflects our comprehensive BTP services suite, from application development and integration to analytics, database, and intelligent technologies. We recently launched a
website on our SAP BTP capabilities where you can learn about our cutting-edge BTP-based solutions such as an intelligent hiring solution that can automate hiring process by leveraging AI, a S/4HANA transformation solution that can innovate and integrate clients’ business operations on a single platform, and an ESG Scope 3 scenario planning solution to help our clients to monitor scope 3 emissions and meet ESG goals.
RS: You're also DevOps-certified. What motivated this certification?
SV: Our decision to seek SAP certification in Global DevOps was fueled by our dedication to swiftly delivering exceptional solutions. We discerned the potential in DevOps to refine our SAP software development process. Traditional methods often create silos, protracted development phases, and disjointed teams, compromising customer experience. By embracing DevOps, we can circumvent these hurdles, ensuring prompt, high-caliber delivery of outcomes. Automating routine tasks and deploying CI/CD pipelines have revolutionized our operations, highlighted by features such as one-touch SAP system provisioning and one-click DR.
Consequently, we can achieve reduced technical operation costs by around 20 percent, faster software delivery, and optimized outcomes, all encapsulated in Cognizant’s Managed Platform as a Service (MPaaS) solution. The work we did with global reinsurance provider Swiss Re is a great example of leveraging DevOps to create an industry-first one-click SAP disaster recovery (DR) solution, aimed at improving resiliency, reducing manual errors, and speeding recovery time.
RS: What are the benefits of the DevOps certification?
SV: The DevOps certification has helped us to hone our SAP software development approach. Working with Cognizant, clients experience swifter, high-quality software delivery, amplified team collaboration, and efficiency. The certification also helps us pinpoint areas for improvement and steps to take to remain competitive, and continuously develop our DevOps expertise.
RS: Did the audit feedback you received influence your implementation of the DevOps principles?
SV: Indeed, the SAP Global DevOps audit provided valuable insights, spotlighting areas for enhancement and driving us to identify and implement best practices. This helps us ensure our continuous refinement in delivering top-notch solutions.
RS: How has the DevOps certification benefited your marketing activities and customer interactions?
SV: This certification accentuates our expertise, emphasizing our dedication to excellence. It helps to differentiate us in the market and lends a competitive edge in winning new business.
RS: You've continually expanded your certification scope, most recently adding the global certification for SAP BTP Operations for the first time. What catalyzed this decision?
SV: The deciding factor for expanding our certification scope is our commitment to innovation, continuous improvement, and our desire to stay ahead of the curve. Cognizant is now certified in seven categories including a first-time certification in SAP BTP Operations.
With the rise in adoption of SAP S/4HANA and Cloud, we were quick to recognize the importance of SAP BTP in the market and wanted to ensure that we had the necessary expertise to help our customers take advantage of this technology. By achieving the SAP BTP Operations certification, Cognizant has, we believe, again established its strength and ability to deliver high-quality solutions to our customers and differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
The full list of Cognizant‘s SAP Outsourcing Partner Certifications includes:
- Global SAP Certified Provider of SAP BTP Operations NEW!
- Global SAP Certified Provider of SAP Cloud and Infrastructure Operations
- Global SAP Certified Provider of DevOps
- Global SAP Certified Provider of SAP S/4HANA Solutions Operations
- Global SAP Certified Provider of SAP SuccessFactors Solutions Operations
- Global SAP Certified Provider of SAP HANA Operations
- Global SPA Certified Provider of SAP Business Suite Solutions
You also can find Cognizant in the SAP Outsourcing Operations Partner Guide:
Cognizant company profile.
An overview of all certified partners can be found in the SAP Outsourcing Operations Partner Guide (
www.sap.com/opc).
The SAP DevOps Certification as well as the SAP BTP Certification can also be found in the
SAP Partner Benefits Catalogue.
The SAP Certification for Partners program is part of the larger PILS (Partner Innovation Lifecycle Services) team at SAP, which is a global team of experts who help partners develop innovative solutions on SAP platforms and products to enable customer success. They offer a comprehensive set of guided services to partners who provide hardware, IT operations, and software extensions. These include co-innovation, certification, and technical services to help customers transform their business and run intelligent enterprises.
Visit PILS at SAP.COM:
https://www.sap.com/partner/certify-my-solution.html
Visit PILS at PartnerEdge.COM:
https://partneredge.sap.com/en/partnership/services/co-innovation.html
