Cognizant Makes 20th Acquisition Since 2019 With Devbridge Buy

The global solution provider giant has spent a whopping $2.5 billion on acquisitions since 2019. On Wednesday, Cognizant unveiled its 20th purchase with the acquisition of Chicago-based Devbridge.

Cognizant’s massive acquisition spree is continuing with the purchase of software consultancy and product development company Devbridge, which marks the 20th acquisition from the solution provider giant since 2019.

The Teaneck, N.J.-based global solution provider, ranked No. 6 on CRN’s 2021 Solution Provider 500 list, has spent well over $2.5 billion on acquisitions since the beginning of 2019. Cognizant is acquiring an array of fellow channel partners and companies—from Internet of Things and artificial intelligence standouts to Microsoft Azure and ServiceNow channel specialists.

Cognizant is expected to generate $18.5 billion in sales in 2021. The company is vastly expanding its portfolio offerings via acquisitions with a focus on digital engineering, data and artificial intelligence, cloud and IoT in a move to enable digital transformation for its large and global customer base.

[Related: CDW To ‘Expand And Scale’ As $2.5B Sirius Acquisition Closes]

The majority of Cognizant’s acquisitions since 2019 are of companies based in the U.S., such as this year’s acquisitions of Hunter Technical Resources, TQS Integration, Magenic Technologies and Linium.

Approximately eight of the 20 acquisitions by Cognizant since 2019 have been of companies based overseas, including Germany-based ESG Mobility, Australia-based Servian, as well as a pair of Ireland-based companies, Zenith Technologies and Meritsoft.

Andres Angelani, senior vice president and chief product engineering officer at Cognizant, said customers need agile and transformative channel partners that are capable of designing and building new software products that directly engage with consumers and employees on their own terms.

Cognizant unveiled its acquisition of Devbridge this week in a move to expand its software product engineering capabilities and global delivery footprint.

Chicago-based Devbridge has more than 600 engineers, designers and product managers throughout North America, as well as in the U.K., Lithuania and Poland.

“Devbridge’s talented team of product and engineering professionals deliver premium digital products, and we’re confident their expertise and experience will help our clients grow their business and their brand,” said Angelani in a statement.

Cognizant said its acquisition of Devbridge is based around the notion that businesses are increasingly dependent on custom software to create better customer experiences, bring new products to market and transform their business models. Traditional application development is being replaced with agile and DevOps methodologies that enable a more product-centric and business-outcome-oriented approach to software engineering. Devbridge’s software product engineers use collaborative techniques and proprietary tools to deliver product design and development, service design, software engineering maturity, data strategy and legacy modernization for customers in financial services, health care, hospitality, logistics and manufacturing, according to Cognizant.

Financial terms of the Devbridge deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be closed before the end of 2021.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Devbridge employees will become part of the Cognizant Softvision team, which develops custom digital products.